📖 Publication Day Book Review ~ The House of Seymour by Joanna Hickson

Harper Collins
22 May 2025

My thanks to the publisher for the invitation to read this book

Will his ambition be her destiny or her downfall?

When Isabel Williams is betrothed to John Seymour, Lord of Wolf Hall Manor, she hopes that love and respect will come, despite his cold streak of ruthless ambition.

Jess the shepherdess tends her flock on the wild spaces of Avebury close by, dismissing those who believe it is work for men. Forced to flee after falling under suspicion for the disappearance of a young man, Isabel’s offer of life with the growing Seymour family is the only refuge available to her.

As John’s ambition draws them into the orbit of the divided court of the young King Henry VI, his hunger to succeed takes on a darker edge. Isabel realises her husband will pay any price to get what he wants, even if it means destroying those he has sworn to protect.

📖 My review..

This first book in a proposed new trilogy introduces us to the Seymour family whose manor at Wolf Hall was to be their main residence in Wiltshire. It is here, in 1425, where we get know John Seymour, newly elevated to the title of Lord of the Manor, his young wife Isabel, and his younger brother, Edmund Seymour. John is ambitious and determined to rise through the ranks by securing the patronage of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who is protector to the young King, Henry VI. Alongside the Seymour story we get to meet Jess, who as a female shepherdess is forced to flee her family farm near Avebury where she comes into come into contact with Isabel Seymour at the nearby Easton Priory and so the connection between these two strong woman is forged.

This is an interesting glimpse into the history of England in the fifteenth century, particularly the political situation concerning the protectorship of the young King during a time when England was still caught up in the Hundred Years War with France and of the scheming which surrounded John Seymour’s elevation to the peerage. I enjoyed the detailed description of life at Wolf Hall with Isabel, whose married life with John Seymour was not an easy one, but Isabel’s spirit shines throughout and Wolf Hall and its inhabitants comes alive in the imagination.

Well researched, the story starts slowly but gradually all the pieces start to fit together and a strong story about the early beginnings of the Seymour family, whose connection to the Crown, over a hundred years later, is culminated by the marriage, in 1536, of  Jane Seymour to King Henry VIII. The House of Seymour  leads us into a very different England with an important family who would shape their own destiny for years to come.

About the Author

After an exciting career in journalism, on radio and television in England and Scotland Joanna took to writing historical fiction. Since publishing her debut novel, The Agincourt Bride, she has gone on to publish many more based on the rise of the Tudor dynasty and has attracted an enthusiastic following of readers on Britain and around the world. The House of Seymour is her eighth novel. Joanna lives in Wiltshire and is married with a large family and lots of grandchildren.

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@HarperCollinsUK