08 Jun Carol McGrath The Queen’s Sister #HistoricalFiction #TudorFiction #TheCoffeePotBookClub #BlogTour #NewRelease @carolmcgrath @cathiedunn

FEATURED AUTHOR: CAROL MCGRATH

I’m delighted to welcome Carol McGrath as the featured author in The Coffee Pot Book Club Blog Tour being held between June 8th – 12th, 2026. Carol McGrath is the author of the Historical Fiction, The Queen’s Sister, published by Headline Accent on 4th June 2026 (300 pages). 

Below are highlights of The Queen’s Sister, Carol McGrath’s author bio, and an excerpt from the novel.

Tour Schedule Page: https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2026/04/blog-tour-the-queens-sister-by-carol-mcgrath.html

HIGHLIGHTS: THE QUEEN’S SISTER

The Queen’s Sister
by Carol McGrath

Blurb:

A mother, a wife, a woman of substance…

At nineteen, Elizabeth Seymour is already a mother, has been recently widowed, and seen her Queen, Anne Boleyn, lose her life. Against the wishes of her father, she heads North, away from Wulf Hall and the court in London to Yorkshire, determined to establish a new beginning as a landowner and business woman. As her family in Wiltshire curry favour with King Henry, aided by Thomas Cromwell, Elizabeth makes Kexby Manor her home, finding loyalty among her people there.

Soon, news comes to Elizabeth of the King’s desires for her sister, Jane and while her brother, Edward, encourages her own betrothal to Gregory Cromwell, son of Thomas. It is a happy second marriage for Elizabeth, but it brings unwanted involvement in the dark plots and secrecy of the court, while in the wider country, changes in religious practice threaten to alter the traditions and values of all she has known…

THE QUEEN’S SISTER vividly imagines the story of the woman possibly portrayed in Hans Holbein’s beautiful painting ‘Portrait of a Lady,’ and is a colourful, meticulously researched novel of Tudor life behind the scenes.

What readers say about Carol McGrath’s novels:

‘Another beautifully crafted, well-researched work of historical fiction from Carol McGrath’

‘Brimming with intrigue, tension and adventure, The Lost Queen is a powerful Medieval tale full of atmosphere, danger and emotion and transports the reader to another world’

Buy Links:

Universal Ebook Link: https://books2read.com/u/bzExAq

Universal Paperback Link: https://geni.us/queenssister

AUTHOR BIO: CAROL MCGRATH

Following a first degree in English and History at QUB, Carol McGrath completed an MA in Creative Writing from The Seamus Heaney Centre, Queens University Belfast, followed by an MPhil in English from University of London. She is published by Headline.

The Handfasted Wife, first in a trilogy about the royal women of 1066 was shortlisted for the RoNAs in 2014. The Swan-Daughter and The Betrothed Sister complete this highly acclaimed trilogy. Mistress Cromwell, a best-selling historical novel about Elizabeth Cromwell, wife of Henry VIII’s statesman, Thomas Cromwell, was republished by Headline in 2020. The Silken Rose, first in a Medieval She-Wolf Queens Trilogy, featuring Ailenor of Provence, saw publication in April 2020. This was followed by The Damask Rose. The Stone Rose was published April 2022. The Stolen Crown 2023 and July 2024 The Lost Queen about Berengaria of Navarre and The Third Crusade. The Queen’s Sister, sequel to Mistress Cromwell sees publication in June 2026.

Carol writes historical non-fiction as well as fiction. Sex and Sexuality in Tudor England was published in February 2022 by Pen & Sword. She speaks at Conferences and gives interviews.

Find Carol on her website: www.carolcmcgrath.co.uk.

Subscribe to her newsletter via her website (use the drop down on her web-site Home Page).

Author Links:

Website     Twitter / X     Facebook     Instagram

Bluesky     Book Bub     Amazon Author Page     Goodreads

EXCERPT: THE QUEEN’S SISTER

First Edward’s letter, which I read twice. It is of interest that the King and Queen visited Wulf Hall on the summer progress, but I felt concern as I read:

Our father spent much monies expanding Wulf Hall in preparation for the court’s visit. The King and Queen were lodged in beautiful new apartments though she seemed displeased for much of their stay. Queen Anne miscarried a child in the springtime. The Queen joined the King for the hunt only once. Thomas Cromwell is not as friendly with the Queen or her courtiers as he was before Christmas. He smiles upon our family and is especially kind to our sister, Jane. She helped our mother make Wulf Hall and its kitchens ready for the royal visit and her arrangements were remarked upon by the King. She even planned new planting during the spring. By July our gardens were magnificent enough to rival those at Greenwich. Jane has the King’s favour. He requested she walked with him in the herbals and the rose gardens and explain the herbs to him. We all watched from the Oriel window at the top of the great staircase. He was listening intently to her, smiling …On reading this, I shake my head in disapproval.

I am sure they watched from the windows, snooping like curious cats ready to pounce on Jane later to glean details of their conversation. I can imagine my father and brothers, and my little sister Dorothy spying, all of them hoping for preferment. It is a blessing not to have been of their number when the King visited Wulf Hall, watching my family greedily seek his favour. What of Queen Anne? The rest of Edward’s letter concerns the King’s hunting in Savernake Forest, how Henry brought down a stag himself and presented our father with the horns. I finish my second reading of this letter and close my eyes feeling a severe headache descending, thinking how uncomfortable it must have felt for her other ladies if the Queen and King were not in harmony, and how sad that she had miscarried. I hold the letter away for a moment. It’s a repeat of what happened to Queen Catherine… all those dead babies. And Jane, has she offended her mistress the Queen by being in receipt of the King’s attention? The preparations for the court’s visit will have bankrupted my father.

I let out a long slow sigh.

I take a deep breath and break the seal on Jane’s letter. She was full of how kind the King was to our family and how he had enjoyed his stay at Wulf Hall, that she liked Thomas Cromwell. I recollect Jane had been admiring of Queen Catherine, fond of Princess Mary and was angry that the princess’s mother had been set aside for Anne Bullen. I had known the Spanish queen for less than a year before my marriage and then I was a young girl of twelve years. The only queen I know is Anne Bullen, whom I admire.

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