The Godmother's Secret by Elizabeth St. John

 

Welcome to a stop on the Coffeepot Book Tour for Elizabeth St. John’s latest book, The Godmother’s Secret. I read it and it’s marvellous, chockfull of great history and with an interesting twist on a century’s old mystery.

 

The Details:

Book Title: The Godmother’s Secret

Author: Elizabeth St.John

Publication Date: 4^th October, 2022

Publisher: Falcon Historical

Page Length: 350 pages

Genre: Biographical Historical Fiction / Historical Mystery

 

 

Blurb: 

What if you knew what happened to the Princes in the Tower. Would you tell? Or would you forever keep the secret?

November, 1470: Westminster Abbey. Lady Elysabeth Scrope faces a perilous royal duty when ordered into sanctuary with Elizabeth Woodville–witness the birth of Edward IV’s Yorkist son. Margaret Beaufort, Elysabeth’s sister, is desperately seeking a pardon for her exiled son Henry Tudor. Strategically, she coerces Lancastrian Elysabeth to be appointed godmother to Prince Edward, embedding her in the heart of the Plantagenets and uniting them in a destiny of impossible choices and heartbreaking conflict.

Bound by blood and torn by honour, when the king dies and Elysabeth delivers her young godson into the Tower of London to prepare for his coronation, she is engulfed in political turmoil. Within months, the prince and his brother have disappeared, Richard III is declared king, and Margaret conspires with Henry Tudor to invade England and claim the throne. Desperate to protect her godson, Elysabeth battles the intrigue, betrayal and power of the last medieval court, defying her husband and her sister under her godmother’s sacred oath to keep Prince Edward safe.

Were the princes murdered by their uncle, Richard III? Was the rebel Duke of Buckingham to blame? Or did Margaret Beaufort mastermind their disappearance to usher in the Tudor dynasty? Of anyone at the royal court, Elysabeth has the most to lose–and the most to gain–by keeping secret the fate of the Princes in the Tower.    

Inspired by England’s most enduring historical mystery, Elizabeth St.John, best-selling author of The Lydiard Chronicles, blends her own family history with known facts and centuries of speculation to create an intriguing alternative story illuminating the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower.

 

Buy Links:

 This title is on #KindleUnlimited.

Universal Link: https://geni.us/GodmothersSecret

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B9YM4JF5

Amazon US:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9YM4JF5

Amazon CA:  https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0B9YM4JF5

Amazon AU:  https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0B9YM4JF5

  

Author Bio:

Elizabeth St.John spends her time between California, England, and the past. An acclaimed author, historian, and genealogist, she has tracked down family papers and residences from Lydiard Park and Nottingham Castle to Richmond Palace and the Tower of London to inspire her novels. Although the family sold a few country homes along the way (it's hard to keep a good castle going these days), Elizabeth's family still occupy them— in the form of portraits, memoirs, and gardens that carry their legacy. And the occasional ghost. But that's a different story.

Having spent a significant part of her life with her seventeenth-century family while writing The Lydiard Chronicles trilogy and Counterpoint series, Elizabeth St.John is now discovering new family stories with her fifteenth-century namesake Elysabeth St.John Scrope, and her half-sister, Margaret Beaufort.

 

Social Media Links:

 Website: www.ElizabethJStJohn.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElizStJohn

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethJStJohn

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethjstjohn/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethjstjohn/

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/elizabeth-st-john

Amazon Author Page: https://geni.us/AmazonElizabethStJohn

Goodreads: https://geni.us/GoodreadsElizStJohn

 

My Review:

 The Godmother’s Secret

The short reign of King Richard III in intriguing for so many reasons, but I suppose the question most historians would love the answer to is what happened to the princes in the tower?

When King Edward IV died, he left behind two sons, Edward and Richard. Edward, his heir was twelve years old. The two boys were taken to the tower and never seen again. Richard, their uncle, had himself crowned instead. His rule was short and he was killed at the battle of Bosworth by the future King Henry VII.

In her telling of this story, Elizabeth St. John weaves an intricate plot around her ancestor Elizabeth Scrope and her scheming sister, the formidable Margaret Beaufort. Despite the fact that Elizabeth’s family held for the Lancaster King, she was asked to attend Edward’s queen during the latter days of her pregnancy and stand as godmother to the child, the future king.

Elizabeth takes this role seriously and comes to regard the young prince as one of her own and he in turn loves her and her husband. After the death of the king, Elizabeth is drawn into plots even as she fights to save the boys.

Well researched this inventive story will have you wringing your hands. At times the melodrama threatened to overwhelm the narrative but I really enjoyed this book.

 

Thank you for stopping by. If you are interested in seeing more about this book, I’ve provided a link below. Be sure to check out all the dates on this stop and read excerpts and more!