From one of the original leading ladies of historical fiction, this reissued classic captures the life of sir Walter Raleigha man of extraordinary ambition whose complex relationship with Elizabeth I followed him around the globe. Beloved historical novelist Norah Lofts was the queen of royal tales for generations. Lofts books are back, and in Here Was a Man, one of the greatest adventurers of the sixteenth century vividly and romantically comes to life. When young Walter Raleigh first presented himself before Elizabeth I, he dreamt of carving out an empire in the New World to lay at her feet. But Elizabeth is equally determined to keep this handsome, witty young man at her side. Through years of frustration, violent quarrels, reconciliation, and the challenges and rewards of exploration, Raleigh desperately tries to hold on to his dream. Lofts peoples her rich tale with some of the greatest personalities of the age, including Shakespeare, Marlowe, Sir Phillip...

Released for the first time in decades, this international bestseller powerfully tells of the life of Katharine of Aragon, from her childhood in Spain to her reign and downfall in England as the first wife of Henry VII. A princess by birth and a queen by marriage, Katharine always held the highest aspirations for her life, never doubting a vision both she and her mother, Isabella of Spain, had of her becoming one of the great rulers of Europe.

The beautiful house was built for a pirate rewarded by Good Queen Bess for the plunder that he brought home. But tragedy was born within its walls before Thomas Rowhedge even took possession and its memory remained in an icy atmosphere of despair by the window seat in the hall.It was home to a witch who could charm animals and a ghost who challenged everything but true love. It was filled with hope and heartbreak for four hundred years. It saw the passing of the Civil War and the restoration of the King. It became rich with an Indian Nabob and poor with a 20th century innkeeper. It tested every soul that entered it and gave no quarter to those it found wanting. The house was Merravay and it would always call back its own to try and complete the dance of love broken so cruelly as soon as its cornerstone was laid. **About the Author Norah Lofts was one of the best-known and best-loved of all historical novelists, known for her authentic application of period detail to all her books. She was a bestselling author on both sides of the Atlantic.She was born in Norfolk and taught English and History at a girls’ school before turning to writing full time in 1936. Her passion for old houses and their continuing history sparked off her much-praised Suffolk trilogy, The Town House, The House at Old Vine and The House at Sunset. These were followed by the bestselling The Concubine, The King’s Pleasure, a novel about the life of Katharine of Aragon and Eleanor the Queen a novel about the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Lofts wrote more than 50 books, including historical non-fiction and short stories.

The House at Old Vine is the second in a trilogy of novels by Norah Lofts about the inhabitants of a country house in Suffolk from the late fourteenth century to the middle of the twentieth. Covering the turbulent years of 1496 to 1680, it follows six generations of the descendants of Martin Reed, who founded the 'House' dynasty through his act of rebellion in The Town House, through persecution, war and revolution, from the era of Christopher Columbus to the Restoration of Charles II. Written with Lofts' customary attention to historical detail, this is a series of stories about characters who lived and died for what they believed.

Sir Godfrey Tallboys: A knight-errant at the top of his profession and with little thought beyond the next tourney. A long way from being wealthy but in need of a house for his pretty young wife.Lady Sybilla Tallboys: A loving wife, tolerant of her husband’s shortcomings—and with a strong desire for a home where she could raise their four children instead of relying on the charity of relatives. Forethought was rare for Sir Godfrey but he decided to build a house even though it took the last of his money. A magnificent tourney in Spain would make his fortune so, leaving England, he went off to fight. But tourney turned to treachery and at home he was reported dead. It fell to Sybilla to fend for herself and her children in the hope that, one day, Sir Godfrey would return.

When his ship docked, unexpectedly, in Yarmouth, sailor Arthur Tresize’s life was transformed into a surreal-seeming fairy story of unexpected wealth, a cursed piece of land and whispers of witchcraft. Buying up the disused land of the monks at Ockley in Suffolk, he built himself a house from the remnants of the old ruined Priory and settled down to raise a family. But the magic and suffering imbued in the stones of the house were not finished with the Tresize family yet. Norah Lofts revisits her fictional town of Baildon and its surroundings, adding the Old Priory into the histories of Ockley, Clevely, Layer Wood, Muchanger and Merravay. Over the next sixty years the fortunes of the Tresize family mirror the story of the house they lived in, its growth, its decay, the tragedies lived out within its walls and—finally— resolution.

