London 1531. When blacksmith apprentice Will Patten witnesses his master’s brutal murder and the burning of his master’s house and forge, he returns to his family’s impoverished home in London.
With his apprenticeship over and his family unable to feed another mouth, Will is left with few options. As a young man with an education but no backing from the Blacksmith Guild, he is forced to chart his own path.
Unable to find another placement, Will takes up a position at the Sharpened Axe, a seedy brothel in Southwark.
Here Will meets Richard Rich, Thomas Cromwell’s henchman. Desperate for money, Will is caught stealing from Rich. Because of Will’s ability to read, Rich turns this situation to his advantage and blackmails Will into working for him.
Will is thrust into the world of espionage as the winds of the Tudor court shift. He is assigned to help bring down former Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas More — and works as a tutor in More’s home. As Thomas More becomes vocal in his opposition to Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn, pressure mounts on Will to uncover incriminating evidence and feed it back to his employer.
As the stakes increase for Will, he must negotiate threats of violence and the shifting alliances in Henry VIII’s England. When his sister is threatened, Will knows he must act.
Torn between his own survival and loyalties to those he loves, Will makes a rash decision that endangers not only his family but himself. But at what cost to his family and his conscience?
The Failed Apprentice by WJ Small is published in mid-January, 2023.
