The Pretender

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Wolf Hall meets Demon Copperhead in a sharply ambitious, brilliantly imagined and hugely entertaining story of intrigue, deceit, revenge and ambition

The Pretender has everything: history richly drawn, amazing characterisation, humour, wit, vigour and bravery. It's magnificent Emma Stonex
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Kill the pretender. Do not let it be known that there was a pretender to kill.

The year is 1480 and England is in peril. The much-despised Richard III is not long for the throne, and the man who will become Henry VII stands poised to snatch the crown for himself. But for twelve-year-old John Collan, living in a remote village with his widowed father, these matters seem far away.

But history has other plans for John.

Stolen from his family, exiled first to Oxford, then to Burgundy, and then Ireland and apprenticed to a series of unscrupulous political operators, he finds himself groomed for power; not as John Collan, but as Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick and rightful heir to the throne.

Far from home at the Irish court, preparing for a war that will see him become king or die trying, John has just his wits and the slippery counsel of his hosts daughter, the unconventional Joan to navigate the choppy waters ahead.

Seething with revenge and machination, sparkling with wit and humanity, and roaring with adventure and bravado, The Pretender is the captivating true story of a young man tossed into the chaos of history as it happens.

Reviews

I blazed through full of wonder and admiration ... the writing is searingly confident, the sense of time and place dizzyingly good, the dialogue ribald and the description elegant ... I loved every single page ... The Pretender has everything: history richly drawn, amazing characterisation, humour, wit, vigour and bravery. It's magnificent' -- EMMA STONEX
Raw, beautiful and true ... I loved it -- LEAH REDMOND CHANG
Praise for Jo Harkin: Pure pleasure * THE TIMES *
Extraordinary, gripping, inventive ... I'll never forget it -- EMMA STONEX
Incredibly nicely written ... Jo Harkin writes really well about human beings. I really enjoyed it -- MARIAN KEYES
Sharply, beautifully written * NEW YORK TIMES *
Intriguing, frightening, witty and humane * WALL STREET JOURNAL *
Suspenseful, richly imagined, and brimming with compassion ... A feat of ingenious, intricate world-building -- JESSAMINE CHAN

Author Bio

Jo Harkin studied literature at university. She daydreamed her way through various jobs in her twenties before becoming a full-time writer. Her debut novel Tell Me an Ending was a New York Times book of the year. She lives in Berkshire, England.