Audiobook Spotlight and Snippet: The Godmother’s Secret by Elizabeth St.John Audiobook, narrated by Elizabeth St.John

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"An extremely well-written book with depth and complexity to the main characters. The author says she wanted to write a book about family love and tolerance, and a woman's loyalty and courage. She has done so. This is the best book I've read in ages!"

The Ricardian Bulletin, Richard III Society

"The authenticity and historical research displayed within this story is immense and exquisite. Ms. St. John is sure to be a newfound favorite for fans of not only this fractious time in English history, but of all historical fans who adore rich, immersive prose."

Historical Fiction Company 2022 Book of the Year

"A very enjoyable read. The historical veracity is impeccable, and Elysabeth is a likeable, admirable character who faces interesting dilemmas with love and courage."
Historical Novel Society

If you knew the fate of the Princes in the Tower, would you tell? Or forever keep the secret?

May 1483: The Tower of London. When King Edward IV dies and Lady Elysabeth Scrope delivers her young godson, Edward V, into the Tower of London to prepare for his coronation, she is engulfed in political turmoil. Within months, the prince and his brother have disappeared, Richard III is declared king, and Elysabeth’s sister Margaret Beaufort conspires with her son Henry Tudor to invade England and claim the throne.

Desperate to protect her godson, Elysabeth battles the intrigue, betrayal, and power of the last medieval court, defying her Yorkist husband and her Lancastrian sister under her godmother’s sacred oath to keep Prince Edward safe. Bound by blood and rent by honour, Elysabeth is torn between King Richard and Margaret Beaufort, knowing that if her loyalty is questioned, she is in peril of losing everything—including her life.

Were the princes murdered by their uncle, Richard III? Did Margaret Beaufort mastermind their disappearance to usher in the Tudor dynasty? Or did the young boys vanish for their own safety? Of anyone at the royal court, Elysabeth has the most to lose–and the most to gain–by keeping secret the fate of the Princes in the Tower.

Inspired by England’s most enduring historical mystery, Elizabeth St.John blends her family history with known facts and centuries of speculation to create an intriguing story about what happened to the Princes in the Tower.

 

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Autumn 1470 | Westminster Sanctuary

A secret has been conceived . . .

“Entry, in the name of God and King Henry!” My guard clouts the iron-clad door of Cheyneygates, challenging the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey. “The Lady Elysabeth Scrope demands entry!”

A murther of crows startles from the gables, cawing and whirling around my head and circling up into the clouded heavens. I join three fingers in the holy trinity and cross myself; head, chest, sinister and dexter. These ancient purveyors of death do not disturb me, for I have not survived this war to be hindered by a superstition. If there were a crow for every dead soldier, England would be a huge raucous rookery. But it never hurts to invoke God’s protection. The crows swoop and squabble and alight singly among the gargoyles on the parapets of the soot-stained Abbey. Like the granite tors of my Yorkshire home, these walls are impenetrable and inaccessible. And just as hostile. God offers protection to all who claim sanctuary. And men erect walls to keep them safe.

No stirring from within. I sigh. Not unexpected. “Knock again,” I command the guard. “Let them know their visitors will not leave.”

The waning October afternoon trickles shadows into the well of the courtyard. I pull my cloak closer, thankful I had chosen my finest weave to keep the warmth in and the damp out. The sun had shone golden when we rode out from London, but upon reaching Westminster we collided with the rain clouds streaming in from the west.

Fallen mulberry leaves clog the stone steps rising before me, rotting unswept in the hollows. Someone isn’t taking care of the abbot’s house. It is clear that no one has left nor entered for a while. The guard’s hammering is unanswered, and yet to the right of the door a candle flame glimmers through a browed window and a shadow flits elusively.

I push back my hood, and a spatter of rain needles my face. Here, gatekeeper. Here's reassurance I bear your fugitive no threat. I am of middling age, graceful, fair of face, my countenance pleasing, I’ve heard say. Hardly a threat.

The rain unfurls in sheets. I raise my voice. “I am not asking the queen to break sanctuary.” God knows the wretched woman would make it easier on all of us if she did. I motion the guard aside and edge up the slippery steps to the door. “I am here to join her.”

Elizabeth St.John

Elizabeth St.John’s critically acclaimed historical fiction novels tell the stories of her ancestors: extraordinary women whose intriguing kinship with England's kings and queens brings an intimately unique perspective to Medieval, Tudor, and Stuart times.

Inspired by family archives and residences from Lydiard Park to the Tower of London, Elizabeth spends much of her time exploring ancestral portraits, diaries, and lost gardens. And encountering the occasional ghost. But that’s another story.

Living between California, England, and the past, Elizabeth is the International Ambassador for The Friends of Lydiard Park, an English charity dedicated to conserving and enhancing this beautiful centuries-old country house and park. As a curator for The Lydiard Archives, she is constantly looking for an undiscovered treasure to inspire her next novel.

Elizabeth's books include her trilogy, The Lydiard Chronicles, set in 17th Century England during the Civil War, and her newest release, The Godmother's Secret, which explores the medieval mystery of the missing Princes in the Tower of London.

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Spotlight on Elizabeth St.John, author of The Godmother’s Secret

 

What if you knew what happened to the Princes in the Tower. Would you tell? Or would you forever keep the secret?

