Nancy Bilyeau, author of The Chalice, on tour July/August 2013
Posted By admin on May 20, 2013
About The Chalice
Hardcover: 496 pages
- Publisher: Touchstone; First Edition edition (March 5, 2013)
The Chalice is a historical thriller told from the point of view of a young woman caught in the crosswinds of time: She has pledged to become a Dominican nun in an England ruled by Henry VIII, who has ruthlessly smashed his country’s allegiance to Rome. In 1538, bloody power struggles between crown and cross threaten to tear the country apart. Joanna Stafford has seen what lies inside the king’s torture rooms and risks imprisonment again, when she is caught up in a shadowy international plot targeting the King. As the power plays turn vicious, Joanna understands she may have to assume her role in a prophecy foretold by three different seers, each more omniscient than the last. The life of Henry VIII as well as the future of Christendom are in her hands—hands that must someday hold the chalice that lays at the center of these deadly prophecies. As she struggles to forge a life for herself in a country that rejects her faith, she must also decide if her future should be shared with a man–and if so, which of the two men who love her should be chosen.
“English history buffs and mystery fans alike will revel in Nancy Bilyeau’s richly detailed sequel to THE CROWN.”—Parade
“Bilyeau sends her plucky former novice back into the intrigue-laden court of Henry VIII.” —Entertainment Weekly
“THE CHALICE is a compelling and pacey time machine to the 16th Century. And when you’re returned to the present, you’ll have enjoyed an adventure and gained a new perspective on a past you’d wrongly thought to be a done deal.” – Andrew Pyper, author of The Demonologist
“The novel is riveting, and provides fascinating insight into the lives of displaced nuns and priests during the tumultuous Tudor period. Bilyeau creates fully realized characters, with complex actions and emotions, driving the machinations of these historic personages.” —Romantic Times Book Reviews, Top Pick
“THE CHALICE is an engrossing mix of the complicated politics of the Reformation with the magical elements of the Dominican order, and Joanna—fiery, passionate, determined to honor what she thinks God wants her to do—is a fascinating character. Fans of historical mysteries, Tudor politics and supernatural fiction will all be pleased by the broad scope, quick-moving plot and historical integrity of Bilyeau’s second novel.” —Shelf Awareness
“Bilyeau paints a moving portrait of Catholicism during the Reformation and of reclusive, spiritual people adjusting to the world outside the cloister. This intriguing and suspenseful historical novel pairs well with C. J. Sansom’s Dissolution (2003) and has the insightful feminine perspective of Brenda Rickman Vantrease’s The Heretic’s Wife (2010).” —Booklist
“Rarely have the terrors of Henry VIII’s reformation been so exciting. Court intrigue, bloody executions, and haunting emotional entanglements create a heady brew of mystery and adventure that sweeps us from the devastation of the ransacked cloisters to the dangerous spy centers of London and the Low Countries, as ex-novice Joanna Stafford fights to save her way of life and fulfill an ancient prophecy, before everything she loves is destroyed.” —C.W. Gortner, author of The Queen’s Vow
About Nancy Bilyeau
Nancy Bilyeau is a magazine editor who has worked at such publications as Rolling Stone and InStyle and is now the executive editor of DuJour. A native of the Midwest, she earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. She researched and workshopped her first novel, The Crown, for five years before finding an agent and selling it in an auction to Touchstone/Simon&Schuster in 2010. For The Chalice, she traveled to England to do in-depth research into the tumultuous late 1530s of the Tudor era. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children.
For more information about Nancy and her work, visit her website at nancybilyeau.com.
Nancy Bilyeau’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:
Monday, July 15th: Royal Reviews
Wednesday, July 17th: A Chick Who Reads
Thursday, July 18th: Tiffany’s Bookshelf
Friday, July 19th: Col Reads
Monday, July 22nd: No More Grumpy Bookseller
Wednesday, July 24th: Lit and Life
Thursday, July 25th: Book Addict Katie
Monday, July 29th: Scandalous Women
Tuesday, July 30th: Fiction Addict
Wednesday, July 31st: Booktalk & More
Thursday, August 1st: Bookish Whimsy
Monday, August 5th: Read Lately
Wednesday, August 7th: A Library of My Own
Thursday, August 8th: Literally Jen
Friday, August 9th: A Reader of Fictions
Monday, August 12th: Books Without Any Pictures
Wednesday, August 14th: 2 Kids and Tired
Thursday, August 15th: Patricia’s Wisdom
