The Falcon & the Rose

About the Book

The Falcon & the Rose takes the reader into the realm of England’s Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603). Focusing on fifteen years of her reign, this novel follows the life of one of Elizabeth’s most famous courtiers—poet, statesman, military hero, and nephew of her beloved Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester—Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586). Everything about their lives is as it was until the summer of 1572, when Sidney encounters his rival and social opposite, fictional Julien St. Germain.

Betrayed by the promise of a legacy which turns out to be a bogus barony, Julien strives to overcome his disappointment. Incited to rise to a status higher than any aristocrat’s, he embroiders himself tightly into the tapestry of Elizabeth’s realm and Sidney’s life. With the rewards that spying for three different monarchs reaps him, Julien’s quest for greatness takes him into the arms of Sidney’s sister to claim her son and the chambers of Elizabeth to claim her crown.

Though everything involving Julien St. Germain is fictional, had there lived such a character who succeeded in his ploys, Elizabeth’s glorious reign would have come to a sudden halt and history as we know it today might be telling a different story.

About the Author