Firebrand: A Novel

Now a major motion picture, Firebrand shows the tumultuous darker side to the marriages of the notorious King of England, Henry VIII, and the wife who survived.

Widowed for the second time at age thirty-one, Katherine Parr falls deeply for the dashing courtier Thomas Seymour and hopes at last to marry for love. Instead, she attracts the amorous attentions of the ailing, egotistical, and dangerously powerful Henry VIII. No one is able to refuse a royal proposal. Haunted by the fates of his previous wives—two executions, two annulments, one death in childbirth—Katherine must wed Henry and rely on her wits and the help of her loyal servant Dot to survive the treacherous pitfalls of life as Henry’s queen. Yet as she treads the razor’s edge of court intrigue, she never quite gives up on love.

Elizabeth Fremantle is the author of four Tudor novels: Queen’s Gambit (now a major motion picture, Firebrand, starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law), Sisters of Treason, Watch the Lady, and The Girl in the Glass Tower. As EC Fremantle she has written two gripping historical thrillers: The Poison Bed and The Honey and the Sting. Her contemporary short story, ‘That Kind of Girl,’ was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize in 2021. She has worked for Elle and Vogue in Paris and London and contributed to many publications including Vanity Fair, The Sunday Times (London), the Financial Times, and The Wall Street Journal. She lives in London.

ISBN: 9781668005361
Format: Paperback
Pages: 432
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: June 04, 2024

“Spellbinding…Smart, sensual, and as suspenseful as a thriller, Gambit is a must read for Philippa Gregory fans—and heralds a brilliant new player in the court of royal fiction.”
?PEOPLE

". . . Lively, gamey, gripped with tension and within reason. One of the best historical novels I've read. It is Freemantle's first book. I hope it will not be her last.”
?HUFFINGTON POST

“This compulsively readable fictional biography of the ultimate survivor is infused with the type of meticulous attention to historical detailing that discerning fans of Alison Weir and Philippa Gregory have come to expect in the Tudor canon.”
?BOOKLIST

“Sins, secrets and guilt dominate the landscape of British writer Fremantle’s debut…Fremantle’s emphasis is on intrigue, character portraits and the texture of mid-16th-century life. Solid and sympathetic.”
?KIRKUS REVIEWS

“Fremantle details the dangers of 16th-century sexual politics while humanizing powerful women, including Katherine herself; clever, willful Elizabeth; and lonely, suspicious Mary…like Katherine, she navigates Tudor terrain with aplomb.”
?PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“Fremantle’s vivid, finely detailed reconstruction of Katherine Parr’s marriage to Henry VIII is a guaranteed best seller [that] fills the void just when historical fiction fans were beginning to feel the dearth of new works.”
?LIBRARY JOURNAL