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  • Published: 15 March 2009
  • ISBN: 9780307237903
  • Imprint: Crown
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 592
  • RRP: $39.99

The Last Boleyn

A Novel



For readers who loved The Other Boleyn Girl, as well as Tudor novels by authors like Rosalind Miles, Robin Maxwell, and Jean Plaidy. By the author of the bestselling Elizabeth I mystery series.

She survived her own innocence, and the treachery of Europe’s royal courts; The Last Boleyn is the story of the rise and fall of the Boleyns, one of England’s most powerful families, through the eyes of the eldest daughter, Mary.

Although her sister, Anne, the queen; her brother, George, executed alongside Anne; and her father, Thomas, are most remembered by history, Mary was the Boleyn who set into motion the chain of events that brought about the family’s meteoric rise to power, as well as the one who managed to escape their equally remarkable fall. Sent away to France at an extraordinarily young age, Mary is quickly plunged into the dangerous world of court politics, where everything is beautiful but deceptive, and everyone she meets is watching and quietly manipulating the events and people around them. As she grows into a woman, Mary must navigate both the dangerous waters ruled by two kings and the powerful will of her own family in order to find a place for herself and the love she so deeply desires.

  • Published: 15 March 2009
  • ISBN: 9780307237903
  • Imprint: Crown
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 592
  • RRP: $39.99

About the author

Karen Harper

A life-long Ohioan, Karen was born in Toledo, Ohio. Her father was a designing engineer and her mother an elementary school teacher. She credits the women in her family with her early love of reading and telling stories: her mother and both her grandmothers were great readers and family historians.

Karen majored in English and Education at Ohio University and then attended graduate school at The Ohio State University. She specialized in early English literature and wrote her master’s thesis on the Shakespeare play All’s Well That Ends Well. Living in Columbus since 1967, Karen taught Brit Lit and composition at Whetstone High School and ofr 10 years, she was English department chair and teacher at Westerville North High School, where she was an advisor for the creative writing magazine.

First published in 1982, Karen left teaching to write full time in 1984. Karen and her husband Don have made many trips to the British Isles to research her historical novels. England and Scotland are her “favorite places on the planet.”

Besides historical novels, Karen also writes contemporary suspense novels which have been on the USA TODAY and New York Times bestseller lists. She is the winner of the Mary Higgins Clark Award for her Amish-set novel, Dark Angel. Her work has been translated into foreign languages including French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Hungarian, Polish and Turkish.

Harper’s historical novels include Shakespeare's Mistress, The Queen’s Governess, The Last Boleyn, The First Princess of Wales, The Irish Princess and The Queen's Confidante. Library Journal says of Harper's historicals, "As good as the best of Philippa Gregory...sure to be a big hit with historical fiction fans and book clubs."

To find out more visit www.KarenHarperAuthor.com

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Praise for The Last Boleyn

Praise for Karen Harper's Elizabeth I mysteries:
"Would make Shakespeare envious...this is great stuff." --Toronto Globe and Mail

"Impressively researched...the author has her historical details down pat." -- Los Angeles Times