Description

‘Richly detailed’ THE NEW YORKER

‘Carr has taken an often overly romanticised historical figure and given her new life and originality.’ THE TIMES

‘A vivid, visceral read’ TRACY CHEVALIER

‘Bold and immediate’ TLS

***

They are imprisoned, but not contained.

Three women cross a loch. It is 1567, one of them is pregnant, two of them fretful. The boat takes them to Lochleven castle in the middle of the water. Awaiting them are courtiers braying for blood, hellbent on keeping one of them under lock and key: Mary Queen of Scots.

In the tower, Mary’s maids Frenchwoman, Cuckoo and watchful Scot, Jane are her only allies, and the chamber their entire world. A new reality sets in where they are at the mercy of not only their keepers, but of raging Scotland itself.

In the outside world, Mary’s kin, Queen Elizabeth claims she can do little but write. Downstairs, the shrewd jailor-courtier Margaret Erskine places her daughter-in-law Agnes in the chamber as her pair of eyes. Hope seems futile until the bewitching Lady Seton arrives. Seton’s power shifts everything in the tower and soon a plan is hatched.

But which of them will risk it all to save their mistress? Which woman loves her queen best? The Tower is a triumphant story of desire, grit, God-given power and wiles from a striking new voice in historical fiction.

Publisher Review

The Tower is such a vivid, visceral read, you feel you’re locked in the tower alongside the characters, acting out a royal family drama. I am moved and impressed — Tracy Chevalier An absorbing read and an utterly believable female perspective on history. Its cocktail of tension and tenderness perfectly captures the claustrophobic world of the four women in the tower; a historical narrative with contemporary relevance — Sally Hinchcliffe An imaginative, dark gem of a novel, about women, power and fear, still, intelligent and beautifully written, yet as tense as a thriller — Neil Blackmore The Tower is an intimate, exquisitely told story of Mary Queen of Scots and her maids during their year of imprisonment, portraying their hopes and fears, their affections and irritations with such skill that you feel you are in the room with them. A beautiful, poignant book that draws you into the world of these women so fully that it is a wrench to leave it — Elizabeth Lee It’s like being there! An immediate, immersive experience of sharing the year the fallen Mary Queen of Scots was held in a Scottish island castle prison with a few attendants and only her courage and charm to rescue her. Lyrical, riveting, and unforgettable — Margaret George