Read Epitaph for Three Women Online
Authors: Jean Plaidy
Epitaph for Three Women
About the Book
On the death of Henry the Fifth, a nine-month-old baby is made King of England. Ambitious men surround the baby king, including his two uncles, the Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester. Shrewd and clever, Bedford seeks to uphold all his late brother had won and preserve it for young Henry the Sixth. Gloucester, a man of poor judgement, greedy for wealth and power, has other ideas.
In Lancastrian England and war-torn France, there are three women whose lives are to have a marked effect on the future. Katherine de Valois, haunted by an unhappy childhood, finds love in an unexpected quarter and founds the Tudor dynasty; Joan of Arc leaves her village pastures on the command of heavenly voices; and Eleanor of Gloucester is drawn into a murder plot and becomes the centre of a cause célèbre. Murder, greed and ambition flourish alongside sacrifice, dedication and courage. These are turbulent times as the defeated become the victorious…
Praise for Jean Plaidy
‘Plaidy excels at blending history with romance and drama’
New York Times
‘One of our best historical novelists’
News Chronicle
This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Version 1.0
Epub ISBN 9781446428047
Published by Arrow Books 2009
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Copyright © Jean Plaidy, 1981
Initial lettering copyright © Stephen Raw, 2008
The Estate of Eleanor Hibbert has asserted its right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to have Jean Plaidy identified as the author of this work.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
First published in Great Britain in 1981 by Robert Hale Limited
The Random House Group Limited
20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA
Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at:
www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm
The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9780099532996
Contents
Also available in Arrow by Jean Plaidy
KATHERINE OF VALOIS
VII: The Queen Plights her Troth
JOAN OF ARC
ELEANOR OF GLOUCESTER
Praise for Jean Plaidy
‘Plaidy excels at blending history with romance and drama’
New York Times
‘Outstanding’
Vanity Fair
‘Full-blooded, dramatic, exciting’
Observer
‘Plaidy has brought the past to life’
Times Literary Supplement
‘One of our best historical novelists’
News Chronicle
‘An excellent story’
Irish Press
‘Spirited … Plaidy paints the truth as she sees it’
Birmingham Post
‘Sketched vividly and sympathetically … rewarding’
Scotsman
‘Among the foremost of current historical novelists’
Birmingham Mail
‘An accomplished novelist’
Glasgow Evening News
‘There can be no doubt of the author’s gift for storytelling’
Illustrated London News
‘Jean Plaidy has once again brought characters and background vividly to life’
Everywoman
‘Well up to standard … fascinating’
Manchester Evening News
‘Exciting and intelligent’
Truth Magazine
‘No frills and plenty of excitement’
Yorkshire Post
Jean Plaidy, one of the pre-eminent authors of historical fiction for most of the twentieth century, is the pen name of the prolific English author Eleanor Hibbert, also known as Victoria Holt. Jean Plaidy’s novels had sold more than 14 million copies worldwide by the time of her death in 1993.
For further information about our Jean Plaidy reissues and mailing list, please visit
www.randomhouse.co.uk/minisites/jeanplaidy
Further titles available in Arrow by Jean Plaidy
The Tudors
Uneasy Lies the Head
Katharine, the Virgin
Widow
The Shadow of the
Pomegranate
The King’s Secret Matter
Murder Most Royal
St Thomas’s Eve
The Sixth Wife
The Thistle and the Rose
Mary Queen of France
Lord Robert
Royal Road to Fotheringay
The Captive Queen of Scots
The Medici Trilogy
Madame Serpent
The Italian Woman
Queen Jezebel
The Plantagenets
The Plantagenet Prelude
The Revolt of the Eaglets
The Heart of the Lion
The Prince of Darkness
The Battle of the Queens
The Queen from Provence
The Hammer of the Scots
The Follies of the King
The Vow on the Heron
Passage to Pontefract
The Star of Lancaster
The French Revolution
Louis the Well-Beloved
The Road to Compiègne
Flaunting, Extravagant
Queen
The Isabella and
Ferdinand Trilogy
Castile for Isabella
Spain for the Sovereigns
Daughters of Spain
The Victorians
The Captive of Kensington
The Queen and Lord M
The Queen’s Husband
The Widow of Windsor
