Windsor Castle. 1714. Queen Anne is nearing the end of a life filled with tragedy and grief: plagued by illness and cursed by her father to lose all 17 of her children, she now lies dying with no living heir.

The question of succession is thick in the air. Will it be James Stuart, the half-brother she has always refused to acknowledge? Or George of Hanover, the cousin who once turned her down for marriage?

Neither is ideal: she hates them both.

Over the course of one night at the Queen’s Elizabethan ball, courtiers, politicians and ladies’ maids alike seize the opportunity to steer the succession to their own advantage, changing the course of history forever. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, imperial spy Daniel Defoe creeps through the castle gathering intelligence on their every move for the Earl of Oxford.

Before the night is over, Queen Anne will finally have to face the past—for nothing can be resolved until she comes to terms with her children’s deaths and repairs the terrible wrong she committed many years before…

John-Paul Flintoff