Adam’s part in the expedition led by John Hawkins to the Spanish Caribbean is based on Hawkins’s true-life expedition. His six ships left Plymouth in October 1567, one of them, the Judith, captained by Francis Drake. In July 1568, near Veracruz, Mexico, they were attacked by the Spanish—the battle of San Juan de Ulúa—and some of Hawkins’s ships were sunk, including the Jesus of Lubeck carrying the expedition’s profit in treasure. Drake on the Judith got away, and so did Hawkins on the Minion, with two hundred men aboard but insufficient food. In January 1569 the Judith limped into Plymouth harbor with just fifteen survivors, and five days later Hawkins and his starving crew on the Minion reached port in Cornwall. I added Adam Thornleigh to this ill-fated expedition as captain of his ship, the Elizabeth.
In Blood Between Queens Grenville’s plot to incite an uprising under the banner of the Earl of Northumberland is fiction but is based on truth, for in 1569, just months after the novel ends, the Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland raised the northern Catholics in a massive armed revolt. Leading five thousand men they took Durham Cathedral and were preparing to march on London to depose Elizabeth. She sent a force under the Earl of Sussex to put down the uprising, which he did with great brutality, hanging over six hundred rebels. Westmorland fled to the Netherlands. Elizabeth executed Northumberland.
The fate of Mary Queen of Scots following the inquiry is a sad and well-known tale. Of all the ill-judged decisions she made during her unstable seven-year reign in Scotland, her flight into England to escape her enemies was the worst. She asked Elizabeth to help her crush the Scottish confederate lords who had deposed her, and to restore her to her throne, and this put Elizabeth in an untenable situation. She sympathized, for Mary was her cousin, and Mary’s status as a fellow sovereign was something Elizabeth took very seriously. But she could not afford to antagonize England’s ally, the Scottish lords, by backing Mary. Yet neither could she allow Mary to move freely around England because Mary had a dangerous appeal to militant English Catholics who wanted her on the English throne. So Elizabeth kept Mary under house arrest—a captivity that lasted for nineteen years. It was a comfortable captivity as befitted Mary’s rank, but she never again gained her freedom.
During those nineteen years Mary plotted ceaselessly via smuggled letters to overthrow Elizabeth with the help of Catholic supporters both foreign and domestic. Elizabeth waited, uneasy but unwilling to act against her, until in 1586 the final plot, known as the Babington Plot, proved beyond doubt Mary’s guilt in conniving to bring about Elizabeth’s assassination. That winter, in the hardest decision Elizabeth ever made, she signed her cousin’s death warrant. Mary was executed on February 7, 1587, at Fotheringhay Castle.
One of the most surprising facts about these two queens is that they never met. All their communication was done through letters and representatives.
In researching the complex rivalry between them I am indebted to Jane Dunn’s masterly book Elizabeth & Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens and recommend it to any reader eager to understand what drove these two women.
Fact and fiction are intertwined in all my “Thornleigh” novels. The first, The Queen’s Lady, features young Honor Larke, a fictional ward of Sir Thomas More and lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife, and follows Honor’s stormy love affair with Richard Thornleigh as she works to rescue heretics from the Church’s fires. The King’s Daughter introduces their daughter Isabel, who joins the Wyatt rebellion, a true event, to oust Queen Mary and hires mercenary Carlos Valverde to help her rescue her father from prison. The Queen’s Captive brings Honor and Richard back from exile with their seafaring son Adam to help the young Princess Elizabeth, who has been imprisoned by her half sister, Queen Mary, another true event. The Queen’s Gamble is set during the fledgling reign of Elizabeth, who fears that the massive buildup of French troops on her Scottish border will lead to an invasion, so she entrusts Isabel Thornleigh to take money to aid the Scottish rebellion led by firebrand preacher John Knox, to oust the French.