November, 1470: Westminster Abbey. Lady Elysabeth Scrope faces a perilous royal duty when ordered into sanctuary with Elizabeth Woodville–witness the birth of Edward IV’s Yorkist son. Margaret Beaufort, Elysabeth’s sister, is desperately seeking a pardon for her exiled son Henry Tudor. Strategically, she coerces Lancastrian Elysabeth to be appointed godmother to Prince Edward, embedding her in the heart of the Plantagenets and uniting them in a destiny of impossible choices and heartbreaking conflict.

Bound by blood and torn by honour, when the king dies and Elysabeth delivers her young godson into the Tower of London to prepare for his coronation, she is engulfed in political turmoil. Within months, the prince and his brother have disappeared, Richard III is declared king, and Margaret conspires with Henry Tudor to invade England and claim the throne. Desperate to protect her godson, Elysabeth battles the intrigue, betrayal and power of the last medieval court, defying her husband and her sister under her godmother’s sacred oath to keep Prince Edward safe.

Were the princes murdered by their uncle, Richard III? Was the rebel Duke of Buckingham to blame? Or did Margaret Beaufort mastermind their disappearance to usher in the Tudor dynasty? Of anyone at the royal court, Elysabeth has the most to lose–and the most to gain–by keeping secret the fate of the Princes in the Tower.    

Inspired by England’s most enduring historical mystery, Elizabeth St.John, best-selling author of The Lydiard Chronicles, blends her own family history with known facts and centuries of speculation to create an intriguing alternative story illuminating the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower.

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Elizabeth St.John

Fun Facts

 

I picked the main character of my new book, The Godmother’s Secret, by entering my own name into our family tree

When I was looking for inspiration for my new book, The Godmother’s Secret, I literally entered my own name into our digitised family tree to see who else was recorded in the archives. I was so excited to find Elysabeth St.John, who lived in the 15^th century – and over the moon when I discovered she was the godmother to Edward V – the eldest brother of the missing Princes in the Tower. I had a new family story to investigate! And surely Elysabeth, above anyone else, would know what happened to those poor boys?

As a little background, my books are inspired by my own family stories that I have discovered through our ancestral records, diaries, letters, and the locations they lived in. I’m fortunate the St.John family was prominent in English history, and so we left quite a trail—which can be both good and bad! My previous novels, The Lydiard Chronicles, are based on the diaries and records of my 17^th century family, and it has been a glorious research journey uncovering their words and stories.

The Entry Portcullis

The Bloody Tower

I keep getting stuck in the Tower of London

My first book, The Lady of the Tower, was about Lucy St.John, my 17^th century ancestress who lived in the Tower of London for thirteen years as the Keeper’s wife. I really didn’t intend to write more than one book, but that turned into a trilogy. I didn’t realize it at the time, but one of the main characters in the third book, Written in Their Stars, was imprisoned in the Tower of London as a regicide (he was one of the judges that condemned King Charles I). As the son-in-law of Lucy St.John, we had to return to the Tower to visit him while he was imprisoned in the Bloody Tower.

And then, when I discovered my newest heroine was the godmother to the oldest Prince in the Tower, it was inevitable – back to the Tower I went! I think it might be a family thing – I started looking for a Tudor family member as a possible next book – and along came Alice St.John. She sounded like a suitable candidate – right age, right time period – and then I realized she was the mother of Jane Parker, George Boleyn’s wife. So, her son-in-law’s sister was Anne Boleyn. And…off to the Tower again!

I believe you’re never too old to make a dream come true

I’d wanted to write a historical fiction book since I was about twelve and read Anya Seton’s wonderful novel Katherine. After a full career and raising a family, I was in my fifties when I finally sat down at the kitchen table and decided I needed to commit to writing the story I’d been carrying around inside me for decades. I wrote The Lady of the Tower with the goal of proving I could write a book. When I published it as an independent author, and it became a best-seller, it was a surreal and joyful affirmation that dreams really do come true.

Liz with Arthur

I always write with a cat and a dog at my side

Writing is, by and large, a solitary occupation, but I am never alone when I write. I’ve had the wonderful company of Barry White, Lady Latte, Aslan, MoJo, and Arthur McArthur as my muses; from early in the morning to late at night, they have kept me sane through a few million words, tons of drafts, 12-hour days of research and many a blank page. Some have now passed on, but their pawprints are on the pages of my novels, and somewhere in each of my books, you’ll find an animal or a name that honours them or other four-legged friends we’ve had over the years.

A Costa and a Sausage Roll upon landing…

are the first things I head for after clearing Heathrow. I grew up in the UK and I’ve had a home in California for many years. Every time I land after a long transatlantic flight, I pick up my rental car and head for the unique breakfast treat on an M25 motorway service that I can’t get in California. That simple! Then, it’s usually straight into a day’s worth of exploring ruined castles, soaring cathedrals, or quiet country estates, researching my writing. All very doable on no sleep, a sausage roll, and an Americano (which, by the way, isn’t available in America)!

 

 Elizabeth St.John

Elizabeth St.John spends her time between California, England, and the past. An acclaimed author, historian, and genealogist, she has tracked down family papers and residences from Lydiard Park and Nottingham Castle to Richmond Palace and the Tower of London to inspire her novels. Although the family sold a few country homes along the way (it's hard to keep a good castle going these days), Elizabeth's family still occupy them— in the form of portraits, memoirs, and gardens that carry their legacy. And the occasional ghost. But that's a different story.

Having spent a significant part of her life with her seventeenth-century family while writing The Lydiard Chronicles trilogy and Counterpoint series, Elizabeth St.John is now discovering new family stories with her fifteenth-century namesake Elysabeth St.John Scrope, and her half-sister, Margaret Beaufort.

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