The testimony of Alys Twist - Suzannah Dunn

Arrested by her sister for treason, who in her household can Elizabeth trust?


1553: deeply-divided England rejoices as the rightful heir, Mary Tudor, sweeps to power on a tide of populist goodwill. But the people should have been careful what they wished for: Mary's mission is to turn back time to an England of old. Within weeks there is widespread rebellion in favour of her heir, her half-sister, princess Elizabeth, who is everything that Mary isn't. From now on, Elizabeth will have to use her considerable guile just to stay alive.

Orphan Alys Twist has come a long way - further than she ever dared hope - to work as a laundress at the royal Wardrobe. There she meets Bel, daughter of the Queen's tailor, and seems to have arrived at her own happy ending.

But in a world where appearance is everything, a laundress is in a unique position to see the truth of people's lives, and Alys is pressed into service as a spy in the errant princess's household. Alys herself, though, is hardly whiter than white, and when the princess is arrested she must make a dangerous choice.

Launched in 1990 with her debut novel, Darker Days Than Usual, Suzannah Dunn wrote a further 5 critically acclaimed contemporary novels, and a short story collection, published by Flamingo, before writing her first historical novel, The Queen of Subtleties, which was published in 2004. She has since written a further three bestselling historical novels, The Sixth Wife, The Queen's Sorrow and The Confession of Katherine Howard (a Richard & Judy pick in 2011).

The question of Mary's marriage splinters English politics and these dynastic travails are the source of gossip and peril for ordinary people...A beautifully written portrait of the familiar Tudor court from an unfamiliar angle
The Times

This intriguing story is set in 16th-century Tudor England...Suzannah Dunn weaves suspense, historical detail and romance brilliantly into this tale
Woman's Weekly

Suzannah is known for her painstaking detail of the period and for her research and this does not disappoint
Woman's Way