An exquisite historical thriller from the author of the electrifying The Poison Bed . Three sisters. Three secrets. Three ways to fall . . . Forcibly seduced by George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham and King's favorite, doctor's daughter Hester was cast aside to raise her illegitimate son, Rafe, alone and in secret. She hopes never to see his father again. Melis's visions cause disquiet and talk. She sees what others can't - and what has yet to be. She'd be denounced as a witch if Hester wasn't so carefully protective. Young Hope's beauty marks her out, drawing unwelcome attention to the family. Yet she cannot always resist others' advances. And her sisters cannot always be on their guard. So when the powerful Duke decides to claim his son against Hester's wishes, the sisters find themselves almost friendless and at his mercy. But are their secrets their undoing or their salvation? Because in the right hands a secret is the deadliest weapon of all . . . "Fremantle builds the tension with delicious skill in this page-turning thriller. She is excellent on the precariousness of life for history's powerless women." — Times "A powerful reimagining of the most dramatic murder of Stuart England. Wonderfully inventive and darkly satisfying , this story of three sisters resonates with myth." —Andrew Taylor, author, The Four Last Things "A lush, thrilling page-turner humming with its own exquisite dark beauty. I loved it!" —Eve Chase, autho r, Black Rabbit Hall "I cannot recommend this highly enough." — Alison Weir , New York Times bestselling author on The Poison Bed "Like all the best writers of historical thrillers, Elizabeth Fremantle weaves together documented fact with sensitively imagined fiction to create a novel that helps us understand a time and place better. . . . If your idea of a great summer read is closer to The Miniaturist than Gone Girl , I highly recommend The Poison Bed ." ― NPR on The Poison Bed "Does a masterly job of recreating the feel of the period, along with making the atmosphere of suspicion and plotting palpable. Readers will eagerly await her next historical." ― Publishers Weekly (starred) on The Poison Bed "Brings the decadent, conniving, back-stabbing world of the16th-century British court to brilliant life." — Oprah.com on Queen's Gambit “A must-read for Philippa Gregory fans—and heralds a brilliant new player in the court of royal fiction.” — People on Queen's Gambit "Compulsively readable . . . Infused with the type of meticulous attention to historical detailing that discerning fans of Alison Weir and Philippa Gregory have come to expect in the Tudor canon.” ― Booklist on Watch the Lady E.C. Fremantle holds a First for her BA in English and an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck. As Elizabeth Fremantle she is the critically acclaimed author of four Tudor historical novels: Queen's Gambit , Sisters of Treason , Watch the Lady and The Girl in the Glass Tower . She has contributed to Vogue, the Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, and the Sunday Times (London). She lives in London and Norfolk.