The Tower: A Novel

by Flora Carr

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Taking an already memorable historical character — Mary Queen of Scots — and making her unforgettable, The Tower is a ravishing debut without a dull moment. Reveling in the blood and guts of the time, this is a true-to-life, meticulously researched and wholly immersive experience.

A bold, feminist debut novel, reimagining Mary, Queen of Scots’s darkest hour, when she was held hostage in a remote Scottish castle with a handful of loyal women while plotting a daring escape to reclaim her country and her freedom.

"Such a vivid, visceral read, you feel you’re locked in the tower alongside the characters, acting out a royal family drama. I am moved and impressed." —Tracy Chevalier, New York Times bestselling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring

Scotland, 1567. A pregnant Mary, Queen of Scots is dragged out of her palace by rebel lords and imprisoned in the isolated Lochleven Castle, an ancient fortress surrounded by a vast lake. Her infant son and heir, James, has been captured by her enemies.

Accompanying Mary are two inconspicuous serving women: observant, ambitious Jane and romantic, quick-tempered Cuckoo, who endeavor to keep their mercurial mistress company while sharing the space of a claustrophobic room over the course of their eleven-month forced stay. Their hosts want them dead. They'll settle for Mary's abdication.

After Mary reluctantly surrenders her throne, her closest friend, the reserved, devoted Lady Seton, is permitted to join the captive women. Against the odds, as they hatch a perilous getaway plan, the four women form a bond that transcends class and religion, and for Jane and Seton, becomes something even deeper. At the center of it all is Mary—calculating, charming, brave, and unbowed. Flora Carr's thrilling, feverish debut is a celebration of resilience, a meditation on the meaning of power, and a testament to the unshakeable strength of female friendship, starring one of history's most charismatic leaders.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780385550185
Publisher:	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/05/2024
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	43,536
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

FLORA CARR was named one of 40 Emerging Writers 2020/2021 with the London Library and has a short story published in the program’s anthology. She is a previous winner of the British Vogue Talent Contest, and in 2020 her short story Starling was Highly Commended for the Harper’s Bazaar Short Story Prize. She was also shortlisted for the 2018 V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize, and is a graduate of The Writing Squad. Her journalistic work has appeared in the likes of TIME Magazine, British ELLE, and The Observer New Review. Flora grew up in Yorkshire and currently lives in London. The Tower is her first novel.

Editorial Reviews

01/29/2024

Carr’s lush debut chronicles the imprisonment of Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587), following a coup by rebel lords. Recently married to her third husband and several months pregnant after he raped her, Mary is rowed from Edinburgh to Lockleven in 1567 to be held in a castle belonging to her father’s mistress. At her side are two chambermaids: Jane, a native of Scotland, and Cuckoo, who, like Mary, is originally from France. The two women are devoted to their queen and attempt to lighten her spirits through the first difficult months of her imprisonment, including her miscarriage, forced abdication, and severe illness. Tension mounts with the arrival of Lady Seton, Mary’s closest friend, as the three women vie for the queen’s devotion. Further drama ensues after Cuckoo has sex with a lute player and the women smuggle him out of their chamber by dressing him in women’s clothes, an act of subterfuge that inspires Mary’s climactic escape. Adding to the gripping plot is Carr’s successful portrayal of the women’s shared determination—driven by “memories as though they are prayers”—to recapture the kingdom. It amounts to a rousing and lyrical epic. Agent: Rebecca Wearmouth, Peters Fraser & Dunlop. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"A devastating portrait of what it was like to be a woman in the 16th century. . . Through Carr’s lively re-imagining, we huddle with Mary and the women imprisoned with her as they plot an escape . . . Carr imbues this visceral story with the female empowerment that much of male-centric history lacks." —The Washington Post

"Richly detailed. . . Mary, Queen of Scots, has been imprisoned by rebels. . . Schemes ensue . . . Through her tale, Carr depicts the ways in which women can care for and exert power over one another." —The New Yorker

“An immediate, immersive experience of sharing the year the fallen Mary Queen of Scots was held in a Scottish island castle prison with a few attendants and only her courage and charm to rescue her. Lyrical, riveting, and unforgettable.” —Margaret George, New York Times bestselling author of Elizabeth I

"Many authors have produced fiction portraits of Mary, Queen of Scots, but none has been quite like that provided by Flora Carr in her debut novel . . . Carr has taken an often overly romantized figure and given her new life and originality." —The Sunday Times (U.K.)

