Set in 1484, the novel tells the story of 10-year-old John Collan, who is revealed to be Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick. Spirited away to safeguard his claim to the throne, he adopts the name Lambert Simnel while navigating the perilous politics of Henry VII's court. The narrative explores themes of identity, parental uncertainty, and the burden of soaring expectations as John struggles with his past selves while becoming enmeshed in the power struggles of the era, ultimately depicting a poignant tale of loss and search for belonging.
Over the course of this fantastically accomplished novel, the many-named boy will travel from Oxford to Burgundy then Ireland, and at last into the paranoid and double-crossing heart of Henry VII's court.
Simnel is all his past selves, and none of them. He thinks of John, the sweetly priggish little boy from the farm... bricked up like an anchorite inside his new self.
One character describes him as a changeling in reverse, for changelings are dark and wicked things and Edward a fair prince... those dark and wicked elements are revealed as inextricable from the fair prince.
What a painful life this is for a boy so grateful for any amount of love as he falls in and out of favour, uncertain of his own parentage.
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