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It’s almost time.

Those who’ve been following Catherine Hokin’s hilarious Heroine Chic blog or read some of her award-winning short stories will be delighted to hear that her first novel, Blood and Roses, will be released in January from Yolk Publishing.

Am I excited?  When one of the most entertaining writers I know takes on one of the most controversial and pivotal characters in history? Hell, yeah!

CRDjv94WUAAim3IBlood and Roses: the story of a woman caught up in the pursuit of power, playing a game ultimately no one can control…

1460

The English Crown – a bloodied, restless prize.

The one contender strong enough to hold it? A woman. Margaret of Anjou: a French Queen in a hostile country, born to rule but refused the right, shackled to a King lost in a shadow-land.

When a craving for power becomes a crusade, when two rival dynasties rip the country apart in their desire to rule it and thrones are the spoils of a battlefield, the stakes can only rise. And if the highest stake you have is your son?

You play it.

Blood and Roses – a novel of Margaret of Anjou and her pivotal role in the Wars of the Roses.

Blood and Roses

Margaret of Anjou (1430-1482), as portrayed in 1775 by Robert Davy

Margaret of Anjou (1430-1482), as portrayed in 1775 by Robert Davy

Margaret of Anjou: More Sinned Against than Sinning?

Blood and Roses tells the story of Margaret of Anjou (1430-82), wife of Henry VI, a key protagonist in the Wars of the Roses and a woman overdue for a revision.

A little about her: she was demonised by Shakespeare in the name of political propaganda, she was French in a period when England was struggling to come to terms with a failure to repeat the victorious years of Henry V and Agincourt and her husband alternated between narcoleptic comas and visions of sainthood.

The main conflicts in the novel reflect both the issues of the age – the challenge of holding onto a crown in a kingdom riven by dynastic struggle in which loyalties shift like quicksand – and the personal price to be paid by being a woman outside her time. In trying to resolve her marriage and its desperate need for an heir, shape her son for a dangerous future and reconcile her ambition with her lack of power, does Margaret become the author of her own fate?

About the author

Catherine lives in Glasgow and has had a varied career in marketing, education and politics which has mostly interfered with her writing. She has a History degree with a medieval specialism and wrote a thesis on politics, women and witchcraft in Medieval England - this kick-started her interest in many of the themes which have finally come to fruition in Blood and Roses, the story of Margaret of Anjou and her role as a key protagonist in the Wars of the Roses. Catherine also writes short stories, again about strong women but with a contemporary theme, and has had a number of competition successes, most recently as a finalist in the 2015 Scottish arts Club Short Story Competition. She regularly blogs as Heroine Chic, casting a historical, and sometimes hysterical, eye over women in popular culture and life in general. In her spare time she loves films, listens to loud music and tries to remember to talk to her husband and children.

Author Catherine Hokin

Catherine lives in Glasgow and has had a varied career in marketing, education and politics which has mostly interfered with her writing. She has a History degree with a medieval specialism and wrote a thesis on politics, women and witchcraft in Medieval England – this kick-started her interest in many of the themes which have finally come to fruition in Blood and Roses, the story of Margaret of Anjou and her role as a key protagonist in the Wars of the Roses.

Catherine also writes short stories, again about strong women but with a contemporary theme, and has had a number of competition successes, most recently as a finalist in the 2015 Scottish arts Club Short Story Competition. She regularly blogs as Heroine Chic, casting a historical, and sometimes hysterical, eye over women in popular culture and life in general. In her spare time she loves films, listens to loud music and tries to remember to talk to her husband and children.

BLOOD AND ROSES: Coming January 2016 from Yolk Publishing

I know it’s going to be hard to wait. And I promise to post pre-order info as soon as it’s available.Meanwhile, we can all stalk contact Catherine Hokin at her blog, and demand watch for pre-order info on Amazon. Or we can all just head over to Heroine Chic for the latest insanity from one of the best.

And for our soundtrack…