Description

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

**NAMED AS BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE SUNDAY TIMES**
**PICKED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025 BY THE GUARDIAN, SUNDAY TIMES, DAILY MAIL, AND THE I**
**SHORTLISTED FOR THE WINSTON GRAHAM HISTORICAL PRIZE**

1483.
The English throne is in peril.
Peasant boy and pretender John Collan is faced with two options.
a) Become king
b) Die trying
What could possibly go wrong?

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.

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‘A bold and brilliant comedy of royal intrigue’ Guardian
‘Funny, moving, filthy and original’ The Times
‘So alive I felt Harkin might be a time traveller’ Maggie Shipstead
‘I read it with the dedicated fervour of a kid discovering literature for the first time’ Yael van der Wouden
‘The most enjoyable historical novel I’ve read in years’ Spectator
‘Witty, poignant, wildly engaging, and with a huge heart’ Sarah Waters
‘Like a Plantagenet Adrian Mole’ Jenny Colgan
‘A rollicking account of a befuddled boy’s pillar-to-post existence as a political pawn’ New York Times
‘The real deal – nimble, vibrant, playful, and daring’ Kiran Millwood Hargrave
‘Ambitious, mischievous and brilliantly written’ Daily Mail
‘I blazed through full of wonder and admiration’ Emma Stonex

