The Pretender by Jo Harkin
This has been likened to the historic fiction of writers like Hilary Mantel and Maggie O’Farrell, and I’ve to say that I can see it reaching the extent of recognition and acclaim that books by these authors did—a minimum of partially as a result of it’s so messy.
So let’s get to the mess: in 1480, John Collan is attending to his peasant duties (which contain a goat) when he’s approached by a well-dressed stranger who tells him that his entire life has been a lie. He’s not John in any respect, however Lambert Simnel, son of the long-dead Duke of Clarence, and despatched away as a result of the Duke’s brother, Richard III, appreciated to unalive his nephews. Properly, now that his true identification has been revealed, John-now-Simnel is shipped to court docket in Eire, learns etiquette, and even meets the delightfully manipulative—and infrequently murderous—Joan, the daughter of his Irish patrons. In a manner, the 2 aren’t so completely different—she will both go to the convent or to the marriage altar, and he may be king or die. That’s why they arrive collectively to plot and scheme, altering the course of England endlessly.
