The long-awaited continuation of the royal series! Ideal for fans of novels by Hilary Mantel and Philippa Gregory. Anyone who likes “The Tudors”, “Game of Thrones”, “The Crown” will like it. “The Queen’s Rival” is the third book in Elizabeth Freemantle’s series about outstanding women of English history. It tells the story of Penelope Devereux (married Rich), who was able to gain a position at court thanks to her strength of character. For the poet Philip Sidney, she was a muse, for Queen Elizabeth I, the daughter of a sworn enemy, for King James, “a beauty with a black soul.” Penelope's life passed in the shadow of her brilliant contemporaries, but Elizabeth Freemantle brought the heroine to the forefront. Endowed with beauty and charm, young Penelope and her brother, the Earl of Essex, arrive at court and quickly win the favor of the aging Queen Elizabeth. Penelope is in love with one, and she is given in marriage for another, because life at court is not only about broken hearts, but also destroyed destinies. “The Queen’s Rival” is a story filled with love and hate. These are the final moments of Elizabeth's reign and a deadly struggle for power in a dying dynasty. This is the fate of an extraordinary woman, worthy of applause. “To maintain your inner core and not break, being in a whirlpool of political intrigue and losing those you love, not taking into account the opinions of others - isn’t this a feat for that time?” – ALEXANDRA MARININA, writer