Publisher Review

The Pretender is a vivid, transporting feat of imagination and storytelling, so alive I felt Jo Harkin might be a time traveller -- MAGGIE SHIPSTEAD Wickedly funny ... The filthy, clever, immersive picaresque about a pretender to Henry VII's throne that you didn't know you needed * GUARDIAN, The best fiction of 2025 * Clever and wildly entertaining * SUNDAY TIMES, Historical fiction book of the year * A gripping study of power steeped in both atmosphere and playful wit * i paper, Books of the Year * There's much fun to be had in Harkin's riotous, mischievous take on a thorny patch in English history ... Funny and furiously imaginative, this is a brilliant debut * DAILY MAIL, Best fiction books of 2025 * The Pretender had me under its spell from the very first page. I read it with the dedicated fervour of a kid discovering literature for the first time - the magic of it, the way it transports you, the way you don't want to say goodbye to the pages as you turn them. I took it with me everywhere for months, I read it on trains and buses and laughed and cried in public many times. A genuinely brilliant voice. I will recommend this to everyone for years to come: to hear what they think, to enrich their lives, and so that they in turn can understand something about me that can only be communicated through the passing on of a good book -- YAEL VAN DER WOUDEN Billed as "Demon Copperhead meets Wolf Hall", this historical rollercoaster has a charm all of its own ... A brainy, heartfelt delight * GUARDIAN, Summer reading: the 50 hottest books to read now * Funny and it's devastating. I'm having a fantastic time reading it. -- YAEL VAN DER WOUDEN * GUARDIAN, Perfect holiday reading * The Pretender is an absolute delight, at turns funny, moving, filthy and original. Simnel might not win the English crown, but this is a frontrunner for historical fiction book of the year * THE TIMES, The best historical fiction of 2025 - so far * Fantastically accomplished ... A bold and brilliant comedy of royal intrigue ... There's a deep love for literature here which elevates The Pretender above other novels about this period -- IMOGEN HERMES GOWER * GUARDIAN, Book of the day * Ambitious, mischievous and brilliantly written, her boldly drawn characters and their reckless, ruthless aspirations make for a hugely entertaining read * DAILY MAIL, Best books for this summer * Touching and hilarious ... Harkin has immense sympathy for John as he tries to figure out who he really is * THE TIMES, 80 best books to take on holiday this summer * Ambitious, mischievous and well-written, Harkin's stand-out second novel's boldly drawn characters and their ruthless aspirations make for an entertaining read * DAILY MAIL * Harkin has loosely based this sparklingly original historical novel on the real life of Lambert Simnel, a pretender to the throne during the early years of the reign of Henry VII, and it's funny, moving, and filthy in equal measure * THE TIMES, The best books of 2025 so far * An ordinary boy becomes a royal pawn in this gripping 15th-century political drama. The Pretender is smart historical fiction with the emotional pull of Demon Copperhead and the scale of Wolf Hall * i news, The 14 best holiday books of 2025 * Like a Plantagenet Adrian Mole ... Funny, touching, brilliant, unputdownable -- JENNY COLGAN A magnificent imagining ... There is an extraordinary energy about this novel ... Simnel is a glorious creation ... This is the most enjoyable historical novel I've read in years * SPECTATOR * When a novel is described as Wolf Hall meets Demon Copperhead, you pay attention. Remarkably, The Pretender also lives up to that impossible comparison. This 15th century tale's rich yarn takes in the life of the ordinary young man who is groomed for power and ends up as heir to the throne * i news, The best new books to read in April 2025 * When a novel is described as Wolf Hall meets Demon Copperhead, you pay attention. Remarkably, The Pretender also lives up to that impossible comparison * i paper * A brilliantly buoyant, funny, clever novel ... Takes us from rural Oxfordshire to the great palaces of Europe, showing us how history is shaped by strong characters and convincing lies, while Jo Harkin's writing is consistently original, vivid, and witty. It's Glorious Exploits meets Wolf Hall - and I completely loved it -- JOANNA QUINN A brilliant piece of historical storytelling that's also gorgeously irreverent, contemporary and fun. Witty, poignant, wildly engaging, and with a huge heart - I loved it -- SARAH WATERS A novel full of laugh out loud moments ... Harkin's exuberant novel brings to life one of the stranger notes in late-medieval history ... Fantastically irreverent ... This sympathetic and brilliantly executed book beguiles to the very end * WALL STREET JOURNAL * 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 Jo Harkin mixes fact and fiction for this deliciously heady romp that sparkles with witty verbiage. It also features - at its very core - a love story for the ages * THE CRACK * A ripping adventure * LITHUB, Lit Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2025 * This tale of power, loyalty and treachery is told with vim and verve - I found myself laughing out loud at the sheer brilliance of Harkin's sentences. A book that's intelligent, bawdy, vivid and profound, I enjoyed it so much. A masterful novel -- VICTORIA MACKENZIE "Wolf Hall meets Demon Copperhead" is an impressive billing for a first-time novelist, but The Pretender ... justifies it ... An auspicious venture into fictionalised history ... Loosely based on the real-life royal pretender Lambert Simnel,The Pretender explores the machinations of the wars of the roses with authority, bringing a frightening world to life * OBSERVER * The Pretender is the real deal - nimble, vibrant, playful, and daring. It pulses with life. I loved it -- KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE Harkin brings Lambert to vivid life in her novel, and it's a must read for historical fiction fans * Town & Country, The Best Books to Read This April * Harkin writes with a raw energy, in clear, and often amusing prose - from the muck of the countryside and battles with a belligerent goat to the court of Henry VII, it feels like a full immersion in the 1400s ... If you liked Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall series, you will love this beautifully written read -- RUKMINI IYER For fans of Hilary Mantel: a bawdy work of medieval historical fiction that tells the little-known story of Lambert Simnel, a peasant boy who, at 10 years old, discovers he is the secret heir to Richard III's throne * TIME, Here Are the 15 Books You Should Read in April * Raw, beautiful and true ... I loved it -- LEAH REDMOND CHANG This Tudor-era historical novel is drawing comparisons to Wolf Hall * New York Post * One of those books you read and know you'll get kind of overly passionate about and weird everyone out ... An absolute thumper ... It's fantastic. It's funny and filthy and brave and brilliant. And it feels so very true ... It's just astonishing how immersive this world is, how quickly and deeply I found myself in the past. It's twisty and compelling, with a wickedly subversive streak and a hearo who is so full of heart. I never wanted it to end -- MARIANNE LEVY What Jo Harkin has accomplished in The Pretender left me awestruck on every page. I had no idea that a medieval historical novel could be this wickedly funny, this timely and timeless. A work of genius, a wellspring of laughter and sorrow, a feat of time-travel, and a feast of language -- KAREN RUSSELL With The Pretender, Jo Harkin transports readers all the way back to the 15th century ... This gripping story follows a young man, a puppet for the Tudor detractors, who is thrust into the world of aristocracy-and all the dangers and deceit that come with it * E! News * Jo Harkin is a unique voice. In this superb imagining of the life of the Pretender, Lambert Simnel, she takes us to the heart of early Tudor England. At turns exhilarating and heartbreaking, it is a wonderful historical novel -- LINDA PORTER This captivating novel casts dramatic new light on the turbulent world of the first Tudor king and those who plotted to bring him down. At its heart is a human story that has been waiting to be told for centuries. I couldn't put it down -- TRACY BORMAN 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 A rollicking account of a befuddled boy's pillar-to-post existence as a political pawn * NEW YORK TIMES * Contains some of the most authentic writing in a child's voice I've ever read. And while the book is a deeply engaging read, it underlines profoundly the experience of those who must try to forge and keep their identity without agency, caught in the powerful maw of history * WASHINGTON POST * An ordinary boy becomes a royal pawn in this gripping 15th-century political drama. The Pretender is smart historical fiction with the emotional pull of Demon Copperhead and the scale of Wolf Hall * i paper, The 14 best holiday books of 2025 *