SHORTLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS’ CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD’What a ride!’ India Knight, Sunday Times Summer reads’Thrilling… a sumptuous feast of plotting and intrigue’ Mail on Sunday ‘A complete joy’ Bettany Hughes ‘Gloriously immersive’ Guardian————————————————-Frances Howard has beauty and a powerful family – and is the most unhappy creature in the world. Anne Turner has wit and talent – but no stage on which to display them. Little stands between her and the abyss of destitution. When these two very different women meet in strange circumstances, a powerful friendship is sparked. Frankie sweeps Anne into a world of splendour that exceeds all she imagined: a Court whose foreign king is a stranger to his own subjects; where ancient families fight for power, and where the sovereign’s favourite may rise and rise – so long as he remains in favour. Anne and Frankie dare to seek a little happiness for themselves in this extr