JANE ANGER

1589: A woman may be on the throne of England, but in the burgeoning pamphlet-printing business it is men who own the narrative. And the narrative tells a familiar story against women: of original sin and corruption, of temptresses and witches, of the risky folly of indulging an outspoken wife.

Kit Straker, trapped in a marriage to a man whose ego is as large as his belly is wide, can only suffer in silence as the pamphlets of Francis Straker, decrying the weakness and sinfulness of the fairer sex gather a growing following in the city.

But when she meets Will, an apprentice printer, and Winifred, a prostitute who has carved out her own kind of freedom among the stews of Southwark, they give her the courage to secretly defy her husband and spread her own, very different message. Soon London is in thrall to the battle of wits between Jane Anger and Francis Straker, and the women of the city are asking questions they have never dared utter before.

But as the net closes in around her and those she loves are dragged deeper into danger, Kit must choose between staying silent or gambling all on the power of words.