The Crown

  • Author Nancy Bilyeau
  • Narrator Charlie Norfolk
  • Publisher Orion
  • Run Time 16 hours and 16 minutes
  • Format Audio
  • Genre Historical fiction.
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What to expect

London, May 1537. As those closest to the throne are locked in a fierce fight against those desperate to save England's monasteries from destruction, young Joanna Stafford faces a far more personal battle. When Joanna learns her cousin is about to be burned at the stake for rebelling against Henry VIII, she makes a decision that will change not only her life, but quite possibly the fate of a nation.

It will mean turning her back on everything she knows, for Joanna is a novice at Dartford Priory - and to save her family, she must break the sacred rule of enclosure. But running away is only the first transgression. From the Tower of London, to secret assignations and from Stonehenge to the royal court - Joanna becomes entangled with a secret whose deadly past stretches farther back than anyone had imagined.

As her mission draws a trail in blood from the last whispered words of a queen to a pattern of unnatural deaths in the royal lineage, Joanna must determine who to trust, and how far she's willing to go to protect her life, her family and everything she holds dear.

Read by Charlie Norfolk

(p) 2014 Orion Publishing Group

Critics Review

  • A stunning debut. One of the best historical novels I have ever read

    Alison Weir

  • Nancy Bilyeau’s polished, inventive debut has all the ingredients of the best historical fiction: a broad cast of characters, well-imagined settings, and vivid storytelling . . . In Joanna Stafford, Bilyeau has given us a memorable character who is prepared to risk her life to save what she most values, while Stafford’s desperate search for a lost religious relic will satisfy even the most ardent mystery fans

    Deborah Harkness, author of A Discovery of Witches

  • A gripping treasure-hunt-like romp through one of the bloodiest periods in British history

    Good Housekeeping

  • With a strong protagonist and some well-drawn characters, there are political intrigues, power struggles and deadly encounters in this novel of mystery and suspense

    Choice magazine

  • An amazing first novel, filled with excitement, intrigue, espionage, and set against the background of one of the bloodiest periods of British history; the schism between Church and State. It’s an action-packed tale of one nun’s dangerous quest to discover the secrets of an ancient relic that dates back to the time of Christ

    Katherine Neville, author of The Eight

  • Bilyeau deftly weaves extensive historical detail throughout, but the real draw of this suspenseful novel is its juicy blend of lust, murder, conspiracy and betrayal

    O, the Oprah Magazine

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