Robin Maxwell

Following the "absolutely superb"(Diane Haeger, author of The Secret Bride) Mademoiselle Boleyn, novelist Robin Maxwell delves into the life of Caterina-the adventurer, alchemist, and mother of Leonardo da Vinci. Caterina was fifteen years old in 1452 when she bore an illegitimate child in the tiny village of Vinci. His name was Leonardo, and he was destined to change the world forever. Caterina suffered much cruelty as an unmarried mother and had no recourse when her boy was taken away from her. But no one knew the secrets of her own childhood, nor could ever have imagined the dangerous and heretical scheme she would devise to protect and watch over her remarkable son. This is her story.

En 1483, dos jóvenes desaparecieron sin dejar el menor rastro de la Torre de Londres. No tendría quizá mayor importancia si no se tratara de dos príncipes, Eduardo y Ricardo de York, y el misterio parece no haberse resuelto todavía: ¿Qué fue de estos dos niños?, ¿fueron víctimas de una cruel trama urdida por su tío el duque de Gloucester, coronado como Ricardo III? En una espléndida recreación de las insidiosas intrigas palaciegas y sirviéndose de unos personajes perfectamente trazados, Robin Maxwell no sólo narra con el vigor y el colorido que la caracterizan las despiadadas luchas por el trono, sino que incluso ofrece una sorprendente explicación del misterio absolutamente convincente.

Al alcanzar el trono de Inglaterra, la joven Isabel I recibe en secreto el diario de su madre, que fue ejecutada en la Torre de Londres. Este diario revela los entresijos de la relación que Ana Bolen

Con apenas quince años, Caterina, hija de un modesto alquimista, da a luz un niño en la pequeña villa de Vinci y es obligada a entregar a su hijo al padre, notario, canciller y embajador de la República de Florencia. Sin embargo, Caterina no está dispuesta a rendirse fácilmente. Desde ese momento, estar al lado de su hijo se convierte casi en una obsesión, y ni siquiera cuando éste es enviado a estudiar a Florencia se separará de él. Disfrazada de hombre, y al frente de su propio taller de alquimia, Caterina compartirá la vida de logros artísticos y descubrimientos de quien estaba destinado a cambiar el mundo para siempre, su hijo Leonardo da Vinci. A través de una mujer de extraordinario coraje que logró introducirse en ambientes casi inaccesibles y dominados por los grandes hombres de su tiempo, Robin Maxwell recrea de un modo deslumbrante el Renacimiento, todo un mundo de pasión intelectual y política que nos acerca a personajes tan fascinantes como Ludovico Sforza, Verrocchio, Lorenzo de Médici y, por supuesto, Leonardo.

El libro, de lectura amena, trata sobre un diario de la reina Ana Bolena, la segunda esposa de Enrique VIII de Inglaterra, el cual es entregado a Isabel I, su hija, por una de las damas de la corte de Ana, el día de su ejecución en la Torre de Londres. Como diario, por supuesto es narrado en primera persona, y cuenta todas las vicisitudes de Ana primero como cortesana, luego como amante del rey y finalmente como esposa. El libro relata detalladamente la vida de la corte inglesa y describe la personalidad del famoso rey quien se casó seis veces.

A partir de uno de los más controvertido misterio de la historia, Robin Maxwell ha construido una espléndida novela: ¿Tuvo la reina Isabel I un hijo bastardo con su favorito y amante Robin Dudley, conde de Leicester (titulo que se extinguio a la muerte de Dudley)?. Una novela llena de tension y un colorido fresco de la Europa del siglo XVI. A traves de ella veremos los conflictos religiodos, las intrigas de las cortes inglesas y españolas, el enfrentamiento con Felipe II que desembocaria en la batalla contra la Armada Invencible y los escandalos internacionales en los que se vio envuelta la corona, de la que fuera conocida como, la Reina virgen. Esta novela se situa cronologicamente a continuacion de El diario secreto de Ana Bolena, que acabamos de publicar en Narrativas historicas, centrandose en la vertiente politica del personaje de Isabel I (hija de Ana Bolena y Enrique VIII) y en su enorme capacidad para lidiar con las tretas y jugarretas cortesanas de todo tipo.

Now available again, the first book in Robin Maxwells acclaimed Elizabethan Quartet: "Wonderfully juicy . . . Maxwell brings all of bloody Tudor England vividly to life (Publishers Weekly, starred review). One was queen for a thousand days; one for over forty years. Both were passionate, headstrong women, loved and hated by Henry VIII. Yet until the discovery of the secret diary, Anne Boleyn and her daughter, Elizabeth I, had never really met. Anne was the second of Henrys six wives, doomed to be beloved, betrayed, and beheaded. When Henry fell madly in love with her upon her return from an education at the lascivious French court, he was already a married man. While his passion for Anne was great enough to rock the foundation of England and of all Christendom, in the end he forsook her for another love, schemed against her, and ultimately had her sentenced to death. But unbeknownst to the king, Anne had kept a diary. At the beginning of Elizabeth s reign, it is pressed into her hands. In reading it, the young queen discovers a great deal about her much-maligned mother: Annes fierce determination, her hard-won knowledge about being a woman in a world ruled by despotic men, and her deep-seated love for the infant daughter taken from her shortly after her birth. In the journals pages, Elizabeth finds an echo of her own dramatic life as a passionate young woman at the center of Englands powerful male establishment, and with the knowledge gained from them, makes a resolution that will change the course of history.

