The May Bride

(Paperback)

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I didn't stand a chance: looking back over thirteen years, that's what I see. In the very first instant, I was won over, and of course I was: I was fifteen and had been nowhere and done nothing, whereas Katherine was twenty-one and yellow-silk-clad and just married to the golden boy...

Jane Seymour is a shy, dutiful fifteen-year-old when her eldest brother, Edward, brings his bride home to Wolf Hall. Katherine Filliol is the perfect match for Edward, as well as being a breath of fresh air for the Seymour family, and Jane is captivated by the older girl. Over the course of a long, hot country summer, the two become close friends and allies, while Edward is busy building alliances at court and advancing his career.

However, only two years later, the family is torn apart by a dreadful allegation made by Edward against his wife. The repercussions for all the Seymours are incalculable, not least for Katherine herself. When Jane is sent away, to serve Katharine of Aragon, she is forced to witness another wife being put aside, with terrible consequences. Changed forever by what happened to Katherine Filliol, Jane comes to understand that in a world where power is held entirely by men, there is a way in which she can still hold true to herself.

Reviews

Praise for Suzannah Dunn A remarkable writer, a lyricist of ordinary life and ordinary people transfigured by extreme emotions - Daily Telegraph

Her ear for the rhythms of speech is unerring, her feeling for the minutiae of experience acute. It takes a good deal of artistry to create the illusion of real life, and she has managed something more difficult still, which is to show us how strange real life can be - The Times

Frankly, I'm tiring of the Tudor industry - but this delightful novel stands out from the mob . . . Dunn lights up one of history's forgotten corners - Saga

Dunn skilfully transports the reader to the oppressive atmosphere of Wolf Hall, seat of the Seymour family in Tudor England, and the heavy-handedness with which men treat their womenfolk - Lady

I often abandon historical novels nowadays but I really could not put this one down - Alison Weir

Author Bio

Launched in 1990 with her debut novel, Darker Days Than Usual, Suzannah Dunn wrote a further 5 critically acclaimed contemporary novels, and a short story collection, published by Flamingo, before writing her first historical novel, The Queen of Subtleties, which was published in 2004. She has since written a further three bestselling historical novels, The Sixth Wife, The Queen's Sorrow and The Confession of Katherine Howard (a Richard & Judy pick in 2011). The May Bride is her new book.