The House at Sunset is the third in a trilogy of novels by Norah Lofts about the inhabitants of a country house in Suffolk from the late fourteenth century to the middle of the twentieth. Covering the period from 1740 to 1956, it traces the lives of its characters through the Georgian and Victorian eras and into the modern age. Written with Lofts' customary attention to historical detail, it follows their fortunes as history moves inexorably towards the post-War period and the accession of Elizabeth II, so different from the late fourteenth century when serf Martin Reed first built the House.

When Daisy Holt is dismissed from her post as a nursemaid she sets off cheerfully into the jungle of mid-Victorian London to make her fortune. Kitty Hammond, proprietress of the 'select establishment' off Leicester Square discovers her and is quick to realise that Daisy’s radiant beauty and talent as a dancer would make her a useful attraction in her ‘respectable’ brothel.  There it is that Daisy meets the impoverished artist John Skelton. To him she represents the perfect model—his muse. But Daisy falls completely and hopelessly in love with John—a love which will launch her on a stormy career in which luxury, admiration, ruin and suffering all play a part in bringing her to the edge of despair. In the end, with two illegitimate children to care for, her lover lost and a bully controlling her life, she has to leave her tender heart behind in the battle for survival.

New and brutal Norman overlords have turned the world upside-down in Eleventh century England. Eitel, the Lord of Bradwald, is dead in battle and one of King William’s armourers is now in charge; Rolf, a man inexperienced in ruling others and uncertain of his way. When Madselin, the young and proud widow of Eitel comes as a penitent asking to bury her husband’s body, Rolf sees an opportunity to ease his path. If Madselin becomes his wife, she can speak to the people in their language and teach them to obey. Betrayal, cruelty, unexpected kindnesses and hope pave the way for a future where Normans and Saxons can live together in peace but the road is long, rocky and fraught with difficulties.

When her mother marries Napoleon Bonaparte, Hortense Beauharnais finds herself thrust into the turbulent atmosphere of the post-Revolutionary French court, a dangerous world ruled by jealousy and malice. With Bonaparte desperate for an heir and the Empress Josephine seemingly unable to bear children, Hortense is pressed to marry the Emperor's brother, Louis. Browbeaten and mistreated by her new husband, Hortense struggles to maintain equilibrium and dreams of the day when she might be able to marry her true love.

When wealthy Penelope Mercer fell in love she would not take no for an answer. So, Adam Woodley, a simple pargeter, who had created the decorations for her father’s new house, was to become her husband. A pragmatic man, he had nothing to lose as the love of his own life had died. This unconventional marriage produced a son and a daughter and it was Sarah Woodley-Mercer who inherited both her mother’s determination and her father’s practical abilities. She would need both—and more—to survive the aftermath of the English Civil War when, abandoned by her brother, she in turn must marry for expediency in order to stay in her beloved home and protect her people. Can Sarah’s unflinching courage through a bitterly unhappy marriage hold the little household together throughout the years of Cromwell’s rule? And with the restoration of the Monarchy, can she restore her family’s fortunes—and finally experience the love she has been praying for?

The Town House is the first in a trilogy of novels by Norah Lofts about the inhabitants of a country house in Suffolk from the late fourteenth century to the middle of the twentieth. It begins with the story of Martin Reed, a serf existing under the control of a universally accepted and supported hierarchy. His rebellion, in defence of the woman he loves, casts both of them into the unknown. Freed from his acceptance of circumstance, Reed forges a new path, a path which culminates in the building of the House, and the foundations of a dynasty.

Sir Charles Augustus Shelmadine was an autocrat. He ruled his village with a firm but kindly hand—instructing his tenants on their crops, their children and their love affairs. When he died and the new Squire came, the village stirred uneasily. For the new Squire had strange ideas—and even stranger friends—people like Mr. Mundford who never seemed to grow any older and whose name was linked with the terrible Hell Fire Club. Mr. Mundford was interested in too many things that should not have concerned him... like the ruins of the old Roman temple where the rites of Mithras had once been enacted... and in the silent, amber-eyed young woman called Damask Greenaway. Damask was the daughter of a Bible-thumping Christian. But when she lost the love of her life, she turned against all she had been raised to believe and a strange power possessed her; a power to make people do what she pleased. It was this power that Mr. Mundford was hoping to harness on that most powerful of nights: All Hallow’s Eve.