Hampton Court Palace in the 1530s: Anne Brandon has always understood the power of a king’s patronage and, though the court of Henry VIII is a dangerous place for women, as the daughter of the king’s best friend, Anne feels safer than most.
But Anne’s husband, Lord Powis, is tiring of her childlessness and when Henry VIII begins plotting to rid himself of a queen in his quest for an heir, suddenly Anne’s life is in danger.
And as whispers of the name of her friend Anne Boleyn get ever louder, there is peril in every loose word, every forbidden conversation.
Pembrokshire in the present day: Caroline Harvey has spent years helping her grandfather, the reclusive bestselling novelist Dexter Blake, hide from his legions of fans in his home on the Pembrokshire coast.
After his death, the vultures begin to circle Dexter’s fortune. When Caroline’s ownership of the house she has inherited is called into question, her research into its history reveals it was once owned by Anne Brandon who had sought refuge there.
Intrigued, Caroline is determined to discover why Anne fled the court of Henry VIII.
The House of Echoes by Alexandra Walsh is published on 30 January, 2025.
You’ll find lots more historical fiction in Historia’s round-up of over 130 books published this year.
