Book Title: The Queen’s Tears
Series: A Julia Darke Novel
Author Name: Elizabeth St.John
Publication Date: October 15, 2026
Publisher: Falcon Historical Press
Pages: 400
Genre: Dual-Timeline Historical Fiction
Any Triggers: No
Twitter / X Handles: @ElizStJohn @cathiedunn @maryanneyarde @AuthorMichael57
Instagram Handles: @elizabethjstjohn @thecoffeepotbookclub @yardereviews
Hashtags: #TheQueensTears #HistoricalFiction #DualTimeline #Stuarts #Mystery #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub #YardeBookReviews
Tour Schedule Page: https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2026/09/blog-tour-the-queens-tears-by-elizabeth-stjohn.html
Book Title and Author Name:
The Queen’s Tears
Elizabeth St.John
Blurb:A stolen crown jewel and an enigmatic portrait force two women to confront the devastating choices they made for love—and summon the courage to live with the truth.
1619: Barbara, Lady Villiers, at the bidding of her brother-in-law, the Duke of Buckingham, has stolen the dying Queen Anna’s jewels—and kept the greatest prize for herself. The Queen’s Tears, a brooch of extraordinary value, torments her: too dangerous to sell, too priceless to discard, and possibly her only means of securing her children’s future. When the family fortunes are shattered, Barbara faces an impossible choice: remain loyal to Buckingham—or betray him by confessing the theft to King Charles.
Present Day: Julia Darke opens her Cotswolds bookshop to start life over peacefully. Instead, a Van Dyck portrait of Barbara’s daughter, with tantalising signs of the missing Queen’s Tears hidden in plain sight, brings her face-to-face with Oliver Villiers, the Oxford art conservator she once loved and walked away from.
Reluctantly drawn together to uncover Barbara’s secret, Julia and Oliver follow the trail of the Queen’s Tears—and the closer Julia comes to Barbara’s truth, the harder it becomes to hide from her own.
Reluctantly drawn together to uncover Barbara’s secret, Julia and Oliver follow the trail of the Queen’s Tears—and the closer Julia comes to Barbara’s truth, the harder it becomes to hide from her own.
Inspired by the true stories of Queen Anna of Denmark’s stolen jewels and a missing Van Dyck painting, The Queen’s Tears weaves history, fiction, and family research across the centuries. Readers of The Lydiard Chronicles will find old favourites—and a new heroine following in their footsteps.
Excerpt 4:
Oliver Villiers Fine Arts was, of course, in Belgravia. Julia strode along Ebury Street, humming, as she did when slightly anxious, after dropping her roller bag at the Bay Tree, a Georgian-fronted boutique hotel. Too quickly, she arrived at the gallery and, instead of pausing, marched straight in, following the receptionist’s directions. The preview room was expensively minimalist, with polished blond oak floors and art lighting designed to enhance the treasures on display.
Oliver stood under a low-voltage spot, the beam picking out the silver in his casually tousled hair, muted across the broad shoulders of his dark brown corduroy jacket. A soft white cotton shirt, blue jeans, and a simple fawn-coloured cashmere scarf completed the picture of a successful, sophisticated, and boyishly charming international art dealer.
Intentional. And memorable. He always was one for setting a scene.
“Julia.” He leaned slightly forward as if to kiss her cheek.
She inched back. “Oliver.”
“You haven’t changed a bit. You look wonderful.”
“Flattery, Oliver? We both know that doesn’t work on me.”
He grinned unabashedly. For a moment, the past hung between them, their history palpable. Julia tucked her hair behind her ear and looked at him squarely, keeping one hand in her jacket pocket to stop herself from fidgeting. He hadn’t changed a bit either, and she’d totally underestimated the gut punch from being in the same room as him.
Step up to it, girl. You’ve pulverised boardrooms and glass ceilings in your time. A long-lost love won’t crush you. Even if he broke your heart.
She finally smiled back. It had, after all, been thirty years. “Barbara?”
“Ah. Yes. Why you’re here.” He gestured to the easel behind him. “She’s just been brought out of storage.”
The portrait of Barbara St.John Villiers was three-quarter length, its colours muted and details more concealed than Julia had anticipated.
“Oh, she’s lovely.” Although the portrait desperately needed cleaning, the sitter’s elegance was unmistakable.
Oliver tipped his head at the portrait. “She is rather. She’ll be even better when she’s freshened up. It was a quick decision by the owner, so no time to do anything before she goes under the hammer.” He cleared his throat. “Oh well, I’ll leave you to it.”
Julia kept her eyes on Barbara as he walked to the back of the gallery and then stole a glimpse as he disappeared behind a lushly carved Carolinian screen with hints of Grinling Gibbons. She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Round one accomplished.
“Hello Barbara,” she whispered. “I’ve come to take you home.”
The woman stared out from the canvas with composed intelligence, her mouth neither smiling nor severe. Courtly. Elegant. A woman painted at the height of her value. Julia had researched a hundred like her over the years.
And yet this one was different. Barbara called to her—
“This is ridiculous,” Julia muttered, stepping closer. If switching from publishing to writing meant portraits were going to start talking to her, she was in for major sensory overload.
The label read:
After Van Dyck, c.1639
Portrait of a Woman
(traditionally identified as Barbara St.John Villiers)
Oil on canvas
Traditionally identified was academic shorthand for we don’t actually know who it is.
Buy Link:
Universal Buy Link: https://geni.us/TheQueensTears
This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
Author Bio:
Elizabeth St.John’s acclaimed historical fiction brings to life her ancestors—remarkable women linked to England’s royalty—offering unique insights into Medieval, Tudor, and Stuart times. Her novels unfold not just as traditional series, but as an interlocking web of lives: The Lydiard Chronicles—including the celebrated The Lady of the Tower—The Godmother’s Secret, and The King’s Intelligencer explore everything from the English Civil War to the mystery of the Princes in the Tower. Her newest novel, The Queen’s Tears, a dual timeline pursuing a stolen crown jewel, reunites favourite characters from the seventeenth-century with a present-day bookstore owner heroine.
At the heart of her writing is the transformation of real ancestral histories into narratives of historical continuity. She follows threads of legacy through generations, guided as much by wills, letters, portraits, country churches, ruined castles, manor houses, and lost gardens as by imagination. Locations become constant companions through time, while characters whisper across centuries—their decisions resonating in the lives of their descendants to reveal how choices shape legacies. Grounded in historic sites like Lydiard Park and the Tower of London, her work creates a living archival flow that continues to flourish as the past yields its secrets.
Elizabeth divides her time between California, England, and the past, surrounded by books, gardens, and animals, with a slightly bewildered, ever-supportive husband beside her.
Author Links:
Website: https://www.elizabethjstjohn.com/
Twitter / X: https://x.com/ElizStJohn
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethJStJohn/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethjstjohn/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/elizabethstjohn.bsky.social
Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/elizabeth-st-john
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@elizabethjstjohn
Amazon Author Page: https://geni.us/AmazonElizabethStJohn
Goodreads: https://geni.us/GoodreadsElizStJohn
