About this item
A sweeping historical novel in the vein of Hilary Mantel and Maggie O'Farrell set during the time of the Tudors' ascent. The Pretender tells the story of Lambert Simnel, who was raised in obscurity as a peasant boy to protect his safety, believed to be the heir to the throne occupied by Richard III, and briefly crowned, at the age of ten, as King Edward VI, one of the last of the Plantagenets.. In 1480 John Collan's greatest anxiety is how to circumvent the village's devil goat on his way to collect water. But the arrival of a well-dressed stranger from London upends his life forever: John is not John Collan, not the son of Will Collan but the son of the long-deceased Duke of Clarence, and has been hidden in the countryside after a brotherly rift over the crown - and because Richard III has a habit of disappearing his nephews.
About the Author
Jo Harkin's passion is literary sci-fi, with an emphasis on how new technology impacts human lives. Her first speculative fiction novel, Tell Me An Ending, is released in March 2022 in the US and May 2022 in the UK. She lives in Berkshire, England.
