The Fair Maid of Kent
by Caroline Newark
It is 1341 and Joan of Kent, the fourteen-year-old cousin of the King of England, is poised on the brink of marriage with the Earl of Salisbury's son. While plans are made for the king's continuing war against France, the families gather to celebrate the wedding. But the bride is in tears. For unknown to everyone, Joan has a secret and it is one so scandalous, so unspeakably shocking, that discovery could destroy this glorious marriage and place the lives of those Joan loves in danger. From the glittering court of Edward III to the lonely border fortress of Wark, to the bleak marshlands before the walls of Calais, Joan must tread a careful path balanced between truth and deception, where love is an illusion and one false move could spell disaster. When tragedy strikes at the heart of the royal family Joan finds herself facing a foe more deadly than a violent husband. Imprisoned in her chamber and with her fate resting in the hands of the Pope's tribunal in Avignon, there is...