The Pretender by Jo Harkin
The Pretender imagines the story of Lambert Simnel, a pretender to the throne of England and a threat to the newly established reign of Henry VII. He was the figurehead of a Yorkist rebellion against the House of Tudor. The story begins in 1480s England with John growing up in a village, believing that his father is Will Collan, but everything changes when he is told that a rich man wants to pay for him to study. When the rich man arrives, he’s accompanied by a younger man and introduced as Maister Richard Simons, a scholar and priest, who is to take over John’s education. Not only that, Maister Richard informs John that he was John Collan, and now, he is Lambert Simnel – something that, of course, makes no sense to John. It is then explained that he is actually the son of George, the Duke of Clarence. By title, he is the earl of Warwick, meaning next in line to the throne. Nothing makes sense to the boy who thinks of himself as a peasant. Oxford becomes his new home, but it’s far...