{"product_id":"9781526678348","title":"The Pretender : The Times Top Ten bestseller","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Jo Harkin\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWolf Hall meets Demon Copperhead in a sharply ambitious, brilliantly imagined and hugely entertaining story of intrigue, deceit, revenge and ambition**NAMED AS BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE SUNDAY TIMES****PICKED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025 BY THE GUARDIAN, SUNDAY TIMES, DAILY MAIL, AND THE I****SHORTLISTED FOR THE WINSTON GRAHAM HISTORICAL PRIZE**‘Wickedly funny ...  the filthy, clever, immersive picaresque you didn’t know you needed’ Guardian, The best fiction of 2025‘I read it with the dedicated fervour of a kid discovering literature for the first time’ Yael van der Wouden‘Funny, moving, filthy and original’ The Times‘So alive I felt Harkin might be a time traveller’ Maggie Shipstead ‘The most enjoyable historical novel I’ve read in years’ Spectator\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKill the pretender. Do not let it be known that there was a pretender to kill.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe year is 1483 and England is in peril. The much-despised Richard III is not long for the throne, and the man who will become Henry VII stands poised to snatch the crown for himself. But for twelve-year-old John Collan, living in a remote village with his widowed father, these matters seem far away.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut history has other plans for John.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStolen from his family, exiled – first to Oxford, then to Burgundy, and then Ireland – and apprenticed to a series of unscrupulous political operators, he finds himself groomed for power; not as John Collan, but as Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick – and rightful heir to the throne.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFar from home at the Irish court, preparing for a war that will see him become king or die trying, John has just his wits – and the slippery counsel of his host’s daughter, the unconventional Joan – to navigate the choppy waters ahead.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSeething with revenge and machination, sparkling with wit and humanity, and roaring with adventure and bravado, The Pretender is the captivating true story of a young man tossed into the chaos of history as it happens. **Praise for The Pretender**‘A brainy, heartfelt delight’ Guardian, 50 hottest books to read now‘Witty, poignant, wildly engaging, and with a huge heart’ Sarah Waters ‘Touching and hilarious’ The Times, 80 best books to take on holiday ‘Like a Plantagenet Adrian Mole’ Jenny Colgan‘A rollicking account of a befuddled boy’s pillar-to-post existence as a political pawn’ New York Times‘The real deal – nimble, vibrant, playful, and daring’ Kiran Millwood Hargrave‘Ambitious, mischievous and brilliantly written’ Daily Mail‘I blazed through full of wonder and admiration’ Emma Stonex\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49386345234659,"sku":"9781526678348","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1701\/6275\/files\/9781526678348.jpg?v=1783621345","url":"https:\/\/www.harbourbookshop.co.uk\/products\/9781526678348","provider":"The Harbour Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}