Succession - Hardcover

Michael, Livi

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0241146240 ISBN 13: 9780241146248

Publisher: Fig Tree, 2014

Synopsis

'In Succession Livi Michael engages meticulously with the diverse historical accounts of the Wars of the Roses, but she also invests intimate and poignant humanity into the personal tragedies of an era wrought with conflict and terror.' Elizabeth Fremantle, author of Queen's Gambit Behind the bloody battle scenes of the Wars of the Roses lie the sinewy political skills of a remarkable pair of women. Margaret of Anjou, French, beautiful, unpopular; her marriage in 1444 to a young Henry VI causes national uproar. As English rule in France collapses, Henry goes insane, civil war erupts, and families are pitted against each other. With Henry VI incapacitated, Margaret Anjou is left to fight alone for her son's position as rightful heir. Meanwhile Margaret Beaufort, nobly born but far more distant from the throne, becomes a great heiress while only an infant. Her childhood is lived in echoing remote castles and she is lonely and vulnerable: everyone at Henry's court competes to be her guardian and to engineer an advantageous alliance through marriage to her. By the age of thirteen, she has married twice and given birth to her only son - the future King of England. But then she is separated from him . . . and her fight really begins Succession is the intense and powerful story of the women who gave birth to the Tudor dynasty.

About this title

About the Author

Livi Michael has published six novels for adults: Rebellion, published in 2015, Succession, published in 2014; Under a Thin Moon which won the Arthur Welton award in 1992; Their Angel Reach which won the Faber prize in 1995; All the Dark Air (1997) which was shortlisted for the Mind Award; and Inheritance, which won a Society of Authors award. Livi has two sons and lives in Greater Manchester. She teaches creative writing at the Manchester Metropolitan University and has been a senior lecturer in creative writing at Sheffield Hallam University.

Review

Clever...the narrative has the colour and power of the best of the chronicles she uses. Sunday Times A gripping story...Juxtaposing illuminating contemporary accounts of the Wars of the Roses with breathtaking insights into the minds of the principal players, Succession puts the conflict into a compelling context whilst exploring the human cost of the bloody, bitter birth of the Tudor dynasty. Lancashire Evening Post This novel is wonderfully stylistically fresh, making inventive use of contemporary chronicles, which it mimics to blackly comic effect. But it's also a heartfelt account of the eye-opening, hair-raising early life of Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII. -- Suzannah Dunn Waterstones blog, 'Author's Books of the Year 2014' 'In Succession Livi Michael engages meticulously with the diverse historical accounts of the Wars of the Roses, but she also invests intimate and poignant humanity into the personal tragedies of an era wrought with conflict and terror.' -- Elizabeth Fremantle, author of Queen's Gambit

About this edition

• Publisher: Fig Tree
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0241146240
• ISBN 13: 9780241146248
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 400