Book Title: The Lydiard Chronicles (A Trilogy)
Author: Elizabeth St.John
Publication Date: 2016-2020
Publisher: Falcon Historical
Genre: Historical Fiction
Any Triggers: No
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Book Title and Author Name
The Lydiard Chronicles:
The Lady of the Tower (Book #1)
By Love Divided (Book #2)
Written in Their Stars (Book #3)
by Elizabeth St.John
Blurb:
Duty, passion, and power collide in The Lydiard Chronicles, a gripping trilogy inspired by true events. Follow three courageous women—survivors, strategists, and storytellers—who defy the constraints of society to shape their family’s fate and England’s future. Their voices echo through time. Their legacy changed a nation.
The Lydiard Chronicles is an award-winning, best-selling historical family saga which brings to life the remarkable true stories of the St.John family. Spanning three compelling novels—The Lady of the Tower, By Love Divided, and Written in Their Stars—the series follows the legacy of resilient and intelligent women who lived as spies, courtiers, and diarists during England’s most turbulent century, navigating the quicksand of love and war, political upheaval, and personal sacrifice.
Bound by fierce family loyalty and unforgettable love, the women of The Lydiard Chronicles defy the limits of their time with passion, courage, and unshakable independence. They endure captivity in the Tower of London, exile in the Louvre Palace, and the heart-wrenching divisions of the English Civil War—fighting not just for survival, but for their beliefs, their families, and the right to choose their own fate. Meticulously researched and vividly told, this epic saga reveals how these women created history from the shadows, leaving a legacy of resilience, defiance, and enduring influence.
Rooted in original diaries, letters, and family papers, The Lydiard Chronicles offers an intimate, biographical portrait of women who moved behind the scenes of power. Serving as trusted secret agents, military wives, and confidantes of kings, they were deeply engaged in the political and religious conflicts of their time. Through tragedy and triumph, the women of The Lydiard Chronicles shape their destinies—and the fate of a nation—in this richly researched and vividly told historical epic.
Guest Post
When Angels Fly
Espionage, Loyalty, and Legacy: The Real Women Behind Written in Their Stars, the Third and Final Novel of The Lydiard Chronicles
The English Civil War was a time of fractured loyalties, clandestine alliances, and perilous choices. Among the many extraordinary women of the era, few navigated this treacherous landscape with as much intellect and influence as Anne Wilmot, Countess of Rochester. Known affectionately within her family as “Nan,” she was both a royalist spymistress and a fiercely loyal cousin—even to those who fought on the other side of the battlefield.
Nan’s remarkable life of intrigue, resistance, and devotion is at the heart of Written in Their Stars, the third novel in The Lydiard Chronicles. Inspired by my own family history, the novel delves into her covert efforts to support King Charles II while maintaining an unbreakable bond with her cousin, Lucy Hutchinson—a devout Puritan and Parliamentarian whose memoirs, remarkably, Nan helped preserve.
Lucy Hutchinson’s writings are the foundation of The Lydiard Chronicles. Her memoirs, written to defend the memory of her regicide husband, Colonel John Hutchinson, were destined for destruction after the Restoration. But Nan stepped in. Despite her royalist allegiance, she secretly saved Lucy’s manuscripts and ensured they were eventually published. This act of preservation—one woman saving another’s voice from oblivion—epitomizes the central theme of my novels: that women’s stories matter, and they are often rescued by one another.
Nan’s own story is a masterclass in courage and subtle power. At her estate, Ditchley Park in Oxfordshire, she created a fortress of loyalty to the Stuart cause. Under constant threat of confiscation by Cromwell’s regime, Nan maintained her estate through a delicate balance of diplomacy and bold defiance. She arranged weapons and horses for the Cavaliers, hosted secret gatherings, and provided a refuge for royalist allies and rebels—including, at times, her husband, Henry Wilmot, one of Charles II’s closest confidants.
But Nan’s most dangerous role was as a royalist spymistress. Skilled in subterfuge, she managed networks of messengers and secret correspondence, ensuring the flow of intelligence critical to the king’s survival. Yet for all her royalist fervour, Nan’s deepest loyalty remained with her family. After the Restoration, she risked everything to plead for mercy on behalf of John Hutchinson, one of the signatories to Charles I’s death warrant. To aid her cause, she even enlisted Barbara Villiers, her cousin and Charles II’s powerful mistress. Nan’s actions were astonishing in their compassion and courage. She dared to blur the lines of loyalty and treason for the sake of kinship.
In Written in Their Stars, Anne Wilmot’s story is given the attention history has too often denied her. Whether risking everything to save her king, defending her estate, or advocating for a condemned cousin, Nan’s character is drawn from real acts of defiance and compassion. She emerges not as a footnote to powerful men, but as a power in her own right—a woman whose legacy is stitched into the fabric of war, loyalty, and love.
Buy Links:
Universal Series Buy Link: https://geni.us/TheLydiardChronicles
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Author Bio:
Elizabeth St.John’s critically acclaimed historical fiction novels tell the stories of her ancestors: extraordinary women whose intriguing kinship with England’s kings and queens brings an intimately unique perspective to Medieval, Tudor, and Stuart times.
Inspired by family archives and residences from Lydiard Park to the Tower of London, Elizabeth spends much of her time exploring ancestral portraits, diaries, and lost gardens. And encountering the occasional ghost. But that’s another story.
Living between California, England, and the past, Elizabeth is the International Ambassador for The Friends of Lydiard Park, an English charity dedicated to conserving and enhancing this beautiful centuries-old country house and park. As a curator for The Lydiard Archives, she is constantly looking for an undiscovered treasure to inspire her next novel.
Elizabeth’s works include The Lydiard Chronicles, a family saga set in 17th-century England during the Civil War, and The Godmother’s Secret, which unravels the medieval mystery of the missing princes in the Tower of London. Her latest release, The King’s Intelligencer, follows Franny Apsley in the treacherous court of Charles II as she risks everything to uncover the dangerous truth behind the discovery of the princes’ bones.
Author Links:
Website: https://www.elizabethjstjohn.com/
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Amazon Author Page: https://geni.us/AmazonElizabethStJohn
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When Angels Fly 