Margery Paston, her eldest daughter, has always strived to uphold the Paston name and do her mother proud. But when she loses her heart to a man below her station, she must make a terrible choice: will she betray her family and risk everything for a chance at true love? This novel follows the ambitions of the Paston family, told through the voices (and letters) of three women: Margaret Mautby Paston (married to the Paston heir, John), Elizabeth 'Eliza' Paston (John's sister), and Anne Haute (cousin of Elizabeth Woodeville, hoping to marry into the Paston family). The second lady we hear from is Elizabeth Paston who has not had a suitable marriage arranged and worries about her future constantly as the years are passing along with her hope of finding a suitable husband. These are the Middle Ages. In the years leading up to The Wars of The Roses. Families marry their children off for status and wealth. Perhaps love will blossom perhaps not, as this is not the reason to marry. Women are expected to produce heirs to the family estate. People have to be careful when discussing the Yorks and the Lancasters as they dare not be seen to be on the wrong side. I have only read one of Anne’s books before this one - The Queens Rival - which I absolutely loved. I jumped at the chance of reading an advance copy of Anne’s new book and to be a part on the blog tour.

This book features something a little different to before as her novels usually tell the story of someone linked strongly to or within the monarchy.

The Uncrowned Queen

It just might be that the genre of medieval ancestry is now a faded and worn-out subject. The same people, families, locations, and plots have been done to death. This book is a stunning read - and more, an easy read - despite the vast number of Johns in it (I'll leave that for you to discover because wow - that's a weird thing to have done). I had to force myself to slow down and stop reading because I didn't want it to be over. Now I have to wait for next year to read the second part of the story.

It is so brilliant to see this through the eyes of ‘normal people’ albeit landowners and also how slowly news travels and the effect it has on everyday life. Elizabeth has the odd chapter here and there about the struggles of finding a marriage that's "suitable", while Anne only arrives toward the end to slip into the story of the Pastons. She looks like she will be very interesting to see (and more important) in the next book. In the end, there are many lose ends which it seems will be dealt with in another volume. Slightly unsatisfactory.

Titles

With a title like The Royal Game, you might expect this novel to be about a king or a queen; in fact, it’s the story of the Pastons, who rose from humble origins to become members of the aristocracy and one of Norfolk’s most influential families during the 15th century. Their collection of personal letters, known as the Paston Letters, is the largest archive of private correspondence surviving from the period and tells us a lot about life in England at that time. In the midst of civil war, each of these women must decide: Head or heart? Love or duty? Reputation- or scandal? The Uncrowned Queen: short story and ebook only: the marriage of Philippa of Hainault and Edward III Nicholas Culpeper's The Complete Herbal, a fascinating resource to a historical novelist first published in 1649, has become essential bedside reading. As a result the use of herbs in medicine and witchcraft, for both good and ill, has appeared in some of my novels. The world lit only by fire might not be an exact correlation between centuries but it isn't that far off, either.

While there are technically three narrators in this book (Margaret, Elizabeth, Anne), the book is really Margaret, the matriarch of the family. She has the most chapters, marshalling her wits to push and shove those around her (sometimes subtly, sometimes with forthrightness) to her way of thinking. She's a fascinating woman, running an estate more or less on her own with her husband away so much. Alongside Margaret, we meet her sister in law, Eliza, who struggles to find a husband and emerge from beneath her mother's less than motherly love. She manages to do just that only to find herself facing a life as beset with lawsuits as her brother and sister by marriage. O’Brien cleverly intertwines the personal and political in this enjoyable, gripping tale’ The Times This first book was a Regency Romance in the great tradition of Georgette Heyer - who has not admired her skill and delicate touch for the period? I have drawn on my interest in the Stuart century to write about the English Civil War and Restoration England of Charles II. Living in the Marches however I soon discovered the wealth of atmosphere and legend in this isolated part of England from medieval times. It was not long before I was encouraged to create a medieval romance inConquering Knight, Captive Lady.There are historical novels and then there are the works of Anne O’Brien – and this is another hit’ Sun Anne O'Brien is one of my favourite authors. Every year, I wait with high anticipation to read her newest book and to see which 'new' unknown woman of history she's brought to life for her readers. An inspirational story of courage and resilience,The Royal Game,charts the rise of three remarkable women from obscurity to the very heart of Court politics and intrigue. Our third Paston woman is Anne Haute, a cousin to Elizabeth Woodville. Her voice is that of a noblewoman without the dowry needed to hook herself a wonderful marriage, but who can tout her family connections to gain one.