The Tower: A fiery feminist retelling of Mary, Queen of Scots’ darkest hour
Mar 2024 · Random House
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272
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About this ebook
'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 intimate' 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.
'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 intimate' 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.
About the author
Flora Carr was named one of 40 London Library Emerging Writers 2020/2021. She won the Vogue Talent Contest and was shortlisted for the 2018 V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize, Her work has appeared in TIME Magazine, British ELLE, Radio Times, and The Observer New Review. Flora grew up in Yorkshire and currently lives in London. The Tower is her first novel.
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