About the book…
Henry VIII is best known in history for his tempestuous marriages and the fates of his six wives. However, as acclaimed historian Tracy Borman makes clear in her illuminating new chronicle of Henry’s life, his reign and reputation were hugely influenced by the men who surrounded and interacted with him as companions and confidants, servants and ministers, and occasionally as rivals—many of whom have been underplayed in previous biographies.
These relationships offer a fresh, often surprising perspective on the legendary king, revealing the contradictions in his beliefs, behavior, and character in a nuanced light. They show him capable of fierce but seldom abiding loyalty, of raising men up only to destroy them later. He loved to be attended by boisterous young men, the likes of his intimate friend Charles Brandon, who shared his passion for sport, but could also be diverted by men of intellect, culture, and wit, as his longstanding interplay with Cardinal Wolsey and his reluctant abandonment of Thomas More attest. Eager to escape the shadow of his father, Henry VII, he was often trusting and easily led by male attendants and advisors early in his reign (his coronation was just shy of his 18th birthday in 1509); in time, though, he matured into a profoundly suspicious and paranoid king whose ruthlessness would be ever more apparent, as Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk and uncle to two of Henry’s wives, discovered to his great discomfort, and as Eustace Chapuys, the ambassador of Charles V of Spain, often reported.
Recounting the great Tudor’s life and signal moments through the lens of his male relationships, Tracy Borman’s new biography reveals Henry’s personality in all its multi-faceted, contradictory glory, and sheds fresh light on his reign for anyone fascinated by the Tudor era and its legacy
About the Book
Over the last few years, I have been trying to change how I think about health and beauty, moving to a more natural way of living. This includes starting to make my own beauty products, which has been a bit hit and miss when it comes to my successes here. That’s why Pure Skin Care appealed to me so much, it promised plenty of natural recipes for me to try out.
When she comes too, in pain and with someone’s screams ringing in her ear, Claire DeWitt can’t remember where she is or how she got there. Opening her eyes, she sees an ambulance and knows she’s on a stretcher about to be taken to hospital. She also knows that, if she goes, she might not make it through the day alive. So she attacks a police officer, steals a car and heads out to figure out just who was trying to kill her and why.
Grieving for her father, a respected Detective whose footsteps she’s followed, DI Amy Winter returns to work to a letter she could never have expected to receive. It’s from a notorious serial killer, Lillian Grimes, who – along with her husband – was responsible for the death of numerous young girls offering to help her find the bodies of three victims whose graves are still unknown.
When Maya gets home from work on the night of her and her boyfriend Jamie’s second anniversary, she is almost bouncing off the walls, convinced that this is the night he’ll pop the question. Why else would he tell her he had a surprise for her before he left for work that morning? So, why hasn’t he come home?
Nick Dean loves his family. He has gorgeous wife and two beautiful young children. Life couldn’t be better – until it couldn’t get any worse. An acting coach who specialises in working with teenagers, one of his students has accused him of abuse. And everyone believes her, even – eventually – his wife. Nick swears he’s innocent but it seems that, despite there being no evidence, he is considered guilty until proved innocent.