The House of the Red Duke by Vivienne Brereton

The House of the Red Duke

Power And Passion at the Tudor Court

A Phoenix Rising Book One

by Vivienne Brereton

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“If I have anything to do with it, we Howards will live forever.”

Thomas Howard Charismatic head of one of the most powerful Houses in Tudor England. An indomitable old man approaching eighty: soldier, courtier, politician, a ‘phoenix’ rising from the ashes. After a calamitous period of disgrace, the Howards, renowned for their good looks and charm, are once more riding high at the court of Henry VIII.

Set against the backdrop of the extraordinary 1520 ‘Field of Cloth of Gold’, it is a tale of ambition, love, and intrigue, with Thomas at the centre of this intricate tapestry

Will Thomas’s bold vow be fulfilled? Danger stalks the corridors of the royal courts of Europe. Uneasy lies the head beneath a crown. Every other ruler – a fickle bedfellow…or sworn enemy.

The action takes place in England, Scotland, and France. On either side of the Narrow Sea, four young lives are interwoven, partly unaware of each other, and certainly oblivious to what Dame Fortune has in store for them.

“Nicolas de La Barre laid his lute to one side, hardly bothering to stifle a yawn of boredom. Nevertheless, he couldn’t escape the fact he’d agreed to take on a new wife….”

Explosive family secrets are concealed behind the ancient walls of castles in three lands. But… “There are no secrets that time does not reveal.”

A Word from the Author

WHY I WROTE IT.

‘A Phoenix Rising’, Book One of ‘The House of the Red Duke’ is the result of my lifelong passion for the Tudors, coupled with a fascination with the House of Howard. Most people have heard of Catherine Howard, the ill-fated fifth queen of Henry VIII, a tragic tale of a young girl passionately in love with a distant cousin her own age, but forced by her family into a role that would bring them power and wealth. I once read somewhere that the Tudors were attracted to Howards ‘like bees to nectar’. In that one phrase, I suppose my interest was piqued. Who were these Howards, so alluring and charming that Henry Tudor married two of their women? From there, it was a short step to Thomas Howard, the charismatic head of the dynasty, as powerful in Tudor times as any Getty or Maxwell. Almost eighty at the start, he’s a walking miracle: soldier, courtier, politician, a ‘phoenix rising from the ashes’.

So, I placed Thomas in the centre of my story and from then, the rest of the characters lined up around him. It is part fact, part fiction, woven together in the manner of an intricate tapestry. The action takes place in Scotland, Cornwall, London and France, at three different courts. We move from one location to another, discovering Thomas’s secrets, all the time wondering whether they will one day catch up with him.

WHAT’S IT ABOUT

Power. Passion. Rivalry. Arranged marriages. Hidden family secrets coming to light….

The book opens in 1497 in a bedchamber in Zennor Castle, Cornwall, where we find a youth and a young girl passionately in love and planning to wed. But Ned is a Howard and this is not a marriage of which his father, Thomas, would approve.

Moving forward 23 years and preparations are being made for the 1520 Field of Cloth of Gold: an incredible festival of sporting activities, music, dancing, feasting, and finding love in a place between the English Pale and French territory. Thomas is in the thick of the plans at Hampton Court, while on either side of the Narrow Sea, others prepare for the three week extravaganza: Valentine de Fleury, a young French girl desperate to avoid a marriage to a baron old enough to be her father. Tristan d’Ardres, second son of the Governor of Picardy, destined for the church. But not if he has anything to do with it. Nicolas de La Barre. Although he’s a magnet for beautiful women, his soldier’s heart has never been touched, the reason why he agrees to an arranged marriage. Finally, there is Cecily Tredavoe, Cornish born and bred. Unaware of what Dame Fortune has planned for her.

Thomas Howard is the lynchpin that binds these four lives together. ‘A Phoenix Rising’ returns to 1497 and follows their trials and tribulations while giving us a glimpse of three European courts and a life once lived.

(Vivienne Brereton, August 2019)