In 1470, a reluctant Lady Anne Neville is betrothed by her father, the politically ambitious Earl of Warwick, to Edward, Prince of Wales. A gentle yet fiercely intelligent woman, Anne has already given her heart to the prince’s younger brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Unable to oppose her father’s will, she finds herself in line for the throne of England—an obligation that she does not want. Yet fate intervenes when Edward is killed at the Battle of Tewkesbury. Anne suddenly finds herself free to marry the man she loves—and who loves her in return. The ceremony is held at Westminster Abbey, and the duke and duchess make a happy home at Middleham Castle, where both spent much of their childhood. Their life is idyllic, until the reigning king dies and a whirlwind of dynastic maneuvering leads to his children being declared illegitimate. Richard inherits the throne as King Richard III, and Anne is crowned queen consort, a destiny she thought she had successfully avoided. Her husband’s reign lasts two years, two months, and two days—and in that short time Anne witnesses the true toll that wearing the crown takes on Richard, the last king from the House of York.

The Reluctant Queen

Literature & Fiction

Jean Plaidy AKA Victoria Holt

Genre Fiction

Fontana

Captures the drama, intrigue, passion, and suffering of the reigns of Henry IV, who usurped the throne of England from the Plantagenet dynasty, and his son Henry V

THE STAR OF LANCASTER (Plantagenet Saga)

Romance

Historical

Fawcett Crest Books

With mad King George III locked away, the Prince Regent ill, and Princess Charlotte dead, young princess Victoria remains the last hope of the House of Hanover to retain the throne. Reprint.

Victoria in the Wings (Book Eleven in The Georgian Saga)

Fawcett Crest Books by Ballantine Books

Beyond Blue Mountains

<p>Passionate emotions dominate the lives of three generations of strong-willed women in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries</p>

BEYOND BLUE MOUNTAINS

Battle of the Queens

Set early in the thirteenth century, this Plantagenet saga mirrors the tensions between France and England by focusing on the complex relationship between two beautiful rivals for political power

Contemporary