Historians have long whispered that Elizabeth "the Virgin Queen's"
passionate, lifelong affair with Robin Dudley, Earl of Leicester, may
have led to the birth of a son, Arthur Dudley. In this exquisite sequel
to The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn, Robin Maxwell fashions a stunning
fictional account of the child switched at birth by a lady-in-waiting
who foresaw the deleterious political consequences of a royal bastard.
Set against the sweeping, meticulously rendered backdrop of court
intrigues, international scandals, and England's battle against the
Spanish Armada, The Queen's Bastard deftly juxtaposes Elizabeth and
Leicester's tumultuous relationship with the memoirs of the adventurous
son lost to them -- yet ultimately discovered.