A passionate, all-consuming yet very sad love story in violent times, that of Elizabeth of Lancaster, a Plantagenet, for John Holland, Duke of Exeter. We are in the 1380s and 90s, a very complex period of history, here thrillingly related. It can only have one ending, a violent one, we know what’s coming but still it held me on the edge of my seat. If you do not know the period well then this is the book for you.
A 'Piece of Passion' from the publisher...
‘The King’s Sister is a book that will stay with me forever - I defy anyone not to become totally immersed in the emotionally rich story of Elizabeth of Lancaster’s life and her tragic dilemma. The choice she has to make between saving her brother or her husband is so breathtakingly awful to think about, and the build-up to her decision is one of the most wonderfully tense pieces of writing I’ve read for a long time. Anne O’Brien is a master in bringing women from history alive, and this is her most spectacular story yet.’ Sally Williamson, Commissioning Editor, MIRA
1382. Daughter of John of Gaunt, sister to the future King Henry IV, Elizabeth of Lancaster has learned the shrewd tricks of the court from England’s most powerful men. In a time of political turmoil, allegiance to family is everything. A Plantagenet princess should never defy her father’s wishes. Yet headstrong Elizabeth refuses to bow to the fate of a strategic marriage. Rejecting her duty, Elizabeth weds the charming and ruthlessly ambitious Sir John Holland: Duke of Exeter, half-brother to King Richard II and the one man she has always wanted. But defiance can come at a price. 1399. Elizabeth’s brother Henry has seized the throne. Her husband, confident to the usurped Richard, masterminds a secret plot against the new King.
Anne O’Brien was born in the West Riding of Yorkshire. After gaining a BA Honours degree in History at Manchester University and a Master’s in Education at Hull, she lived in the East Riding for many years as a teacher of history.
She now lives with her husband in an eighteenth-century timber-framed cottage in depths of the Welsh Marches in Herefordshire on the borders between England and Wales.
