The Pretender

The Pretender

Jo Harkin

Set in the tumultuous period of the Tudors' ascent, The Pretender brings to life the little-known story of Lambert Simnel. From humble beginnings as a peasant boy, Lambert's life takes an astonishing turn when, at just ten years old, he becomes a claimant to the English throne as one of the last of the Plantagenet line. As Lambert navigates the treacherous waters of royal intrigue and court life, complex themes of identity, power, and destiny unfold, weaving a tapestry of ambition and survival in a world where the stakes couldn't be higher. In 1483, John Collan's greatest anxiety is how to circumvent the village's devilish goat on his way to collect water. But the arrival of a well-dressed stranger from London upends his life forever: John discovers he is not the son of a farmer but Edward, Earl of Warwick, the son of the long-deceased Duke of Clarence, and has been hidden in the countryside after a brotherly rift over the crown—and because Richard III has a habit of disappearing his nephews. But now the time has come for him to take his place as rightful heir to the throne and overthrow Henry VII, the first Tudor king. Abruptly removed from his humble origins, John is put into play by his masters: learning Latin in Oxford, aristocratic manners in Burgundy, and courtly machinations in Ireland, where he encounters Joan, the delightfully strong-willed and manipulative daughter of his Irish patrons, a girl imbued with both extraordinary political savvy and occasional murderous tendencies. Joan has two paths available to her: marry or become a nun. Lambert's choices are similarly stark: He will either become king or die in battle. Together they form an alliance that will change the fate of the English monarchy. Inspired by a footnote to history—the true story of the little-known Simnel, who was a figurehead of the 1487 Yorkist rebellion and ended up working in the court of King Henry VII—The Pretender is historical fiction at its finest, a gripping, exuberant, irreverent portrait of British monarchy and life within the court, with a cast of unforgettable heroes and villains drawn from fifteenth-century England.