There has seldom been a love loss between the Irish and the English over the centuries, but never more passionately has this been written about than in Karen Harper’s novel, “The Irish Princess.”
Young Elizabeth “Gera” Fitzgerald and her family are the unofficial royalty of Ireland, yet under the iron-fisted rule of the English King Henry VIII, her father must be careful not to cross the king’s ire. Even so, he is eventually summoned to London and thrown into the Tower of London for purported misdeeds.
At the age of 10, Gera’s entire life suddenly changes that year. With her father’s death during his imprisonment in the Tower, her oldest brother starts a revolution against the Tudor King. Her family is crushed and subdued and Gera is sent against her will to England to live with her mother. As the feisty lass struggles to survive in the treacherous English court, she plots to avenge her family by doing the unspeakable - murdering Henry VIII.
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| A portrait of the real Lady Elizabeth "Gera" Fitzgerald Clinton |
Karen Harper’s dramatic and suspenseful historical fiction told through the eyes of Gera, is a fascinating insight into the intrigue and politics of the Tudor reign from the viewpoint of a headstrong, willful young girl who only wants to avenge her family and to return home to Ireland. The novel follows Gera from childhood to womanhood, and it is interesting to see how she matures along the way, but although she is older and wiser, she still harbors a hatred for King Henry throughout her life.
This fantastic novel is a reading treat to savor.
About The Author:
A New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Karen Harper is a former college English instructor (The Ohio State University) and high school literature and writing teacher. A lifelong Ohioan, Karen and her husband Don divide their time between the midwest and the southeast, both locations she has used in her books. Besides her American settings, Karen loves the British Isles, where her Scottish and English roots run deep, and where she has set many of her historical Tudor-era mysteries and her historical novels about real and dynamic British women. Karen's books have been published in many foreign languages and she won the Mary Higgins Clark Award for 2005. Karen has given numerous talks to readers and writers across the county.
Check out her website at http://www.karenharper.com/
