AN EPIC FEMINIST RETELLING OF THE WAR OF THE ROSES
1431 is a dangerous time for a woman to be defiant.
England has been fighting France for 100 years. At home, power-hungry
men within a corrupt government manipulate a weak king - and name
Cecily's husband, York's loyal duke, an enemy. As the king's grasp on
sanity weakens, plots to destroy York take root... It will take all of
Cecily's courage and cunning to save her family. But when the will to
survive becomes ambition for a crown, will she risk treason to secure
it? Inside closed bedchambers and upon bloody battlefields, Cecily
portrays war as women fight it.
__________ ACCLAIM FOR CECILY
"A startling heroine" Sarah Moss, Summerwater
"A vividly female perspective on the Wars of the Roses" Imogen Hermes
Gower, The Mermaid and Mr Hancock
"Wolf Hall for the 2020s" Manda Scott, Boudica
"Absorbing" Times
"Has the new Hilary Mantel arrived?" Sunday Telegraph
"Masterful and majestic; England's unspoken history told by one
brilliant woman through the life of another. This important novel blazes
on every page from its brutal first scene to its glittering final act"
Chris Cleave, author of Everyone Brave is Forgiven
"Entirely absorbing and utterly compelling. Fifteenth century England
leaps from the page, with all its political turmoil and bloodshed. I
loved it" Caroline Lea, author of The Glass Women
"Masterfully written and wholly immersive, with characters that live and
breathe. Cecily is a tour de force. I loved every sentence" Joanne Burn,
author of The Hemlock Cure
"Annie Garthwaite writes about the past with the sort of intimacy,
immediacy and empathy that can only come from graft and craft" Toby
Clements, author of Kingmaker
"BLOODY GREAT. So modern, so political, it could almost be set in
Downing Street' KATE SAWYER, author of The Stranding
"Shines a light into a dark corner of our history and reclaims the voice
and story of a powerful and forgotten woman" Liz Hyder, author of The
Gifts
"An extraordinary achievement . . .I could touch and breathe Cecily's
world as if I was walking in her shadow" Carol McGrath, author of The
Silken Rose
"Impeccably researched, written with style and shot through with energy,
heart and power. A perfectly paced tale of intrigue, influence and
victory wrenched from defeat. Cecily has been overlooked for centuries.
Not anymore" AJ West, author of The Spirit Engineer
