Bøger af Jean Plaidy

Esta novela narra las vicisitudes de un próspero reinado, donde se yergue la figura de Isabel la Católica, una de las mujeres de más férrea voluntad que recuerda la historia.He aquí la apasionante vida de Isabel de Castilla y Fernando de Aragón, los Reyes Católicos. Juntos ascendieron al trono, juntos gobernaron lo que se convertiría en un glorioso imperio.Basada en hechos históricos, esta novela narra las vicisitudes de un próspero reinado, donde se yergue la figura de Isabel, una de las mujeres de voluntad más férrea que recuerda la historia. Una reina al frente del gobierno de España en unos años muy difíciles.Intrigas, amores clandestinos y escándalos palaciegos se suceden en una inolvidable novela donde la realidad histórica aparece magníficamente reflejada por la pluma de la autora.España para sus soberanos es la continuación de la historia de Isabel la Católica, iniciada por Jean Plaidy en Castilla para Isabel, y concluida con Las hijas de España.ENGLISH DESCRIPTIONThis novel narrates the difficulties of a prosperous reign, where the figure of Queen Isabel rises up, one of the most iron-willed women in history. Here you have the thrilling life of Isabel de Castilla and Fernando de Aragón, the Catholic Monarchs. Together, they ascended the throne; together, they governed that which became a glorious empire. This book tells the story of a queen leading the Spanish government during some very difficult years. Intrigues, clandestine love affairs, and palace scandals happen in an unforgettable novel where historical reality appears magnificently reflected by the author's pen. Spain for Its Sovereigns is the continuation of the story of Isabel The Catholic, started by Jean Plaidy in Castilla For Isabel and concluded in The Daughters of Spain.

Back in print after twenty years, the final novel in the classic Catherine de’ Medici trilogy (that includes Madame Serpent and The Italian Woman) from the bestselling grande dame of historical fiction.The final novel in the classic Catherine de’ Medici trilogy from Jean Plaidy, the grande dame of historical fiction. The aging Catherine de’ Medici and her sickly son King Charles are hoping to end the violence between the feuding Catholics and Huguenots. When Catherine arranges the marriage of her beautiful Catholic daughter Margot to Huguenot king Henry of Navarre, France’s subjects hope there will finally be peace. But shortly after the wedding, when many of the most prominent Huguenots are still celebrating in Paris, King Charles gives an order that could only have come from his mother: rid France of its “pestilential Huguenots forever.” In this bloody conclusion to the Catherine de’ Medici trilogy, Jean Plaidy shows the demise of kings and skillfully exposes Catherine’s lifetime of depraved scheming.

"Originally published in Great Britain in 1952 by Arrow Books"--T. p. verso.

When an empire is at stake, one woman stands between the past and the future In post-Restoration England, King Charles II has fathered numerous bastards, but not a single legitimate heir. Because of this, his brother, James, Duke of York, is heir-presumptive to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland-the three crowns of Britain. But James's devout Catholicism, and desire to return Britain to the rule of Rome, does not sit well with his subjects and his time as king is sure to be short.Raised under the Protestant guardianship of her uncle King Charles, James's daughter Mary finds herself at fifteen facing a marriage to the Dutch and Protestant William of Orange, long prophesied to be destined for the throne. But can she follow her calling to rule Britain without losing the love of her father? Captivating in its historical detail, lush and sweeping in its scope, and unforgettable in its dramatic depiction of relationships between monarchs and families, The Three Crowns is the singular story of the only joint sovereigns in British history.

In 1470, a reluctant Lady Anne Neville is betrothed by her father, the politically ambitious Earl of Warwick, to Edward, Prince of Wales. A gentle yet fiercely intelligent woman, Anne has already given her heart to the prince's younger brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Unable to oppose her father's will, she finds herself in line for the throne of England—an obligation that she does not want. Yet fate intervenes when Edward is killed at the Battle of Tewkesbury. Anne suddenly finds herself free to marry the man she loves—and who loves her in return. The ceremony is held at Westminster Abbey, and the duke and duchess make a happy home at Middleham Castle, where both spent much of their childhood. Their life is idyllic, until the reigning king dies and a whirlwind of dynastic maneuvering leads to his children being declared illegitimate. Richard inherits the throne as King Richard III, and Anne is crowned queen consort, a destiny she thought she had successfully avoided. Her husband's reign lasts two years, two months, and two days—and in that short time Anne witnesses the true toll that wearing the crown takes on Richard, the last king from the House of York.

