Historical Fiction Spotlight: Honora and Arthur - the Last Plantagenets: Love and loss in Tudor times, by Joanne McShane

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

At the age of 18, Honora Grenville is swept off her feet by Arthur Plantagenet, the handsome, illegitimate uncle of Henry VIII. Honora has spent an idyllic childhood in early-16th-century Cornwall, the pampered daughter of a wealthy and influential landowner.

On the threshold of adult life, she is ready for adventure. Since childhood, her dreams have been of a white knight who will whisk her away to live in far-off palaces and to wear fine clothes. Now, in Arthur Plantagenet, it seems that her dreams are about to come true.

Alas, it is not to be. Henry VIII orders Arthur to marry Elizabeth Dudley Grey, Viscountess Lisle, and poor Honora is cast into an abyss of despair. Whilst still trying to put Arthur from her mind, she reluctantly marries John Basset, a Devonshire widower twenty-four years her senior.

After thirteen years of what turns out to be a tranquil and fruitful marriage, John Basset dies and Arthur Plantagenet, also recently widowed, re-enters Honora's life. The passion, which has never died for either of them, is rekindled in an instant. They get married and she leaves Devon, to begin her new life as part of the court of Henry VIII where she is set to become a grand lady. 

Unfortunately, Henry's court is a place of intrigue and his reign is turning into a reign of terror. When King Henry orders Arthur to take on the role of Governor at Calais, the couple find themselves at the centre of the fast-changing and tumultuous political climate of the English Reformation.

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About the Author

Joanne McShane spent her childhood on a sheep and cattle farm in Tasmania, Australia. After marrying and raising a family in Tasmania she moved to Wales in 2003 and still lives there, close to the Herefordshire border. A keen historian, she became fascinated by her own family history and by the lives of her ancestors - some of whom she discovered to be very colourful indeed. This led her to begin writing. Honora and Arthur - The Last Plantagenets is her first published book. You can find Joanne on Facebook and Twitter @JoanneMcShane17