Historical Fiction Spotlight: The Blind Fugitive, by Julie Maxwell

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

London, 1660: After eleven years of Cromwellian rule, rumours circulate that the Stuart monarchy will soon be restored. Yet John Milton, the republican Secretary for Foreign Tongues, remains unconvinced.

Before long, the authorities begin a manhunt for the killers of King Charles I. The men involved in his trial now face a reckoning themselves.

Parliament has control of who is on the death list – and who will suffer lesser penalties. But Parliament cannot decide. Should Milton’s authorship of The Image Breaker, a defence of regicide, bring him to the gallows?

Sir William Davenant, the bastard son of Shakespeare, is anxious to save Milton, the father of three motherless girls. Unfortunately, Davenant’s rescue plot seems as improbable as one of his plays. How can a blind man go on the run?

Hiding from a brutal justice, Milton unexpectedly finds love again. Yet who can you trust when you have been betrayed before?

As the political tensions rise, the new King Charles II appears most interested in fashioning his own legend. So when a surprising offer of patronage is made to Milton, he must decide his fate. But at what cost?

‘The Image of the King is a thrilling tale of the Civil Wars' battle for hearts and minds. Through the eyes of King Charles I and the failing eyesight of John Milton, we watch politics and propaganda slide out of control until lives and afterlives lie on the line. Impeccably researched and engagingly told, The Image of the King will entertain and educate in equal measure.’ Miranda Malins, author of The Rebel Daughter

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About the Author 

Julie Maxwell was born in Southall in 1975 and took a First in English at Christ Church, Oxford. She received a Gibbs Prize and a Charles Oldham Shakespeare Award. Subsequently she gained a Distinction in the M.Phil. in Shakespeare studies, and was elected a Senior Scholar of Christ Church to work on her D.Phil. thesis about Renaissance drama. She also held British Academy/A.H.R.B. Studentships and taught English at Trinity College, Oxford. In 2003 she was elected the Weston Junior Research Fellow in English Literature at New College, Oxford, where she wrote 'You Can Live Forever', her first book. She also drafted a monograph about Ben Jonson and religion, which is nearing completion. She was offered a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at Liverpool but instead defected to Cambridge as a Fellow and Lecturer in English at Lucy Cavendish College. She has now returned to Oxford. You can find Julie on Twitter @JMaxwellAuthor