Oh my lord, what a great read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. I had such a great time reading this novel. It was a bit of a dizzying start, but it was phenomenal once I got settled into the voice. I look forward to talking this novel up to customers when it's published.

Lambert Simnel really gets the worst of it. We follow a young boy from the trenches of boyhood, where he's thrust into the role of the Pretender to the throne. Does he ever have a real claim to it? We may never know -- he may never know, and that's the best part. We're always on an uneven playing field with him, and we experience every heartache with him. There's this tug on the heartstrings that reminds me of when I fell in love with Dickens' Sydney Carton, and it drove me to devour this book.

Jo Harkin crafts such a wildly relatable character for someone who is so out of reach and actually unrelatable, and we love him all the more for it. If you love historical fiction, please give this a try. I can't express how much fun this was.

I flew through this book! I really enjoyed this story! It was funny at times and you fall in love with the main character. Great novel!

The Pretender by Jo Harkin is an enthralling historical novel that reimagines the story of Lambert Simnel, one of the lesser-known figures in England’s tumultuous history. The book takes you on a journey through the intricacies of royal power plays, betrayal, and the personal struggle of a young man thrust into a world where his identity is constantly questioned. Harkin does an excellent job of blending historical events with a gripping narrative, making the complex politics of the time accessible and engaging.

What I loved most was the character depth—Simnel isn’t just a pawn in a historical drama; he’s a fully fleshed-out character with real emotional struggles. The writing is rich, though it can be slow in some places, but it’s totally worth it for anyone who loves historical fiction with lots of heart. Overall, a captivating and immersive read that left me thinking long after I finished. Rating: 4 stars.

The Pretender imagines the story of Lambert Simnel, a pretender to the throne of England and a threat to the newly established reign of Henry VII. He was the figurehead of a Yorkist rebellion against the House of Tudor.

The story begins in 1480s England with John growing up in a village, believing that his father is Will Collan, but everything changes when he is told that a rich man wants to pay for him to study.

When the rich man arrives, he’s accompanied by a younger man and introduced as Maister Richard Simons, a scholar and priest, who is to take over John’s education. Not only that, Maister Richard informs John that he was John Collan, and now, he is Lambert Simnel – something that, of course, makes no sense to John. It is then explained that he is actually the son of George, the Duke of Clarence. By title, he is the earl of Warwick, meaning next in line to the throne. Nothing makes sense to the boy who thinks of himself as a peasant.

Oxford becomes his new home, but it’s far from feeling like the house he knew and misses. In exchange for this new life, he is told that he has a larger purpose.

Maister Richard is responsible for teaching the boy about history and courtly manners. Alongside his studies, he learns about the current situation involving the Tudor pretender to the throne, Breton Henry, as the unpopular King Richard faces pressure from those who wish to replace him. The boy may not understand all the scheming, but he does understand that he doesn’t want to be the next in line to be struck down from the throne. So he prays for Richard to stay long on the throne.

As power shifts like the wind amid political machinations, Lambert struggles with his identity and destiny. Is he a peasant boy or son of a duke? The changes in his name to protect him only create further confusion.

Written poignantly with literary prose, The Pretender explores the struggle of a young man whose identity becomes a pawn in the hands of ambitious men. These men, driven by political intrigues, tensions, constant scheming, and chaos, make it even harder for Lambert to find his footing. When he finally finds love, giving him a sense of stability, it, too, is shaken. Thus, The Pretender portrays a man who constantly questions his own identity.

The Pretender masterfully captures the mysterious figure of a peasant boy who claimed to be an heir to the throne, weaving a narrative filled with heartache, humor, conflicting loyalties, and the struggle of self-identity.

The story is written with such style that it takes a moment to get into it. There is crass humor and sexual escapades. The story has some slow moments and some highly engaging.

Review originally posted at mysteryandsuspense.com

Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The Pretender by Jo Harkin is a sweeping, rich piece of historical fiction that spans the social hierarchy from peasant farmers to kings. Following a little-remembered historical figure of Lambert Simnel, the rumored pretender son of the Earl of Warwick. His real life is somewhat brushed over, remembered in passing, and Harkin fills in the gap with vibrant details, intrigue, and a cast or characters that propel the story along.

Something that was particularly masterful about this was that for historical fiction, the book never veered into the glaring anachronism. There was never a weird reference to a technology that didn’t exist or a totally socially inappropriate engagement. The usage of 1480s terminology blended seamlessly with modern English and created a readable but atmospheric language.

