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A Phoenix Rising by Vivienne Brereton

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Publication Date: July 7, 2019

Yuletide Press

eBook & Paperback; 339 pages

Series: The House of the Red Duke (Book 1)

Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance

SYNOPSIS:

Thomas Howard. Head of a sprawling, hot-blooded, sensual brood. Soldier, courtier, politician, a man of great personal charisma. A phoenix rising from the ashes. Will Thomas's ambitions be realised? Or will the phoenix come crashing down again?

“If I have anything to do with it, we Howards will live forever.”

Thomas Howard Charismatic head of one of the most powerful Houses in Tudor England. An indomitable old man approaching eighty: soldier, courtier, politician, a ‘phoenix’ rising from the ashes. After a calamitous period of disgrace, the Howards, renowned for their good looks and charm, are once more riding high at the court of Henry VIII.

Set against the backdrop of the extraordinary 1520 ‘Field of Cloth of Gold’, it is a tale of ambition, love, and intrigue, with Thomas at the centre of this intricate tapestry

Will Thomas’s bold vow be fulfilled? Danger stalks the corridors of the royal courts of Europe. Uneasy lies the head beneath a crown. Every other ruler - a fickle bedfellow…or sworn enemy.

The action takes place in England, Scotland, and France. On either side of the Narrow Sea, four young lives are interwoven, partly unaware of each other, and certainly oblivious to what Dame Fortune has in store for them.

“Nicolas de La Barre laid his lute to one side, hardly bothering to stifle a yawn of boredom. Nevertheless, he couldn’t escape the fact he’d agreed to take on a new wife….”

Explosive family secrets are concealed behind the ancient walls of castles in three lands. But… “There are no secrets that time does not reveal.”

"From the moment I picked this book up, I was enthralled and the story was so well written that I simply had to keep reading. Brereton weaves a fascinating story of several famous houses which lived during the Tudor age, including the Howards, Stewarts, Boleyns and of course the famous Tudors. If you are looking for a new fiction series that will draw you in and keep you wanting more than this is certainly the book for you!" - Sarah Bryson, author of 'La Reine Blanche'

"I really enjoyed it. I sometimes struggle with books written from the point of view of several characters, as this one is, but this one worked quite well because it had to be told from the points of view of different characters because it is spread across several countries - England, France and Scotland. The addition of Tudor recipes was a nice touch, and demonstrated that the writer had really done her research." - Helene Harrison, Tudorblogger

Review:

I was always fascinated with the British monarchy especially The TUDORS (Henry VIII and his wives, The Howard Family, The Boleyn Family, The Staffords), The STEWARTS (James IV and Margaret - The King and Queen of Scotland), The VALOIS (Charles VIII, King Louis XII and Anne - King and Queen of France) and finally, the HABSBURG (Maximillian I, The Holy Roman Emperor and Margaret of Austria). This exciting debut novel, A Phoenix Rising Book #1 of The Series House of the Red Duke, by Vivienne Brereton is a well written and well researched Historical Fiction. Brereton as an expert in medieval history was able to capture the rich detail of the Tudor families. In her writing I was taken in and captivated by the details of the stories of these families we have long been fascinated, studied and had been in awe with. 

The first book goes through 1497 to 1520, with alternating viewpoints from the English, Scottish, French and Habsburg. The book is divided into six parts (Field of Gold, First Love, The Politics of Marriage, The Tudor Rose, Youth Must Have Some Dalliance, and The Christmas Castles), all of which is as exciting as the next as Thomas Howard, from one of the most powerful House in England tries to manipulate the families like a chess board to gain power. 

Based on real life events, Brereton was able to brilliantly create an exciting historical fiction based on well known players in the British Isles and Europe in the 1500's. I thoroughly enjoyed the bonus of incorporating recipes in the book that have been tried by the author herself - such as Pottage, Cakes and Minced Pie to name a few. This book carries a lot of the themes that are similar to what we would encounter in present day such as power, trust, betrayal and love. An enjoyable book, and Book 2 cannot come soon enough.

PLEASE ENJOY THIS EXCERPT FROM 

A PHOENIX RISING

Fifteen-year-old Tristan d’Ardres, the younger son of the Governor of Picardy, is destined for the Church but kicking and screaming against the idea. Nicolas de La Barre (orphaned when he was thirteen), is the Count d’Ardres’ ward…and Tristan’s bitter enemy. It is Christmas Eve, 1512, and Tristan has just had a terrible argument with his father in the library of Ardres Castle. He’s now alone, looking at his father’s New Year’s gift to him.

“With one swift movement, I swept all but one of the brand new books onto the floor, taking great satisfaction in watching them peel apart. Normally, I loved books but not these. Sheaves of paper flew up into the air like so many wounded soldiers, before coming to rest in a pathetic pile on the wooden boards below: useless corpses on a battlefield.

But even this solid layer of paper wasn’t enough to satisfy me. There was one book remaining: ‘“A handbook on manners for children”’, I said aloud. ‘Well, Father,’ I sneered, ‘this is what I think of your droning handbook!’

And with that, I launched the offending volume across the room with all my might, sending the missile high up in the air, aiming for the nearby balcony where more of Father’s vast collection of books was kept.

There was a satisfying thud…immediately followed by a male voice of protest.

* * *

‘Nom de Dieu! Can’t a man read in peace? You nearly took my head off. Surely flinging Monsieur Erasmus’s advice about manners for children against the nearest wall isn’t recommended by the great scholar.’

