Blog Tour: The Lydiard Chronicles (A Trilogy) by Elizabeth St.John

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Duty, passion, and power collide in The Lydiard Chronicles, a gripping trilogy inspired by 

true events. Follow three courageous women—survivors, strategists, and storytellers—who defy the constraints of society to shape their family’s fate and England’s future. Their voices echo through time. Their legacy changed a nation.

The Tumultuous Seventeenth Century – Backdrop to The Lydiard Chronicles

The 17th century was one of the most dramatic and transformative periods in English history—an age of revolution and restoration, war and regicide, shifting loyalties and secret alliances. Against this backdrop of chaos and change, the women and men of The Lydiard Chronicles lived extraordinary lives, navigating the treacherous currents of court politics, civil war, and personal survival.

What drew me to this era wasn’t just the sweeping historical events—it was the intimate, often untold stories of those who lived through them. My ancestors, the St.Johns of Lydiard Park, were not merely bystanders to history; they were deeply entangled in it. Their relationships—with kings and queens, generals and rebels, courtiers and courtesans—placed them at the heart of the storm. They didn’t just witness the great moments of the 17th century. They helped shape them.

As I began to write The Lady of the Tower, I was struck by how Lucy St.John’s life touched so many powerful figures of the day. Her marriage to the Lieutenant of the Tower of London gave her insight into the inner workings of the Stuart court, while her own family’s connections ran deep through the political, religious, and social veins of the time. Lucy’s story revealed how a woman, quietly positioned in a male-dominated world, could wield subtle influence, protect secrets, and endure betrayals that would break most.

But her story was only the beginning. As England descended into civil war, Lucy’s children took radically different paths—Allen Apsley becoming a Royalist courtier at the heart of King Charles’s household, and his beloved sister Luce embracing puritan beliefs and marrying a charismatic Parliamentarian soldier. Their divided loyalties, fierce convictions, and enduring love for one another became the heart of By Love Divided. Through their eyes, I explored a nation tearing itself apart, and the personal cost of loyalty to crown, cause, and conscience.

By the time I came to write Written in Their Stars, I had fully surrendered to their world. Luce Hutchinson—scholar, mother, and wife of the regicide John Hutchinson—offered a new lens through which to view the aftermath of war, England’s experiment as a Republic, and the uneasy peace that eventually restored the monarchy. Her memoirs, filled with intellect and sorrow, showed me the cost of idealism, the loneliness of conviction, and the strength of women who refused to be silenced.

What captivated me most was how close my characters lived to the pulse of history. They dined with kings, suffered under traitor’s laws, kept company with spies and courtesans, and made decisions that rippled far beyond their own lives. Through them, I was able to explore the great themes of the century—faith, power, identity, resilience—not in abstract terms, but through the deeply human experience of individuals caught between duty and desire.

The Lydiard Chronicles is not just a family saga. It’s a portrait of a century in turmoil, seen through the eyes of those who stood on the threshold between influence and invisibility. Their courage, flaws, and choices still speak to us today, in a world just as complex and divided.

In writing their stories, I came to understand that history is never just about kings and battles. It’s about the people who stood in the rooms where decisions were made—and those who suffered their consequences. And in that quiet space between fact and fiction, I found a voice that I hope brings the 17th century vividly, powerfully, and intimately to life.

Elizabeth St.John

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About the Author

Elizabeth St.John’s critically acclaimed historical fiction novels tell the stories of her ancestors: extraordinary women whose intriguing kinship with England's kings and queens brings an intimately unique perspective to Medieval, Tudor, and Stuart times. Inspired by family archives and residences from Lydiard Park to the Tower of London, Elizabeth spends much of her time exploring ancestral portraits, diaries, and lost gardens. And encountering the occasional ghost. But that’s another story. Living between California, England, and the past, Elizabeth is the International Ambassador for The Friends of Lydiard Park, an English charity dedicated to conserving and enhancing this beautiful centuries-old country house and park. As a curator for The Lydiard Archives, she is constantly looking for an undiscovered treasure to inspire her next novel. Find out more at Elizabeth's website http://www.elizabethjstjohn.com/ and follow her on Facebook, Twitter @ElizStJohn and Bluesky @elizabethstjohn.bsky.social‬