The thing that I personally enjoyed the most was that although the narration was in third person, it was privy to Lambert/John/Edward’s personal thoughts and was able to make wonderful asides. The side comments were excellent in giving emotion and injections of humor into the narrative.

The whole story, while a detailed historical fiction, is not as much just a retelling of a historical moment in time as it is a story of agency, happiness, and letting revenge motivate you. The through theming of identity and whether it’s shaped by actions or by the people who are around you was masterfully woven into the plot. I think this very elegantly wraps up in the final few chapters, in which the story ties itself into a a neat but still open-ended bow.

I think if you’ve enjoyed O’Farrell in the past then this novel would tick all of your boxes. For me it was the perfect amount of beautiful and compelling writing, a historical story that hasn’t been overdone to death, and dialogue that seems like a real human would possibly have said it.

A resounding 5/5 from me!

Skillfully done; humorous, heartbreaking, and thought provoking. I really enjoyed this. Mantel comparison is fitting.

Jo Harkin does an amazing job with this novel. She tells the story of the boy who would be king, John Collan, and the very unusual circumstances surrounding this event. I liked most everything about this book, the writing was clever and seemed on point with the times. The characters were intriguing, with John, of course, developing from a poor farm boy into a well educated, but still confused, boy who is being groomed to become a king. There's a lot of information in this book, and I would love to listen to it on audiobook, eventually, as it will probably be really good. It is the first book that I have read by this author, and seems to be quite a bit different than her others. She obviously researched her subject extensively. This is another example of a historical fiction book about a subject that I knew nothing about, which makes it all the more appealing. I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin Random house Publishing for the opportunity to preview this book in exchange of an honest review. I highly recommend it.

It's always interesting to consider the life of the boy we today know as Lambert Simnel, and I'd never actually considered that Simnel was the real Earl of Warwick which is a suggestion made in this story. Could Clarence have swapped his real son for an imposter? The novel also posits an end for Viscount Lovell who seems to vanish from the historical record.

I do think it could have done with an author's note to clarify which parts of the story are based on fact and what is fiction as there are people who take historical fiction as fact which can be damaging and there is much in this story based on conjecture.

However, it is well-written and engaging to read and you can tell that Jo Harkin is familiar with the Simnel and Warwick story and the main players within it. I had a problem with the amount of swearing and lewd remarks which added nothing to the story. It made it unnecessarily vulgar in several places, which put me off.

But it's an important story which hasn't been given enough attention, generally well-told and engaging. The gaps in Simnel's story have been filled generally plausibly. Remove a lot of the swearing and add an author's note and it might well have been a 5-star read for me!

Enjoyed! This is a really fun fleshing out of a bit of history I've never spent much time learning about. The author did a great job setting the scene and immersing you in the mystery of the main characters life. Occasionally I did find some scenes and passages a bit long and overdone. However, as a whole the story felt fresh, entertaining and unique, which isn't easy to always do with historical fiction

This was an interesting piece of speculative historical fiction. The story is based on an historical footnote about a royal practice of hiding away a potential successor to the throne at a young age, as a kind of added insurance in times of turmoil and rivalries for the throne. We meet the main character as a young boy who is being raised as a peasant. His life is uprooted when he is unexpectedly removed from the only home he has known and begins to be primed to be a potential king. The story is at its best in describing the emotional switchbacks experienced by the boy, as well as his emotional and intellectual evolution over time. The book held my interest, though it could have used the help of a good editor and been shortened by about 50 to a hundred pages. But overall, this was a good read. Recommended.

Just a Henry VIII is most known for running through six wives, his father, Henry VII, had his own cross to bear— a plague of pretenders after the rumoured resurrection of the Princes in the Tower. The two key pretender-contenders were Lambert Simnel (supposedly Edward of Warwick, only son of George, Duke of Clarence) and Perkin Warbeck (supposedly Richard, Duke of York, second son of Edward IV). Harkin has penned a superb speculative look at Simnel, who she calls John Collan, age 10, living on a farm in 1485. The scant origins of Simnel are likely mostly buried in legend, giving the author wiggle-room, but her tracking of known events is spot-on.

Contemporary late 1400s British royalty is explored through young John’s eyes, as he evolves through the various evocations the political machinations thrust upon him – John to Lambert, to Simnel, to Edward and back to Simnel, the spy in the royal kitchens. Harkin’s savvy exploration of the political goings-on gives this a wry satirical bent, and her language style, along with some unusual wording, feeds into a gripping read. While the pace slows in places, doubtless due to the volume of information to be conveyed, I was gripped from start to finish. Harkin expertly evokes the times, inviting us to appreciate this lad-in-the-maelstrom, who comes-of-age not knowing who he is or where he came from; his identity confounded by what others say he is —a pawn on a royal chessboard. But Harkin’s lad has a shrewd perception of the people around him and their motivations, which makes him less of a follower than history might suggest. Over the course of the novel Simnel comes to terms with his personal identity and inner strength and discovers whether he is brave enough to face his future. As he is pushed and pulled through momentous events, we are immersed in the early Tudor reign in a unique and brilliant way.

