Sutton Place Series by Deryn Lake, Dinah Lampitt

The year is 1051. The beautiful and angry Queen Edith curses the ground her husband, Edward the Confessor, hunts on and all its future owners. Five centuries later, Richard Weston, a shrewd politician and rising member of Henry VIII’s court, is awarded the land and builds a magnificent manor house. But his family is living in the shadow of the curse and must soon pay its price... moreThe year is 1051. The beautiful and angry Queen Edith curses the ground her husband, Edward the Confessor, hunts on and all its future owners. Five centuries later, Richard Weston, a shrewd politician and rising member of Henry VIII’s court, is awarded the land and builds a magnificent manor house. But his family is living in the shadow of the curse and must soon pay its price. For his son and heir, Francis Weston, will be executed for a crime he did not commit — adultery with Anne Boleyn. As both the vivacious Francis and the mysterious Anne unwittingly sow the seeds of their own destruction, Dr Zachary, the celebrated court astrologer and the Duke of Norfolk’s illegitimate son, tries to contend with dark forces beyond even his control. But Sutton Place has not finished yet and centuries later Lord Northcliffe, a press baron, and Paul Getty, an oil tycoon, will also have to face the darkness… The first novel of Deryn Lake’s haunting trilogy, ‘Sutton Place’, masterfully blends fact and fiction as it traces the tortured destinies of all those caught up in the curse. ‘Deliciously spook-ridden’ Daily Telegraph Deryn Lake started to write stories at the age of five then graduated to novels but destroyed all her early work because, she says, it was hopeless. A chance meeting with one of the Getty family took her to Sutton Place and her first serious novel was born. Deryn was married to a journalist and writer, the late L. F. Lampitt, has two grown-up children and lives in Mayfield, Sussex, with two large cats. She is also the author of ‘To Sleep No More’, ‘The King’s Women’ and ‘Pour The Dark Wine’. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. less

From somewhere deep in the house a cry rang out - a cry so distressing, speaking as it did of terror and night-fright - that John Weston felt his blood chill and every hackle on his body rise. He was not a nervous man but that terrible sound brought back to his mind something that he had long ago dismissed - the legend of the curse of Sutton Place... moreFrom somewhere deep in the house a cry rang out - a cry so distressing, speaking as it did of terror and night-fright - that John Weston felt his blood chill and every hackle on his body rise. He was not a nervous man but that terrible sound brought back to his mind something that he had long ago dismissed - the legend of the curse of Sutton Place. But John Weston, the last male descendant of Sir Richard the builder, did not believe in the evil that had dogged his ancestors, and put all the ill-luck down to coincidence. The Silver Swan tells not only his story but also that of his beautiful silverhaired daughter, Melior Mary, and her fatal desire for two men; one a strange orphan boy from Calais, the other Prince Charles Edward Stuart - the Young Pretender himself. The pages swarm with the great characters of history - Alexander Pope the deformed poet, Captain Charles Wogan the Jacobite spy, Princess Clementina Sobieski the bride of the Old Pretender and Joseph Gage the Rake Hell and dandy. All were destined to know and love Melior Mary but she was damned by the ancient spell of her mansion house. less

The early 19th Century. Lady Horatia Waldegrave, daughter of the sixth Earl Waldegrave has fallen for Captain John Joseph Webbe Weston, a soldier of fortune for the Austrian Emperor. But John is heir to Sutton Place — and the dreadful curse that comes with it. In 1048 Queen Edith, driven mad by jealousy, cursed the ground her husband, Edward the Confessor, hunted on and all its future owners. And since then all subsequent generations have been plagued by terror and misfortune... moreThe early 19th Century. Lady Horatia Waldegrave, daughter of the sixth Earl Waldegrave has fallen for Captain John Joseph Webbe Weston, a soldier of fortune for the Austrian Emperor. But John is heir to Sutton Place — and the dreadful curse that comes with it. In 1048 Queen Edith, driven mad by jealousy, cursed the ground her husband, Edward the Confessor, hunted on and all its future owners. And since then all subsequent generations have been plagued by terror and misfortune. Now John and Horatia are being drawn into its web … Can they find a way to free themselves from this ancient grudge? Or will their love be doomed by forces out of their control? ‘Fortune's Soldier’completes the SUTTON PLACE trilogy, a highly acclaimed history of the curse that was to hang over all those fated to own the doomed manor of Sutton. ‘Deliciously spook-ridden’ - DAILY TELEGRAPH Deryn Lake started to write stories at the age of five then graduated to novels but destroyed all her early work because, she says, it was hopeless. A chance meeting with one of the Getty family took her to Sutton Place and her first serious novel was born. Deryn was married to a journalist and writer, the late L. F. Lampitt, has two grown-up children and lives in Mayfield, Sussex, with two large cats. She is also the author of ‘Sutton Place’, ‘The Silver Swan’, ‘To Sleep No More’, ‘The King’s Women’ and ‘Pour The Dark Wine’. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. less