{ The PhantomTree by Nicola Cornick - TLC Book Tour }

 

About The Phantom Tree

Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Graydon House; Original edition (September 1, 2018)

Browsing an antiques shop in Wiltshire, Alison Bannister stumbles across a delicate old portrait—identified as the doomed Tudor queen, Anne Boleyn. Except Alison knows better. The subject is Mary Seymour, the daughter of Katherine Parr, who was taken to Wolf Hall in 1557 and presumed dead after going missing as a child. And Alison knows this because she, too, lived at Wolf Hall and knew Mary…more than four hundred years ago.

The painting of Mary is more than just a beautiful object for Alison—it holds the key to her past life, the unlocking of the mystery surrounding Mary’s disappearance and how Alison can get back to her own time. To when she and Mary were childhood enemies yet shared a pact that now, finally, must be fulfilled, no matter the cost.

Bestselling author of House of Shadows Nicola Cornick offers a provocative alternate history of rivals, secrets and danger, set in a time when a woman’s destiny was determined by the politics of men and luck of birth. A spellbinding tale for fans of Kate Morton, Philippa Gregory and Barbara Erskine.

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About Nicola Cornick

International bestselling author Nicola Cornick writes historical romance for HQN Books and time slip romance for MIRA UK. She became fascinated with history when she was a child, and spent hours poring over historical novels and watching costume drama. She studied history at university and wrote her master’s thesis on heroes. Nicola also acts as a historical advisor for television and radio. In her spare time she works as a guide in a 17th century mansion.

Connect with Nicola

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My Thoughts:

Honestly???

I think this is one of my favorite books this year.  So good, so well written and just up my alley.

I absolutely love anything to do with the Tudors, especially Henry VIII and his six wives and all that interesting stuff.

I also love movies, tv series, or books that touch on time travel or someone from our time ending up back in those times, or vice versa.  This book offers both and in a way that leaves you wanting more.

Alison is browsing through an Antiques Shop in England, when she comes across an old painting of Anne Boleyn, but even though it is described as the Queen who was beheaded, Alison knows that it is not Anne in the portrait, but rather Mary Seymour, the daughter of Katherine Parr.

Not only did Alison know Mary personally, having shared a childhood with her, but she knows that this portrait may just be her only way back home, to 400 years before the present time.

What ensues from that moment is a beautifully told story that takes us back and forth, through time, from 1550's and 1560's to current England.

Alison escaped her era to find solace and rest 400 years in the future, she goes back and forth, without anyone really noticing, until she can not go back to her time anymore.  Her struggle is not only getting back home, but keeping a promise that she made to Mary all those years ago, that she would come back to find her.

In the middle of all this is Alison's son who was taken from her, and with Mary's help and promise to bring him back to his mother, Alison must fight even harder to slip back into her reality which is not 21st Century England.

I couldn't wait to turn the pages in this book and was quite sad to see it come to an end.

If you love historical, time travel and Tudor times, this is a must read.