Auriel Rising

A Jacobean tale of intrigue and alchemy by the author of the bestselling The Music of the Spheres.

Remarkable, a glittering tale of London in 1795, full of science, intrigue, war, revolution and obsessive passion. Unputdownable

An engrossing read and a rich, pungent evocation of the period

Elizabeth Redfern studied English Literature at Nottingham University, and has worked as a chartered librarian and a lecturer in English Studies. Author of the highly acclaimed novel 'The Music of the Spheres', she has a keen interest in history and music, and lives with her husband and daughter in the Peak District.

Autumn, 1609. It is six years since the Scottish King James I came to the throne of England and since the death of the much-revered Elizabeth I; already the glories of her long reign seem but a distant memory. There is no denying that London is still alive with culture, but the core is rotten, for the court of King James is greedy, extravagant. Superstition abounds, not least a belief that gold can be made form base metals. Some of the leading courtiers hire their own alchemists, and since the death of the Elizabethan magus Dr John Dee, who was rumoured to have discovered the formula for making gold just before his death a year before, the capital is rife with reports that his lost papers have been found, giving charlatans and forgers a free hand to trick a gullible public. In the wider political scene it seems that England's honour has been pawned. A peace treaty has been signed with the Catholic enemy Spain, but the stability it brings is riven by rumblings of internal discontent against the Scottish king and his advisers. There is an underlying atmosphere of fear at the court, heightened by the paranoia of King James. Meanwhile his wife Anne, heedless of politics, passes the days and nights in merriment and dancing, and James' alienated son and heir, the fifteen-year-old Prince Henry, looks on, dour, disapproving and ambitious - and secretly thinking that if he were king, he would be leading an army at the French king's side, against the old enemy Spain-

Elizabeth Redfern

Remarkable, a glittering tale of London in 1795, full of science, intrigue, war, revolution and obsessive passion

Unputdownable...brilliantly handled to keep the reader guessing right to the end

London, the summer of 1795: a season of revolutionary fervour, scientific discovery and vicious murders. The British government is in disarray, unable to stem the flood of secrets to Paris; betrayals that doom her war efforts to failure. In rural Kensington a group of French emigr-s are pursuing a scientific dream, the discovery of a planet they call Selene. The group has fallen under the spell of a beautiful and amoral woman - Auguste de Montpellier who is at once their muse and dark angel. Meanwhile a killer lurks in the back streets of the capital: the victims are all prostitutes and have been paid in French Louis d'Or, the currency of France's spies. Jonathan Absey is a Home Office clerk whose official task is to smash the French spy ring. Privately however, he has become obsessed with the murders. These interests intersect when he finds himself drawn into the Montpellier circle, yet his pursuit for truth remains obscured through coded letters, opium and conspiracy. Absey must uncover the mystery before the summer dies; an invasion fleet is being prepared to set sail across the channel and the lives of those on board now rest on his discoveries.

Elizabeth Redfern

Praise for The Music Of The Spheres

Unputdownable

Remarkable, a glittering tale of London in 1795, full of science, intrigue, war, revolution and obsessive passion

An engrossing read and a rich, pungent evocation of the period

Unputdownable

Remarkable, a glittering tale of London in 1795, full of science, intrigue, war, revolution and obsessive passion

An engrossing read and a rich, pungent evocation of the period

Unputdownable

Remarkable, a glittering tale of London in 1795, full of science, intrigue, war, revolution and obsessive passion

An engrossing read and a rich, pungent evocation of the period

Books by Elizabeth Redfern

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