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A Novel of Elizabeth Murray, Lady Tollemache, Countess Dysart and Duchess Lauderdale, from Claymore Books
Elizabeth Murray 1626-1698
The story of Elizabeth Murray's youth during
the English Civil War, her fight to keep what is rightfully hers and her
survival in a land where Puritanism exerted an ever tightening grip. The eldest daughter of William Murray,
Gentleman of the Bedchamber to King Charles I and Catherine Bruce, Elizabeth
proud of her Scots heritage, which she could trace back to James II of Scotland.
Aged sixteen when Civil War broke out in England, destroying her family's
dreams for a future allied to the royal house of Stuart. With her father at the exiled Court in
Oxford, as well as running missions as the King's envoy between Queen Henrietta
in Paris, the Murray women were left to cope alone. Hounded by the Sequestration Committee
intent on depriving them of their home, Elizabeth and her mother appealed to
their Covenanter relations, determined never to give in to the Rebels.
When Parliamentary soldiers were quartered
on their property, the Murray women were subjected to having their house
invaded, their livestock stolen and the grounds torn up to grow food for the
soldiers. In order to protect her daughters'
inheritance, Catherine Murray needed to find a husband for Elizabeth to keep
Ham safe; but where in the whole of England is there such a man of fortune and
status who is not aligned to Parliament, nor has risked and lost everything for
King Charles?
With her betrothal to Sir Lionel Tollemache,
a Suffolk landowner more interested in hunting that fighting is imminent,
Elizabeth also formed an attachment to John Maitland, Earl Lauderdale, a brash
red-headed Scot who was willing to risk everything for the Royalist cause. However, when her father is arrested and put
on trial for spying, will Sir Lionel Tollemache still accept an allegiance with
a traitor's family, and how can they get William Murray freed from the Tower of
London before anything worse happens?
Later
this summer, my first novel is about to undergo a
transformation
into a new release by Books We Love,
The first book in the Woulfes of Loxsbeare Series, entitled,
The Rebel's Daughter
The first book in the Woulfes of Loxsbeare Series, entitled,
The Rebel's Daughter
Helena Woulfe, the daughter of a wealthy Exeter nobleman leads a privileged life.
However, as King Charles II's reign comes to an end, so does her innocence.
Rebellion sweeps the West Country and when her family is caught in its grip,
she finds herself on the road searching for her missing Rebel father and brother
after the Duke of Monmouth’s bloody defeat in battle at Sedgemoor.
Helena and her younger brother Henry, seek refuge with a kind family who take them in.
King James II wants revenge on those who opposed him and their lives are
further torn apart when soldiers ransack her home.
However, as King Charles II's reign comes to an end, so does her innocence.
Rebellion sweeps the West Country and when her family is caught in its grip,
she finds herself on the road searching for her missing Rebel father and brother
after the Duke of Monmouth’s bloody defeat in battle at Sedgemoor.
Helena and her younger brother Henry, seek refuge with a kind family who take them in.
King James II wants revenge on those who opposed him and their lives are
further torn apart when soldiers ransack her home.
The family
estate is confiscated by the crown and given to their bitterest enemy.
Feeling bereft and abandoned, they go to London. Helena hopes the city will overlook
their past and she can make a new life for herself, and perhaps find love.
Only, there are others lurking, willing to do harm to a traitor's daughter.
Feeling bereft and abandoned, they go to London. Helena hopes the city will overlook
their past and she can make a new life for herself, and perhaps find love.
Only, there are others lurking, willing to do harm to a traitor's daughter.
Before she can find happiness with Guy, the man who offers
her the security and
respectability she seeks, she learns her family’s
allegiances can snatch away her
safety at any time.