The Pretender

A Sunday Times Best Book of the Year

By: Jo Harkin

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Hardcover | 24 April 2025

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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**

âWickedly funny ... the filthy, clever, immersive picaresque you didnât know you neededâ Guardian, The best fiction of 2025
âI read it with the dedicated fervour of a kid discovering literature for the first timeâ Yael van der Wouden
âFunny, moving, filthy and originalâ The Times
âSo alive I felt Harkin might be a time travellerâ Maggie Shipstead
âThe most enjoyable historical novel Iâve read in yearsâ 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 â" first to Oxford, then to Burgundy, and then Ireland â" 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 â" 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 â" and the slippery counsel of his hostâs daughter, the unconventional Joan â" 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**
âA brainy, heartfelt delightâ Guardian, 50 hottest books to read now
âWitty, poignant, wildly engaging, and with a huge heartâ Sarah Waters
âTouching and hilariousâ The Times, 80 best books to take on holiday
âLike a Plantagenet Adrian Moleâ Jenny Colgan
âA rollicking account of a befuddled boyâs pillar-to-post existence as a political pawnâ New York Times
âThe real deal â" nimble, vibrant, playful, and daringâ Kiran Millwood Hargrave
âAmbitious, mischievous and brilliantly writtenâ Daily Mail
âI blazed through full of wonder and admirationâ Emma Stonex

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