Thorns, Lust and Glory

A fascinating book that sheds new light on one of Tudor history’s most compelling and controversial characters

Tracy Borman

A provocative, impassioned and empathetic account of England’s most famous queen consort

Gareth Russell

An empathetic and moving study of a truly captivating Queen. Paranque has unveiled Anne Boleyn as you have never experienced her before. Enthralling.

Owen Emmerson

Anne Boleyn is one of the most famous of English Queens,and her life and reign has been the subejct of countless works. But in Estelle Paranque's assured hands, Anne emerges from the pages as never before. Paranque is highly compelling in her impressive and rigorous approach to a well traversed narrative, her utter command of undervalued historical context underscoring the more recondite elements of Anne's life, drawing on rare French sources to restore Anne to the very heart of Tudor foreign politics.

Lauren Mackay

By focusing on Anne’s role in the diplomatic wrangling, Paranque makes a convincing case that she was not just the seductress of legend, but a strong, intelligent woman who exercised real political power.

Sunday Times

In Thorns, Lust and Glory, Estelle Paranque has done something unusual: she has found new things to say about Anne Boleyn. This is a bright and elegantly told story, which shows how Anne’s courtly education outside England allowed her to present as ‘a natural-born Frenchwoman’, then explores how her French connections failed her when enemies began to circle. It is a cracklingly good tale, and essential reading for anyone interested in the treacherous Tudor world of Henry VIII.

Dan Jones

Paranque brings her trademark mix of serious scholarship and lighthearted prose to that great English obsession: Henry and Anne. She finds new angles, and makes us see that epochal relationship in an exciting new way.

Dan Snow