Roses Have Thorns: A Novel of Elizabeth I

What happens when serving a queen may cost you your marriage—or your life? From the author of To Die For comes a stirring novel that sheds new light on Elizabeth I and her court, a book that evokes the Tudor period's complexity, grandeur, and brutality. In 1565, seventeen-year-old Elin von Snakenborg leaves Sweden on a treacherous journey to England. Her fiancé has fallen in love with her sister, and her dowry money has been gambled away. Ahead of her lies an adventure that will take her to the dizzying heights of Tudor power and plunge her to the riskiest, most heartrending lows. Transformed through marriage into Helena, the Marchioness of Northampton, she becomes the highest-ranking woman in Elizabeth's circle and Elizabeth's dear friend and confidant. But in a court surrounded by enemies plotting the queen's downfall, Helena is forced to choose between her unyielding monarch and the husband she's not sure she can trust—a choice that will provoke catastrophic consequences. Vividly conjuring the years leading up to the beheading of Mary Queen of Scots, Roses Have Thorns is a multi-layered exploration of treason, both to the realm and the heart. ~~~ A discussion of potentially sensitive content may be found on the author’s webpage for this book for those who would like to preview it before reading.