<<Nicolas!>> After recovering from the shock of knowing someone else had witnessed the argument with my father, I could feel my hackles rising. Of all the people it could have been, it had to be him. I decided attack was the only way forward.

‘Haven’t you got anything better to do than spy on others?’

‘Not when it proves to be so entertaining.’

I inwardly groaned. Nicolas never missed an opportunity to bate me, just as he was doing now. At the beginning of November, he’d been setting off on a hunt with Father and several other older men. Seeing me hanging forlornly around the courtyard, he’d called out (in deliberate earshot of the others): “What a shame you can’t join us.” The huge smile on his face belied this statement and proved he knew I was being forced to stay behind and do extra Latin, as a punishment for some petty crime or other.

The fact he was a good six years older didn’t matter a jot. We were deadly rivals in everything: hunting, riding, jousting and archery, to name but a few. However, our greatest battle was vying to win the respect of my father. For me, it was no easy task when my future lay in being a pathetic milksop, fit only for the Church. Knowing this, Nicolas made it all the harder for me, gloating at every opportunity at being outwardly able to achieve all the things to which I aspired, but without any of the constraints of a future religious calling. It had made the two of us bitter enemies and, if anything, our relationship had only deteriorated with time.

* * *

“Just think. One day I might have to make my confession to you,” Nicolas had jested one morning recently as we were breaking our fast, the flirtatious looks passing between him and a pretty serving maid making it quite clear where he hoped to spend the night.

He leapt down from the balcony, landing in one graceful bound in front of me, still clutching a copy of ‘Tristan and Iseult’. ‘I was reading about your namesake,’ he smiled. ‘Things certainly didn’t end well for him.’

I could never work out why my enemy spent so many hours poring over the romances on the balcony of the library. Books about the art of warfare, the lives of Roman generals, or the rules of jousting, were of far more interest to me. As far as I was concerned, Nicolas had the tastes of a lovelorn, dismal-dreaming minstrel, haplessly strumming a lute; perhaps it had something to do with his current infatuation with the young wife of a local nobleman, a renowned flirt-gill. Ysabeau de Sapincourt. Nicolas had no idea I knew but I’d seen his looks of longing whenever she came to the Castle with her ageing husband: a conquest so far without success, of that I was certain.

‘Searching for inspiration, Nicolas? Not enough ideas of your own.’

A look of annoyance crossed his face but he quickly recovered and glanced down at the paper on the floor. ‘Well, you’ve just destroyed the only reading material you’re going to need in that monastery of yours. I’m guessing that “In praise of folly” is somewhere amongst that lot. As it seems you’re to be seated next to the great man at a banquet, I understand why your father wanted you to know something about the book.’ He kicked up a snowstorm of paper sheets with a couple of measured strikes of his favourite shoes, made from Spanish leather. ‘I know it’s not New Year yet but let me make a gift of my knowledge to you. To help you when you meet Monsieur Erasmus. He wrote it at Thomas More’s hous—

‘You can keep your beetle-headed gift to yourself!’

I was piqued the qualling Nicolas had actually read the worthless thing and would do better seated next to the fusty old scholar than me. ‘I don’t need your help. In fact you’re the last person on earth—’

‘I know I am. But I want to help. As I was saying, he dedicated it to his great friend, More, with “Folly”, a harlot, as the narrator, empty compliments and love of self as her clients. She attacks all in her sight: idle friars, greedy princes, lawyers and theologian—’

‘Enough!’

Nicolas reached for the brass door handle. ‘I’m going. But you’ll thank me when you meet him, I promise. Now, hadn’t you better see if you can piece back together your father’s “Handbook on manners for children”. Who knows, you might learn something from it.’”

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About the Author

Born near historic Winchester in the UK, Vivienne Brereton has been passionate about the Tudors for as long as she can remember. This led to a degree in medieval history at university where she met her future husband. Three sons later and six countries she called home, she finally felt ready to write a novel.

Words have always played an important part in Vivienne’s life whether it’s been writing, editing, teaching English to foreigners, or just picking up a good book. In preparation for her novel, she read intensively on the skills needed to write well and did an enormous amount of research which she greatly enjoyed. Having three sons was helpful when she came to write about the characters, Tristan and Nicolas. All those squabbles she had to deal with came in very handy. She also used her husband and sons as guinea pigs for her Tudor cookery attempts with varying degrees of success (abuse).

Seeing ‘A Phoenix Rising’ in print for the first time was a moment of great joy for her and she hopes you enjoy reading it as much as she enjoyed writing it.

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Blog Tour Schedule

Thursday, September 26
Review at Gwendalyn's Books

Friday, September 27
Excerpt at Beady Jans Books
Review & Excerpt at Nursebookie

Saturday, September 28
Review at Reading is My Remedy
Guest Post at Short Book and Scribes

Tuesday, October 1
Review at WTF Are You Reading?
Guest Post at On the Tudor Trail

Wednesday, October 2
Excerpt at The Writing Desk

Thursday, October 3
Review at A Chick Who Reads

Friday, October 4
Review at Jessica Belmont

Monday, October 7
Review at Historical Fiction with Spirit

Tuesday, October 8
Review at Passages to the Past

Wednesday, October 9
Review at Red Headed Book Lady

Thursday, October 10
Excerpt at Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots

Friday, October 11
Review at Donna's Book Blog
Feature at CelticLady's Reviews

Giveaway

During the Blog Tour, we are giving away a paperback copy of A Phoenix Rising! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.

Giveaway Rules

– Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm EST on October 11th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open to the US only.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspicion of fraud will be decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– The winner has 48 hours to claim prize or a new winner is chosen.

A Phoenix Rising