Robin Maxwell Books In Order

The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn

In this ‘energetic’ Kirkus Reviews re creation of Anne Boleyn’s tragic life and death Robin Maxwell offers a pitch perfect version of a bawdy and exuberant time filled with lust, betrayal, love, and murder. When the young Queen Elizabeth I is entrusted with Anne Boleyn’s secret diary, she discovers a great deal about the much maligned mother she never knew. And on learning the truth about her lascivious and despotic father, Henry VIII, she vows never to relinquish control to any man. But this avowal doesn’t prevent Elizabeth from pursuing a torrid love affair with her horsemaster, Robin Dudley described with near shocking candor as too are Anne’s graphic trysts with a very persistent and lustful Henry. Blending a historian’s attention to accuracy with a novelist’s artful rendering, Maxwell weaves compelling descriptions of court life and devastating portraits of actual people into her naughty, page turning tale. The result is a masterpiece of historical fiction so prophetic of our time that one would think it were ripped from today’s headlines.

The Queen’s Bast*ard

Historians have long whispered that Elizabeth ‘the Virgin Queen’s’ passionate, lifelong affair with Robin Dudley, Earl of Leicester, may have led to the birth of a son, Arthur Dudley. In this exquisite sequel to The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn, Robin Maxwell fashions a stunning fictional account of the child switched at birth by a lady in waiting who foresaw the deleterious political consequences of a royal bast*ard. Set against the sweeping, meticulously rendered backdrop of court intrigues, international scandals, and England’s battle against the Spanish Armada, The Queen’s Bast*ard deftly juxtaposes Elizabeth and Leicester’s tumultuous relationship with the memoirs of the adventurous son lost to them yet ultimately discovered.

Virgin

…
a riveting portrait of Elizabeth I as a romantic and
vulnerable teenager, dangerously awakening to a perilous
liaison with the wrong man.

England, 1547: King Henry is dead. Elizabeth’s half brother, nine year old Edward, is king in name only. Thomas Seymour, brother to the ambitious duke who has seized power in this time of crisis, calculatingly works his way into Elizabeth’s home in genteel Chelsea House. He marries Henry’s widow, Catherine Parr, and uses his venerable charms and sexual magnetism to indulge his infatuation for young Elizabeth. Caught hopelessly under Thomas Seymour’s spell, surrounded by kind friends and hidden enemies, Elizabeth can only follow her heart to ensure survival.

‘History doesn’t come more fascinating’ Entertainment Weekly than in the enthralling novels of Robin Maxwell. Virgin is her crowning achievement in a stunning trilogy that ‘brings all of bloody Tudor England vividly to life’ Publishers Weekly, starred review.

The Wild Irish

The glorious, turbulent sixteenth century is drawing to a close. Elizabeth, Queen of England, has taken on the mighty Spanish Armada and, in a stunning sea battle, vanquished it. But her troubles are far from over. At home she is challenged at every turn by the brilliant but reckless Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, whose dangerous mix of passion and political ambition drives the aging queen to distraction. Just across the western channel, her colony Ireland is embroiled in seething rebellion, the island’s fierceuntamed clan chieftains and their ‘wild Irish’ followers refusing to bow to their English oppressors. In the midst of the conflict is Grace O’Malley, notorious pirate, gunrunner, and ‘Mother of the Irish Rebellion.’ For years, the audacious Grace has plotted and fought against the English stranglehold on her beloved country. At the height of the uprising Grace takes an outrageous risk, sailing up the River Thames to London for a face to face showdown with her nemesis, the Queen of England. The historic meeting of these two female titans perfectly matched in guts, guile, and political genius sets the stage for the telling of the little known but crucial saga of Elizabeth’s Irish war, a conflict at the very root of every subsequent Irish uprising. No one breathes life into these strong and pugnacious women as does Robin Maxwell in this captivating novel, a rousing tale that makes historygloriously real.

Mademoiselle Boleyn

When her father is assigned the task of spying on the French Court, the charming and sweetly innocent Anne Boleyn is delighted by the thought of a new adventure. And she is not to be disappointed, for her beautiful sister, Mary, has been handed a mission: to let herself be seduced by the King of France in order to uncover his secrets.

Mesmerized by the thrilling passion, intrigue, and betrayal that unfolds, Anne discovers the power of being a woman who catches the eye of a powerful king. And, as she grows into a beautiful young woman, she undergoes her own sexual awakening, each daring exploit taking her one step closer to the life that is her destiny.

Signora Da Vinci

Caterina was fifteen years old when she fell in love with a man much above her station. The daughter of a humble village apothecary, she was considered unmarriageable by her lover’s wealthy and ambitious family. She had no recourse when they took her child away from her, leaving her bereft and rejected by society as a fallen woman. But Caterina had always hidden a part of herself from society. Unlike most women of that time, she had been educated since childhood not only in her father s medicinal arts, but in Greek philosophy and pagan mysticism, considered heretical by the church. Now, to be close to her son, she would carry that deceit further than she had ever imagined, taking up a new life under a dangerous new identity. In Florence at the height of Italy s cultural Renaissance, Caterina would discover undreamed of opportunities and freedoms and her gifted son, Leonardo, would change the world forever.

O, Juliet

‘One of the queens of historical fiction’ offers a new take on the mesmerizing young woman and poetess who inspired Shakespeare’s most famous female character. Before Juliet Capelletti lie two futures: a traditionally loveless marriage to her father’s business partner, or the fulfillment of her poetic dreams, inspired by the great Dante. Unlike her beloved friend Lucrezia, who looks forward to her arranged marriage, Juliet has a wild, romantic imagination that knows not the bounds of her great family’s stalwart keep. The latter path is hers for the taking when Juliet meets Romeo Monticecco, a soulful young man seeking peace between their warring families. A dreamer himself, Romeo is unstoppable, once he determines to capture the heart of the remarkable woman foretold in his stars. The breathless intrigue that ensues is the stuff of beloved legend. But those familiar with Shakespeare’s muse know only half the story…