Dangerous court intrigue and affairs of the heart collide as renowned novelist Jean Plaidy tells the story of Katherine Parr, the last of Henry VIII's six queens. Henry VIII's fifth wife, Katherine Howard, was both foolish and unfaithful, and she paid for it with her life. Henry vowed that his sixth wife would be different, and she was. Katherine Parr was twice widowed and thirty-one years old. A thoughtful, well-read lady, she was known at court for her unblemished reputation and her kind heart. She had hoped to marry for love and had set her heart on Thomas Seymour, the dashing brother of Henry's third queen. But the aging king-more in need of a nurse than a wife-was drawn to her, and Katherine could not refuse his proposal of marriage. Queen Katherine was able to soothe the King's notorious temper, and his three children grew fond of her, the only mother they had ever really known. Trapped in a loveless marriage to a volatile tyrant, books were Katherine's consolation. But among her intellectual pursuits was an interest in Lutheranism-a religion that the king saw as a threat to his supremacy as head of the new Church of England. Courtiers envious of the Queen's influence over Henry sought to destroy her by linking her with the "radical" religious reformers. Henry raged that Katherine had betrayed him, and had a warrant drawn up for her arrest and imprisonment. At court it was whispered that the king would soon execute yet another wife. Henry's sixth wife would have to rely on her wits to survive where two other women had perished. . . .

For the first time in paperback—all three of Jean Plaidy's Katharine of Aragon novels in one volume.Legendary historical novelist Jean Plaidy begins her tales of Henry VIII's queens with the story of his first wife, the Spanish princess Katharine of Aragon.As a teenager, Katharine leaves her beloved Spain, land of olive groves and soaring cathedrals, for the drab, rainy island of England. There she is married to the king's eldest son, Arthur, a sickly boy who dies six months after the wedding. Katharine is left a widow who was never truly a wife, lonely in a strange land, with a very bleak future. Her only hope of escape is to marry the king's second son, Prince Henry, now heir to the throne. Tall, athletic, handsome, a lover of poetry and music, Henry is all that Katharine could want in a husband. But their first son dies and, after many more pregnancies, only one child survives, a daughter. Disappointed by his lack of an heir, Henry's eye wanders, and he becomes enamored of another woman—a country nobleman's daughter named Anne Boleyn. When Henry begins searching for ways to put aside his loyal first wife, Katharine must fight to remain Queen of England and to keep the husband she once loved so dearly.

As Henry VIII's only child, the future seemed golden for Princess Mary. She was the daughter of Henry's first queen, Katharine of Aragon, and was heir presumptive to the throne of England. Red-haired like her father, she was also intelligent and deeply religious like her staunchly Catholic mother. But her father's ill-fated love for Anne Boleyn would shatter Mary's life forever. The father who had once adored her was now intent on having a male heir at all costs. He divorced her mother and, at the age of twelve, Mary was banished from her father's presence, stripped of her royal title, and replaced by his other children--first Elizabeth, then Edward. Worst of all, she never saw her beloved mother again; Katharine was exiled too, and died soon after. Lonely and miserable, Mary turned for comfort to the religion that had sustained her mother.In a stroke of fate, however, Henry's much-longed-for son died in his teens, leaving Mary the legitimate heir to the throne. It was, she felt, a sign from God--proof that England should return to the Catholic Church. Swayed by fanatical advisors and her own religious fervor, Mary made horrific examples of those who failed to embrace the Church, earning her the immortal nickname "Bloody Mary." She was married only once, to her Spanish cousin Philip II--a loveless and childless marriage that brought her to the edge of madness.With In the Shadow of the Crown, Jean Plaidy brings to life the dark story of a queen whose road to the throne was paved with sorrow.

On the morning of 20th June 1837, an eighteen-year-old girl is called from her bed to be told that she is Queen of England. Then there is the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne - 'Lord M' - worldly cynic and constant companion to the queen, himself a veteran of many a latter-day scandal.

The young Princess Victoria, strictly confined within the boundaries of Kensington Palace, is being moulded for her awesome future as Queen of England. The jealous and scheming Duke of Cumberland is a constant threat to her rightful accession . her mother's sinister friend, Sir John Conroy, makes her uneasy .

The young Spanish widow, Katharine of Aragon, has become the pawn between two powerful monarchies. After less than a year as the wife of the frail Prince Arthur, the question of whether the marriage was ever consummated will decide both her fate and England's.

The ageing Catherine de' Medici has arranged the marriage of her beautiful Catholic daughter Margot to the uncouth Huguenot King Henry of Navarre.

Sullen-eyed and broken-hearted, fourteen-year-old Catherine de' Medici arrives in Marseilles to marry Henry of Orleans, second son of the King of France.

After twelve years of marriage, the once fortuitous union of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon has declined into a loveless stalemate. Their only child, Mary, is disregarded as a suitable heir, and Henry's need for a legitimate son to protect the Tudor throne has turned him into a callous and greatly feared ruler.