Wolf Hall meets Demon Copperhead in a sharply ambitious, brilliantly imagined and hugely entertaining story of intrigue, deceit, revenge and ambition**NAMED AS BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE SUNDAY TIMES****PICKED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025 BY THE GUARDIAN, SUNDAY TIMES, DAILY MAIL, AND THE I****SHORTLISTED FOR THE WINSTON GRAHAM HISTORICAL PRIZE**‘Wickedly funny ... the filthy, clever, immersive picaresque you didn’t know you needed’ Guardian, The best fiction of 2025‘I read it with the dedicated fervour of a kid discovering literature for the first time’ Yael van der Wouden‘Funny, moving, filthy and original’ The Times‘So alive I felt Harkin might be a time traveller’ Maggie Shipstead ‘The most enjoyable historical novel I’ve read in years’ Spectator ________________________________________Kill the pretender. Do not let it be known that there was a pretender to kill.The year is 1483 and England is in peril. The much-despised Richard III is not long for the throne, and the man who will become Henry VII stands poised to snatch the crown for himself. But for twelve-year-old John Collan, living in a remote village with his widowed father, these matters seem far away.But history has other plans for John.Stolen from his family, exiled – first to Oxford, then to Burgundy, and then Ireland – and apprenticed to a series of unscrupulous political operators, he finds himself groomed for power; not as John Collan, but as Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick – and rightful heir to the throne.Far from home at the Irish court, preparing for a war that will see him become king or die trying, John has just his wits – and the slippery counsel of his host’s daughter, the unconventional Joan – to navigate the choppy waters ahead.Seething with revenge and machination, sparkling with wit and humanity, and roaring with adventure and bravado, The Pretender is the captivating true story of a young man tossed into the chaos of history as it happens. **Praise for The Pretender**‘A brainy, heartfelt delight’ Guardian, 50 hottest books to read now‘Witty, poignant, wildly engaging, and with a huge heart’ Sarah Waters ‘Touching and hilarious’ The Times, 80 best books to take on holiday ‘Like a Plantagenet Adrian Mole’ Jenny Colgan‘A rollicking account of a befuddled boy’s pillar-to-post existence as a political pawn’ New York Times‘The real deal – nimble, vibrant, playful, and daring’ Kiran Millwood Hargrave‘Ambitious, mischievous and brilliantly written’ Daily Mail‘I blazed through full of wonder and admiration’ Emma Stonex