Readers interested in the rocky Plantagenet to Tudor transition, seen through a multi-faceted prism, should definitely have this on their tbr list. Outstanding!

The Pretender by Jo Harkin is a robust work of historical fiction, in the same vein as the late great Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall series. Telling the confounding story of Lambert Simnel, one of two famous pretenders to the crown of King Henry VII, Jo Harkin manages to weave a fascinating drama about lost identities and political power plays in the years following the Wars of the Roses. This book comes out in April 2025 and is well worth a pre-order!

This book is great, but the publisher is doing a great disservice to the author with the constant Hillary Mantel comparisons. it doesn’t have the same meticulous attention to accuracy or the amount of detail, but it’s really good in its own right. It’s well written, and very real about some of the nastier realities of court.

Despite this novel being highly fictionalized, it was written with such authority that everything that happened was plausible. I enjoyed watching the development of the main character in all his versions—John, Simnel, Edward—and how different his personality became based on his circumstances. Ultimately, this propulsive novel is about revenge. There are some truly hilarious quips and moments making this a great read for history buffs and avid readers.

Thank you to Author Jo Harkin, Knopf publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of The Pretender.

The further we go back in time, the more mystery there is in regards to history. As such there is always a bit of supposition in what did or didn't really happen. What happened to the princes in the tower, and who was responsible for what is assumed to be their deaths? Did the Duke of Clarence have a son who was hidden away with a commoner until he was of an age that he could be revealed as a candidate to the thrown of England? So much vagueness about what really happened provides a lot of leeway for writers to spin tales of fiction around the details there are.

Based on what I have read about 15th Century England Jo Harkin did a wonderful job staying as true to the facts that we do know. There were a few "pretenders" who claimed or had their rights to the throne claimed on their behalf, including Lambert Simnel.

There are several different theories on the original name of the boy who was chosen to be the pretender because of his resemblance to the Plantagenets. Along with confusion of his original name, many sources refer to him as John, is the occupation of his father. Some reports have him being a baker while others that he was a farmer. Either way, transitioning from the son of a commoner to the son of a Duke and the possible future King of England created a huge learning curve for him.

As the story unfolds John's name is changed a few times to protect his identity from those who will keep him from the throne. After a while, he begins to wonder who he really is. Is he just the son of a commoner being used in a scheme or is he really the son of the Duke of Clarence who was hidden away when he was very young to protect his safety.

I really enjoyed this book, especially the bawdy humor that was sprinkled throughout and Harkin's use of 15th century words that brought the story to life.

4. A historical fiction of a possible successor (and alleged Pretender ) to the throne after the death of Richard III, of the York dynasty, Lambert Simnel, and the subsequent accession of Henry VII of the Tudor dynasty. A very well researched tale of the intrigue, conspiracies, and attempts to unseat Henry with Lambert, who was plucked from a farm in England as a young boy who allegedly was placed there to protect him from harm. I did find the book got a bit heavy and difficult to read in the middle, yet I found it interesting on the history. The language was lovely and tried to replicate the language of the times. Thank you to Netgalley for providing me an advance copy in exchange for an unbiased and candid review.

Harkin has composed the kind of character study that immerses you fully in the brain of its protagonist, all while maintaining a steady stream of historical action. While I am not knowledgeable enough on this particular period of history to judge the book's accuracy, the fiction is marvellous and the writing simultaneously concise yet emotional.

Historical fiction can be tricky—it’s easy to fall into the dreary pitfalls of over-explaining politics, successions, etc., and kind of forget to create real characters. Fortunately, this book didn’t fall in to that trap—from the very beginning, the characters were compelling and well thought out, and I enjoyed following the crazy ride they took us on. While I still found some of it a bit boring, this was still a great read, and any fan of historical fiction should be sure to add it to their shelf.

I was really excited to dive into this and I was not disappointed. The plot was strong and kept me entertained throughout the novel. I would recommend!

The Pretender is another novel to add to an already extensive arena of Tudor story telling. There are many books because it never ceases to be immensely interesting. This book doesn’t divulge any new info but the writing is entertaining. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for a review.