Queen Margaret’s command, known only to the women in the family,drives her present-day descendants to break the bounds of marriage,the law, and the church, with heart-breaking consequences.
Is forgiveness of the ultimate sin possible?
Show business became part of my life when a director chose one of my dogs to play Sandy in the musical “Annie”, arguably the most difficult role for a dog, and its handler, ever staged. Theatre hooked me from the first night of the run, and I supplied Bulls Eye in Oliver… Toto in The Wizard of Oz… and dogs in plays, many on tour before their London premiere.
I have been incredibly lucky to meet so many producers, directors, and performers ranging from hopefuls who sank without trace to national, and international, superstars. It was from the stars I learned the price of success, and that is the background of my debut novel, the first of the Royal Command series. The royal is Margaret Tudor, James IV of Scotland’s queen, and her command is contained in a Book of Hours she used as a diary.
This sixteenth day of October the Year of Our Lord 1541, Methven Castle. I tire yet I must write for my beloved daughter comes hence. I pray I live to give unto her this book and charge her to give it also unto a daughter conceived in love. I direct and beseech my heirs to find love where they may. Love is a gift of God, not of kings.
Lizzie, the current owner of the book, disillusioned by life on a prosperous Scottish Shooting Estate, goes to London, where she meets Michael, born to poverty in the backstreets of Leeds, but determined to make it as an actor. They fall in love, but the road to stardom is a minefield and these two step on most of them. Their daughter, Lisette, follows in her father’s footsteps, and drama from the past ignites a fireball with the potential to ruin all their lives.