Meet the acclaimed author of Cecily and The King’s Mother followed by Wars of the Roses Castle Tour
Bamburgh was one of the most disputed castles during the Wars of the Roses. So we’re delighted to welcome Annie Garthwaite, author of two novels that bring the wars to life.
Accounts of the Wars of the Roses are dominated by men – kings and kingmakers, traitors and tyrants. But they were equally shaped by women, driving the action and risking their lives to secure the throne for their sons. From Cecily Neville, matriarch of House York, to Margaret Beaufort, mother of the Tudor dynasty, Annie traces the risks these women took and the prices they paid.
Reading from The King’s Mother Annie will describe all that these women did and were driven to do to win the crown for their sons and become King’s Mother themselves. “This,” she says, “is a story of mothers and sons; of maternal ferocity and female ambition – and of all the terror that families can inflict upon themselves.”
The King’s Mother gives us a fresh take on some of English history’s most enduring mysteries: Was Edward IV’s marriage bigamous and his children bastards? Why did he order the execution of his brother George, years after forgiving his treason? And did Richard III murder his brother’s children, the Princes in the Tower? The women were there – and they know the truth.
Join Annie in conversation on Thursday July 3rd. There are two sessions on the day (each lasting 90 minutes)
When: Thursday 3rd July
Where: room beyond our gift shop (head into the State Rooms and follow the signage from the long gallery with artwork)
Times: 10.30am – 12.00pm (the session lasts for 90 mins)
2.00pm – 3.30pm (the session lasts for 90 mins)
This event is free with general admission. Buy tickets here.
About Annie
Annie Garthwaite is the acclaimed author of two novels that bring the women of the Wars of the Roses to life. Cecily (Viking, Penguin 2021) was named a ‘top pick’ by The Times and Sunday Times, a ‘Best Book of 2021’ by independent bookshops and Waterstones, and has recently been optioned for television. The King’s Mother(Viking, Penguin 2024) was named ‘Book of the Month’ by The Times immediately upon publication. Annie came to writing after a 30-year international business career, determined to cast light on a female history so often overlooked.
Praise for The King’s Mother
‘A triumph!’
The Times
‘An electrifying read.’
The Mail
‘Intense and personal, with stakes as great as kingdoms and a mother’s love.’
Conn Iggulden
‘Elegant and propulsive – I had to fight myself to put it down.’
AK Blakemore
‘Garthwaite’s dialogue marries political intrigue with emotional heft in a way I haven’t seen on the page since Hilary Mantel.’
Victoria MacKenzie
‘Brings the women of the Wars of the Roses dazzlingly to life and puts them where they belong: at the heart of events that shaped England. Vivid, compelling and utterly addictive.’
Tracy Borman
‘A fearsomely brilliant achievement. Annie’s supremely confident and meticulously researched writing guides us deftly through the complexity of inter-familial betrayals that make up the Wars of the Rose.’
Elizabeth Freemantle
‘From a spiderweb of betrayals, shifting alliances and rich period detail, Garthwaite has woven a novel of The Wars of the Roses which is bold, unique and always gripping.’
Ferdia Lennon
‘A totally propulsive read that shifts our understanding of the roles mothers have played in history.’
Harriet Constable