Readers have sent me wonderfully astute comments and questions about the characters, real and invented, in my books and I always enjoy replying. This partnership with you, the reader, makes my work a joy. If you’d like to write to me, I’d love to hear from you. Contact me at [email protected] and follow me on Twitter @BKyleAuthor. And if you’d like to receive my occasional newsletters, just sign up via my website at www.barabarakyle.com.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’ve been fortunate to work with the gifted Audrey LaFehr as my editor at Kensington Books in New York for five books in my “Thornleigh” series. No author could ask for a more dedicated champion. I’m also grateful to the team of splendid professionals at Kensington who shepherd my books so skillfully through the production process, including Production Editor Paula Reedy and Assistant Editor Martin Biro. Special thanks go to John Rosenberg, whose indefatigable work has made my books so successful in Canada. My agent, Al Zuckerman, of Writers House, has been a mainstay for many years, and I continue to appreciate his literary advice and steady counsel. My deepest thanks go to my husband, Stephen Best, who sees the heart of everything I write and helps me shape it.
It’s a great pleasure to acknowledge some wonderful input from my readers. While I was writing Blood Between Queens I ran a contest—the “Name the Thornleighs’ House” contest—and scores of readers sent in suggestions. Everyone who participated has my sincere thanks. Here are the results. Fourth runner-up: Col. Elmer Follis of Tennessee for “Haven Hall.” Third runner-up: Lynne Deragon of Ontario for “Larkston Place.” Second runner-up: Linda Lefler of Nova Scotia for “Thornbloom.” First runner-up: Hollye Patterson of Tennessee for “Larkeleigh.” And the winner: Pat Larke of Indiana for “Rosethorn Manor.” Thank you, Pat, for so elegantly grafting Honor’s love of roses onto Richard’s surname. I was delighted to call the Thornleighs’ home “Rosethorn” throughout the novel.
A READING GROUP GUIDE
BLOOD BETWEEN QUEENS
Barbara Kyle
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
The suggested questions are included to
enhance your group’s reading of Barbara Kyle’s
Blood Between Queens.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Secrets figure prominently in Blood Between Queens. Richard and Honor Thornleigh have kept Justine’s identity as a Grenville secret to spare her the stigma of being known as a traitor’s child. Were they right in making this decision?
2. Justine has hidden from the Thornleighs the fact that her traitorous father is alive because she believes that he will never come back to England. Was she wise in hiding this crucial information from them?
3. Justine doesn’t tell Will about her Grenville background for fear of losing him, convincing herself that the feud between their families is long past and best forgotten. Do you, like Justine, think that secrets are sometimes necessary?
4. Several characters in Blood Between Queens have to make hard choices. Queen Elizabeth must decide what to do with her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, who has fled to England asking for Elizabeth’s protection and an army to rout her enemies in Scotland. But Elizabeth dare not antagonize her ally, the Scottish Protestant government, by helping restore Mary to her throne. Neither, though, can she allow Mary to move freely around England because of Mary’s dangerous appeal to English Catholics who want her on the English throne. Given this dilemma, do you think Elizabeth was justified in keeping Mary under house arrest?
5. When Christopher Grenville fled England, he lost everything: his lands, his grand house, and even his daughter Justine, who has been brought up by his enemies, the Thornleighs. Do you feel any sympathy for Grenville in using Justine to get revenge on Richard Thornleigh?
6. Mary, Queen of Scots refuses to attend the inquiry to answer questions about her involvement in the murder of her husband. Was she right to refuse to appear and refute the charges of her subjects? Do you think she was innocent or guilty of complicity in the mu
rder?
7. Hoping to help Mary clear her name, Justine tells Mary that the casket letters have been introduced in private at the inquiry as damning evidence against her. Did you think Justine was right to try to help Mary?
8. Justine deceives Will in order to get his copies of Mary’s letters, hoping it will bring an end to the inquiry, and she seduces him to accomplish this. Do you think Justine’s deception was valid?
9. Frances Thornleigh’s overwhelming love for her husband Adam makes her irrationally jealous of Elizabeth, so she helps her brother conspire against Elizabeth. Do you sympathize with Frances? Is love ever a justifiable motive for a crime?
KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2013 by Barbara Kyle
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
ISBN: 978-0-7582-7322-2
eISBN-13: 978-0-7582-9100-4
eISBN-10: 0-7582-9100-0
First Kensington Electronic Edition: May 2013
Barbara Kyle - [Thornleigh 05] Page 43