WORCESTER: Script Haven

Thursday 31st October, 2024

7:00pm

Event information

AN EVENING WITH ANNIE GARTHWAITE – ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF THE KING’S MOTHER

The King’s Mother – A Times Book of the Month
"A triumph" - The Times / "Electrifying" - Daily Mail

With energy and ambition, The King’s Mother takes us from the Wars of the Roses to the dawn of the Tudor age – and tells the story of those era-defining wars through the eyes of four women who shaped and suffered them:
Cecily Neville – King’s Mother
Marguerite of Anjou – deposed Queen
Elizabeth Woodville – betrayed wife
Margaret Beaufort – mother to an exiled son

Reading from The King’s Mother Annie will describe all that these women did and were driven to do to win the crown for their sons and become King’s Mother themselves. “This,” she says, “is a story of mothers and sons; of maternal ferocity and female ambition – and of all the terrors that families can inflict upon themselves.” And, by focusing on what these women wanted, suffered, knew and did, The King’s Mother gives us a fresh take on some of English history’s most enduring mysteries:

Was Edward IV’s marriage bigamous and his children bastards? Why did he order the execution of his brother George, years after forgiving his treason? And did Richard III murder his brother’s children, the Princes in the Tower? The women were there – and they know the truth.

Annie’s first novel, Cecily, was named a ‘top pick' by The Times and Sunday Times, a 'Best Book of 2021' by independent bookshops and Waterstones, and has recently been optioned for television. The King'Mother, will be published by Penguin on 11 July 2024. We’ll have copies on sale and Annie will be happy to sign them!

Praise for The King’s Mother:
‘Elegant and propulsive . . . This novel is in a class of its own.’ AK BLAKEMORE
‘History at its most powerful: intimate and personal, visceral and devastating’ JENNIFER SAINT
‘Family dynamics at their most fierce – timeless and brilliant!’ KATE SAWYER
‘Incredible and compelling - this is the new Wolf Hall.’ COSTANZA CASATI
‘Intense and personal, with stakes as great as kingdoms and a mother’s love.’ CONN IGGULDEN
‘Thrums with the passion and resolve of the women it brings to life’ JOANNE BURN
‘Immersive and transporting. A brilliant achievement.’ LIZ FREMANTLE
‘Utterly gripping, beautifully judged and deeply feminist’ ELIZABETH BUCHAN