The Forbidden Queen

After Henry V’s victory at Agincourt, the French princess Catherine of Valois becomes part of the settlement intended to secure his claim to France. Her marriage makes her Queen of England and mother of the future Henry VI, but it offers little control over her own position. When Henry dies, Catherine is widowed at twenty-one and treated by the English government as a valuable dynastic asset whose remarriage could alter the balance of power.

Restricted by the men governing for her infant son, Catherine forms a relationship with the Welsh courtier Owen Tudor. Their attachment defies the political expectations surrounding a dowager queen and risks punishment for both of them. The novel follows Catherine from treaty bride to the private partnership that produced the Tudor line, presenting her struggle to claim a personal life within the aftermath of the Hundred Years’ War.