Now available again, the third book in Robin Maxwells acclaimed Elizabethan quartet, a Los Angeles Times bestseller called "Tense, absorbing, highly entertaining" by Library Journal A book of passion, of sixteenth-century England, of greed and political ambition unto death. Historians and novelists have written extensively about the various aspects of Queen Elizabeth Is long, rich, and tumultuous life. No one has ever given us a fully realized portrait of the greatest English monarch as a young girl. Concluding her brilliant Tudor trilogy, Robin Maxwell enters this new territory by introducing Elizabeth as a romantic and vulnerable teenager dangerously awakening to sexuality with the wrong man. Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, was banished from the court at the age of two when her father sent Anne Boleyn to her death. Seven years later, when the gracious and immensely wealthy Catherine Parr became Henrys sixth wife, she softened the Kings heart and Elizabeth was readmitted to the court. For the next four years the young princess enjoyed a warm friendship with Catherine and a new sense of belonging. In 1547, Great Harry is dead, and Elizabeths nine-year-old brother Edward VI is king in name only. Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, has boldly named himself Lord Protector and effectively seized power. Meanwhile the dukes equally ambitious brother Thomas, realizing he cannot wrest control directly, has deployed his greatest talenthis charm and sexual magnetismto utmost effect by persuading Henrys widow Catherine to marry him. His real goal, however, is the late kings daughter: Elizabeth herself. And so the game begins, one with rules that only reckless, amoral Thomas Seymour understands. Into this intrigue are drawn both those who love Elizabeth and those who wish her ill. In order to escape certain doom and achieve independence, Elizabeth must stand alone.

Historians have long whispered that the Virgin Queen Elizabeths 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 bastard. Set against the sweeping, meticulously rendered backdrop of court intrigues, international scandals, and Englands battle against the Spanish Armada in 1588, Maxwell deftly juxtaposes Elizabeth and Leicesters tumultuous relationship with the memoirs of the adventurous son lost to themyet ultimately discovered.The Queens Bastard artfully weaves two tales, the first told by Arthur Dudley himself, who, exchanged at birth by Elizabeths intimates for a stillborn infant, grows up as a country gentleman, never knowing his true identity. A dreamer, a romantic, and a magnificent horseman, Arthur sets off to fight Philip II of Spain. Meanwhile, the lifelong love affair of Elizabeth and Leicester has only been strengthened by the presumed loss of their child. The two narratives collide when Arthur learns who his true parents are. Religion, sex, and the sixteenth centurys most fascinating personalities are woven into a rich tapestry of betrayal, the quest for power, and love.

Queen Elizabeth I, daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII and later Englands most beloved monarch, was banished by her father at the age of two, but is readmitted to the Tudor fold at nine when Henrys sixth wife, Katherine Parr, softens his heart towards Elizabeth. After Henrys death, Katherine marries Thomas Seymour, a shallow man of reckless ambition. The amoral Seymour orchestrates his master plan to capture the crown, one that includes the seduction of the young and vulnerable princess.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fictionnovels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

En esta novela alternan dos textos distintos: por un lado un narrador en tercera persona relata cómo la reina Isabel I abandonó la corte cuando se supo embarazada, y los problemas tanto de política interior como internacional a los que tuvo que enfrentarse en los años posteriores; y por otro lado, el hijo de la reina al cuidado de una familia humilde, emprende una ascendente carrera militar que le pondra en primera linea de fuego en el escenario en el que se esta decidiendo el futuro de Europa. Esto nos permite tanto adentrarnos en los entresijos de la corte, como situarnos en el centro de la accion (especialmente en Flandes, donde se muestran en toda su crudeza las condiciones de un soldado de la epoca).

Con apenas nueve años, Ana Bolena es enviada a la corte francesa con su hermana María, en lo que pronto descubre que no es sino una jugada de la alta política europea llevada a cabo con astucia por su ambicioso padre. Sin embargo, Ana no pierde el tiempo, pronto aprence a jugar sus cartas, y esta dispuesta a aprovechar todas las oportunidades que la corte parisina le ofrece de ampliar sus conocimientos y experiencias (y encontrara un inesperado benefactor y consejero en la persona de Leonardo da Vinci). De un modo inesperadamente duro, Ana se enfrentara a un ambiente de promiscuidad, lubricidad y vicio en el que tendra que aprender a moverse.Si se considera este libro dentro del conjunto de la obra de Maxwell dedicado a la dinastia Tudor es la novela en la que mas se acerca a los sentimientos d los personajes y sobre todo a su vida sexual.

From the author of The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn comes a riveting portrait of Anne Boleyns youth and her unconventional education in the court of the King of France.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.

An enchanting novel on the life and origins of Leonardo da Vincis mother, as imagined by the author of the absolutely superb (Diane Haeger, author of The Secret Bride) Mademoiselle Boleyn.A young woman named Caterina was only fifteen years old in 1452 when she bore an illegitimate child in the tiny village of Vinci. His name was Leonardo, and he was destined to change the world forever.Caterina suffered much cruelty as an unmarried mother and had no recourse when her boy was taken away from her. But no one knew the secrets of her own childhood, nor could ever have guessed the dangerous and heretical scheme she would devise to protect and watch over her remarkable son. This captivating novel imagines the story of Caterinathe brilliant young woman, the adventurer, the alchemistduring the fascinating period of the Renaissance.

A dramatic recreation of the lives of two of the most famous women in history, Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I.It is 1560, and the newly crowned Elizabeth I is about to become romantically involved with Robert Dudley when an old woman appears bearing a diary written in the hand of the young queens mother, Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth has grown up knowing nothing of her notorious mother but what official history put forth: that she was an adulterer and traitor and deserved to die. Now, reading her mothers diary, she learns the truth.She learns of the unstable King Henry VIII, the pious Queen Catherine, scheming Cardinal Wolsey, high-minded Thomas More and much, much more...