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| Penguin UK May 2014 |
In Sisters of Treason, the author weaves together historical fact and
fiction and brings to life the story of the enigmatic Grey sisters, who along
with their more tragic sister, Jane, were forced to live within the shadow of
the Tudor crown, and who were destined to leave their own mark on Tudor
history. In the aftermath of the
execution of Lady Jane Grey, Mary Tudor’s court is a scheming hive of plot,
counterplot and malice, and for the Grey sisters keeping close to the Queen is
not a comfortable arrangement. However, keeping your enemies close is a theme which
will reverberate throughout the reigns of both Tudor queens.
Told in the combined voices of sisters, Katherine and Mary Grey, and also of Levina Teerlinc, who is a court painter, we are given an
insight into just what life was like at the centre of Tudor politics and of how
both Katherine and Mary were always kept within a hair’s breadth of the Tudor
crown. Both sisters lived a tragic life and this is sensitively and emotionally
explored in a novel which covers both the reigns of ‘bloody Mary' and her more
charismatic, but no less terrifying sister, Elizabeth.
There is no doubt that this new
voice in historical fiction really knows how to bring the royal court alive in
a believable and realistic way. Beautifully written and meticulously researched
Sisters of Treason abounds with
danger and political skulduggery, and offers a unique insight into a royal court where being a potential Tudor heir
and female was fraught with danger and which ultimately would have no happy
ending for any of the trio of Grey sisters.
Elizabeth Fremantle holds a first
in English and an MA in creative Writing from Birkbeck. As a Fashion Editor she
has contributed to various publications including Vogue, Elle,Vanity Fair and
the Erotic Review. Sisters of Treason is her second book
following on from Queen’s Gambit.
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