Born in 1506, Elizabeth's life seemed destined for obscurity-until strange trances and haunting prophecies marked her as touched by the divine. To some she is a miracle, to others a danger. Removed first to a noble household and then to a Canterbury priory, she grew from rustic visionary into a woman dangerous to the highest powers of the realm.
Her prophecies of plagues, upheavals, and a king's downfall, won fervent followers. But when her warnings spoke against Henry VIII's bid to set aside Catherine and wed Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth's gift becomes a peril. Drawn unwillingly into the storm of Tudor politics, she finds her visions twisted into weapons, her faith entangled in treason.
As allies falter and enemies close in, Elizabeth stands at the heart of a struggle between conscience and crown. Her fate-tragic, unyielding, unforgettable-forces those around her to reckon with the price of truth in an age when prophecy itself could be a crime.
A tale of belief, betrayal, and defiance, this book brings to life one of the most extraordinary-and silenced-women of Tudor history.
Elizabeth Barton: The Nun Who Defied a King is a sweeping work of literary historical fiction inspired by the true story of the "Holy Maid of Kent," whose visions shook Tudor England.
