Historical Fiction Spotlight ~ Frailty of Human Affairs (Queenmaker Series Book 1) by Caroline Angus

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

London 1529 – Cardinal Wolsey has ruled England in King Henry VIII’s name for most of his reign. Now Henry wants to leave Queen Katherine, his extraordinary Spanish wife of twenty years, to marry Anne Boleyn and secure a male heir for the kingdom. Only God can end a marriage, through his appointed voices on Earth, the powerful Cardinal Wolsey, and Cardinal Campeggio sent from Rome in the Pope’s place.

Wolsey’s faithful attendant, commoner Thomas Cromwell, has the mind, the skills and the ambition to secure a royal annulment. Cromwell’s forgotten past in Italy reappears with Campeggio’s new attendant, Nicóla Frescobaldi, the peculiar son of Cromwell’s former Italian master. While the great Cardinals of Christendom fight the King, the Pope and their God for an annulment, Cromwell and Frescobaldi hold the power over a country at war with its own conscience.

Cromwell is called the double-minded man, whose golden eyes make money appear. Now Cromwell wants the power to destroy the Catholic Church in England. Frescobaldi is known as the waif-like creature, the Pope's favourite companion, but Frescobaldi wants freedom from Pope Clement and his Medici family in Italy. 

Cromwell and Frescobaldi will place themselves into the heart of religious and political influence as they strive to create an English queen, or lose their heads for their crimes and sinful secrets.

'Captivating... a new hero and villain in a classic tale...' Waikato Times

'Nothing punishes like secrets, and sadly they are a frailty all seem to suffer...' The Herald

'Frescobaldi is the strength and the weakness behind the famous Thomas Cromwell. These two can support one another in a cut-throat world of their own making...' The Evening Post

'In a world controlled by men and the Church, women are traded in attempts to take power, and Cromwell and Frescobaldi take the opportunity to control them all...' Northern Advocate

'Thomas Cromwell has exploded into fiction in recent years, but the addition of Frescobaldi changes how we can imagine the man behind the King...' Sunday Times

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About the Author

Caroline Angus is a New Zealand author. A trained sailmaker, Caroline has gone from long hours behind sewing machines, to competing in national and international sailing regattas. With a degree in history from Valencia University and a New Zealand Diploma in Business, and thousands of hours studying the Spanish Civil War, plus Spanish and bullfighting history, it became Caroline’s time to turn to fiction, producing multiple books focusing on Spanish history. After three years studying English history, Tudor history and Shakespeare’s histories through King’s College London, the University of Leicester, the University of Southampton and the University of Warwick, Caroline is embarking on multiple trilogies set in the Tudor and Plantagenet eras. Caroline now lives in Auckland, New Zealand with her four young sons. Find out more at Caroline's website carolineangusbaker.com and find her on Twitter @Writer_Caroline.