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.
[A] poignant odyssey ... Offers a new beginning fashioned by the hand of a man whose life till now has been subject to the designs of others. It’s so suitable and (cautiously) hopeful that readers may (almost) wish for a sequel.
Ms. Harkin takes this incident as the starting point for a rollicking story that’s part fact, part lively speculation, and along the way asks some probing questions about the nature of identity ... Fantastically irreverent ... In a novel full of laugh-out-loud moments, Ms. Harkin is at her subversive best when unmasking the false pieties and the skulduggery of the Tudor age ... The common people...are just as skillfully drawn and never lapse into stereotypes ... This sympathetic and brilliantly executed book beguiles to the very end.