"A gripping and claustrophobic read." —The Irish Times

"Superb . . . This is historical fiction at its very best: literary, yet thoroughly absorbing." —Historical Novel Society, Editor's Choice

“An unforgettable, spellbinding debut—Flora Carr's The Tower offers an immersive and intimate portrait of Mary Queen of Scots and the women in her orbit, revealing their humanity beyond the stories and myths.” —Lindsay Lynch, bestselling author of Do Tell

"A claustrophobic story about Mary, Queen of Scots’ imprisonment in Lochleven Castle, The Tower tackles much broader issues —-class, religion, sexuality—alongside its exploration of a lesser-known period in the Scots queen’s life." —Paste

“Carr’s taut debut recalls Maggie O’Farrell’s The Marriage Portrait . . . Carr dexterously explores how the seductive allure of royalty is undimmed by Mary’s grim circumstances, which are depicted with earthy physicality. . . this pulled-from-history novel resounds as a victory for female camaraderie and cleverness.” —Booklist

“Close-focused and vivid. . . Carr’s interest in the women—their bodies, their allegiances, their intimacies—offers a contemporary perspective that extends beyond the [central] foursome to other females seeking or manipulating power. These musings and observations are rendered in bright, cinematic prose.” —Kirkus Reviews

"Lush . . . gripping . . . a rousing and lyrical epic." —Publishers Weekly

"Fascinating" —Electric Lit

"Bold and intimate . . . [The Tower] maintains a sharp immediacy in keeping with the bristling antagonisms and power plays that take place within the castle walls." —The Times Literary Supplement (U.K.)

"Atmospheric . . . there's much to enjoy in The Tower" —The Telegraph

"Accomplished and engaging" —The Scotsman

"Steeped in the physical sensations of daily life. . . Carr probes the enduring appeal of the Scottish queen." —Literary Review (U.K.)
 
"The Tower launches a fresh voice in historical fiction." —The Bookseller, Editor's Pick for March

"An imaginative, dark gem of a novel, about women, power and fear, still, intelligent and beautifully written, yet as tense as a thriller." —Neil Blackmore, author of Radical Love
 
"An absorbing read and an utterly believable female perspective on history. Its cocktail of tension and tenderness perfectly captures the claustrophobic world of the four women in the tower; a historical narrative with contemporary relevance." —Sally Hinchcliffe, author of Hare House

"An intimate, exquisitely told story of Mary, Queen of Scots and her maids during their year of imprisonment, portraying their hopes and fears, their affections and irritations with such skill that you feel you are in the room with them. A beautiful, poignant book that draws you into the world of these women so fully that it is a wrench to leave it." —Elizabeth Lee, author of Cunning Women

"The Tower takes us into the timeless struggle of women in a man’s world—still relevant today—and sheds light on the poignant stories of women’s friendship and devotion rarely included in history books." —The Big Thrill

From the Publisher

Kristin Atherton brings a regal ambiance to this compelling historical fiction featuring Mary, Queen of Scots. After the rebellion of her Scottish lords, Mary is imprisoned in remote Lochleven Castle with three of her ladies-in-waiting. Pregnant and forced to abdicate, Mary suffers her plight, all the while plotting her escape. Atherton's delivery reflects the escalating tension as the jealous maids compete for the Queen's favor. Atherton artfully handles the period details and drama, never overplaying the women's anguish or the claustrophobia within the tiny space. Earthy details--the smell of chamber pots, unwashed women, Mary's miscarriage of twins--provide a vivid portrait of her imprisonment and the machinations of men who won't accept a female ruler. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2024 - AudioFile

2023-12-16
Mary, Queen of Scots, imprisoned in cold, damp Lochleven Castle, on an island in the middle of the loch, plots her escape while attended by a small, faithful circle of women-in-waiting.

Close-focused and vivid, British author Carr’s debut centers on a year in the famed royal’s life while encompassing the events, people, and history that brought her to this place. It’s a detailed character portrait of Mary, a charismatic, flirtatious, “high-spirited beauty” who loves poetry and dancing as much as riding with troops. A queen since she was 6 days old, thrice married, and mother to 1-year-old James, Mary, at 24, is pregnant again when captured and imprisoned. Early in her incarceration she miscarries twins and is then forced to sign abdication papers. After these dramatic events, the pace of the novel slows to accommodate a deeper consideration of the relationships among the four trapped women: Mary’s two lowly “chamberers,” Jane and Cuckoo, are joined by a third, Lady Seton, one of the aristocratic “jewelled ladies” more customary in a queen’s retinue. Friendships, jealousies, and more intense emotions crisscross the group, while their captors spy on them and Mary secretly works with loyalists to secure freedom. Carr’s interest in the women—their bodies, their allegiances, their intimacies—offers a contemporary perspective that extends beyond the foursome to other females seeking or manipulating power. These musings and observations are rendered in bright, cinematic prose—“A woman with sunburn on her chest and forearms bends down to pluck white camomile flowers”—yet there’s a circularity as well as an inevitable claustrophobia to the structure, which the narrative never entirely outgrows.

A robust modern revisiting of popular historical territory.

Kirkus Reviews