The Concubine » (Reprint)

Norah Lofts was one of the best known and best loved of all historical novelists, renowned for her authentic use of period detail. Born in 1904 in Norfolk, England, Lofts wrote more than fifty books of fiction, nonfiction, and short stories over the course of her half-century-long writing career, including The King's Pleasure and Here Was a Man, and was a bestselling author on both sides of the Atlantic.

Acclaimed and beloved historical novelist Norah Lofts brings to life the danger, romance, and intrigue of the Tudor court that forever altered the course of English history.

The king first noticed Anne Boleyn as a heartbroken sixteen-year-old, sullen and beautiful after a thwarted romance with the son of the Earl of Northumberland. "All eyes and hair," a courtier had said disparagingly of her, but when King Henry VIII fell for young Anne, nothing could keep him from what he desired. Against common sense and the urgings of his most trusted advisors, Henry defied all, blindly following his passion for Anne, using the power he held over the bodies and souls of all who reside in his realm and beyond. Anne's ascent to the throne elevates her from lady-in-waiting to the highest position a woman could attain, but her life spirals out of control when Henry is driven to desperate acts of betrayal and violence. The consequences of Anne's rise to power and eventual demise are felt well beyond the inner circle of the court. Loyalties, to church, to queen, to country, are tested, and — in the wake of the king's volatile passions — can be an unpredictable matter of life and death.

First published in 1963 and adored by readers for generations, Lofts' lush and moving portrayal of the ambitious and doomed Anne Boleyn will continue to reign as a classic retelling of this epic chapter of history vividly brought to life.

I Blickling Hall, Norfolk OCTOBER 1523
II York House OCTOBER 1523
III Hever OCTOBER 1523
IV Blickling Hall JANUARY 7th, 1524
V Hever JUNE 1524
VI The Castle of San Angelo, Rome MAY 1527
VII Greenwich JUNE 1527
VIII Hever JUNE 1527
IX Edenbridge JUNE 1527
X The KingÕs Highway JUNE 1528
XI Greenwich JUNE 1528
XII Suffolk House OCTOBER 22nd, 1528
XIII Blackfriars JUNE 18thÐJULY 23rd, 1529
XIV Suffolk House JULY 1529
XV Grafton SEPTEMBER 14th, 1529
XVI Grafton SEPTEMBER 14th, 1529, EVENING
XVII Grafton SEPTEMBER 15th, 1529
XVIII Cawood NOVEMBER 1530
XIX Greenwich 1531
XX Hampton Court AUGUST 1532
XXI Windsor SEPTEMBER 1st, 1532
XXII The More SEPTEMBER
XXIII Whitehall JANUARY 1533
XXIV Whitehall JANUARY 25th, 1533
XXV Ampthill APRIL 1533
XXVI London MAY 1533
XXVII Greenwich SEPTEMBER 7th, 1533
XXVIII Kimbolton Castle JULY 1534
XXIX Whitehall DECEMBER 1534
XXX Windsor JULY 1535
XXXI Greenwich JULY 1535
XXXII Greenwich SEPTEMBER 1535
XXXIII Greenwich SEPTEMBERÐOCTOBER 1535
XXXIV Kimbolton Castle JANUARY 4thÐ7th, 1536
XXXV Greenwich JANUARY 1536
XXXVI Stepney MAY 1st, 1536
XXXVII Whitehall MAY 1st, 1536
XXXVIII The Tower MAY 2nd, 1536
XXXIX Westminster MAY 10th, 1536
XL Newington Green MAY 13th, 1536
XLI The Tower MAY 15th, 1536
XLII Lambeth MAY 17th, 1536

Whitehall, Greenwich, Richmond, Hampton Court, Windsor May 17th 1536

XLIII The Tower MAY 17th, 1536

The Tower MAY 18th, 1536

XLIV The Tower MAY 18th, 1536
XLV The Tower MAY 19th, 1536
XLVI Richmond MAY19th, 1536
XLVII Hever MAY 19th, 1536
XLVIII Staines MAY 19th, 1536
XLIX The Tower MAY 19th, 1536