The Lydiard Chronicles
The Lady of the Tower
By Love Divided
Written in their Stars
by Elizabeth St.John
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Duty, passion, and power collide in The Lydiard Chronicles, a gripping trilogy inspired by true events. Follow three courageous women—survivors, strategists, and storytellers—who defy the constraints of society to shape their family’s fate and England’s future. Their voices echo through time. Their legacy changed a nation.
The Lydiard Chronicles is an award-winning, best-selling historical family saga which brings to life the remarkable true stories of the St.John family. Spanning three compelling novels—The Lady of the Tower, By Love Divided, and Written in Their Stars—the series follows the legacy of resilient and intelligent women who lived as spies, courtiers, and diarists during England’s most turbulent century, navigating the quicksand of love and war, political upheaval, and personal sacrifice.
Bound by fierce family loyalty and unforgettable love, the women of The Lydiard Chronicles defy the limits of their time with passion, courage, and unshakable independence. They endure captivity in the Tower of London, exile in the Louvre Palace, and the heart-wrenching divisions of the English Civil War—fighting not just for survival, but for their beliefs, their families, and the right to choose their own fate. Meticulously researched and vividly told, this epic saga reveals how these women created history from the shadows, leaving a legacy of resilience, defiance, and enduring influence.
Rooted in original diaries, letters, and family papers, The Lydiard Chronicles offers an intimate, biographical portrait of women who moved behind the scenes of power. Serving as trusted secret agents, military wives, and confidantes of kings, they were deeply engaged in the political and religious conflicts of their time. Through tragedy and triumph, the women of The Lydiard Chronicles shape their destinies—and the fate of a nation—in this richly researched and vividly told historical epic.
Women of Courage:
The Heroines of The Lydiard Chronicles
The Heroines of The Lydiard Chronicles
At the heart of The Lydiard Chronicles are four extraordinary women, each inspired by real historical figures from my own family: Lucy St.John Apsley, Luce Hutchinson, Frances Apsley, and Anne "Nan" Wilmot. Spanning the early to mid-17th century—a time of political upheaval, civil war, and shifting loyalties—their stories explore how women navigated power, loyalty, love, and survival in a world shaped by men but often held together by the resilience of women.
Lucy St.John Apsley: The Healer Behind the Tower Walls
Lucy’s story begins in The Lady of the Tower.
Orphaned young and raised among relatives, Lucy learns early to rely on her intelligence and resourcefulness. Her marriage to Sir Allen Apsley, Lieutenant of the Tower of London, propels her into a role of surprising responsibility: overseeing the wellbeing of high-profile prisoners and running a large household at the heart of England’s political and judicial machinery.
Orphaned young and raised among relatives, Lucy learns early to rely on her intelligence and resourcefulness. Her marriage to Sir Allen Apsley, Lieutenant of the Tower of London, propels her into a role of surprising responsibility: overseeing the wellbeing of high-profile prisoners and running a large household at the heart of England’s political and judicial machinery.
What drives Lucy is a profound sense of duty—both to her family and to those in her care. She is a healer by instinct and training, maintaining a curative garden within the Tower, and frequently venturing into London’s mysterious apothecaries to expand her knowledge of medicine and alchemy. Her greatest conflict lies in balancing the demands of her official position with her growing awareness of the injustice and suffering around her. In the Tower, she finds herself caring for the very men whose fates are determined by the powerful circles her husband serves. And, as her husband is gradually drawn into a disastrous friendship with the Duke of Buckingham, Lucy has to fight for their very survival.
Lucy's greatest challenge is to retain her integrity in a world where political expediency often trumps compassion. Her perilous journey through some of England’s most historic moments is a thread that weaves throughout The Lydiard Chronicles.
Luce Hutchinson: The Puritan Rebel
Luce, Lucy’s daughter, comes into her own in By Love Divided. Raised in a household that straddled royalist and reformist values, she is a thoughtful, principled woman whose deep intellect and fierce moral code lead her to embrace the Puritan cause.
Her love for John Hutchinson—a passionate Parliamentarian—places her on one side of a deeply divided family during the English Civil War.
Her love for John Hutchinson—a passionate Parliamentarian—places her on one side of a deeply divided family during the English Civil War.
Her greatest challenge comes after the war ends—when the monarchy is restored and her husband, a regicide, is imprisoned. She must fight for his life, defend his legacy, and protect their children in a world that has branded her family as traitors.
Redemption comes in the form of a chance to reunite her family. Her story is one of conviction tested by personal loss and national betrayal.
Frances Apsley: The Royal Courtier Torn Between Worlds
In By Love Divided and Written in Their Stars, we meet Frances Apsley—Lucy’s future daughter-in-law and Luce’s close friend and sister-in-law. Raised in the glittering world of the Stuart court, Frances becomes lady-in-waiting to Queen Henrietta Maria and finds herself drawn to the power, beauty, and peril of royal life.
Frances’s challenge is learning how to live with divided loyalties, how to forgive, and how to find peace in the spaces between allegiance and affection. She is neither fully of the court nor of the cause—and that in-betweenness gives her story poignancy and strength.
Anne "Nan" Wilmot, Countess of Rochester: The Spymistress of Ditchley Park
Anne Wilmot—known in her family as Nan—takes centre stage in Written in Their Stars. A royalist through and through, Nan is cousin to Luce and Frances. While her loyalty to Charles II is unshakable, her personal allegiance is more complex. She adores her cousin Luce, even as Luce’s husband signs the king’s death warrant. And Frances must prove her worth in marrying Nan’s beloved cousin Allen.
Nan is driven by a combination of fierce loyalty and cool-headed strategy. From her estate at Ditchley Park, she organises arms and intelligence for the royalist cause, acting as spymistress to the exiled king. Her conflict is emotional as well as political: how to protect her family while serving a crown bent on vengeance. One of her most daring acts is her secret campaign to save John Hutchinson—her regicide cousin—from execution.
Nan’s greatest challenge is walking the razor’s edge between principle and pragmatism. Her world is one of secrecy, manipulation, and courage. And yet, at her core, she is motivated by love—of family, of country, and of a cause she never stopped believing in.
Through Lucy, Luce, Frances, and Nan, The Lydiard Chronicles explores how real women shaped their worlds—not just behind the scenes, but through acts of bravery, healing, and conviction. They loved across enemy lines, made choices in the shadows of power, and left legacies that still resonate today. Their stories remind us that even in times of chaos and division, courage and compassion endure.
This series is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
Elizabeth St. John
Elizabeth St.John’s critically acclaimed historical fiction novels tell the stories of her ancestors: extraordinary women whose intriguing kinship with England's kings and queens brings an intimately unique perspective to Medieval, Tudor, and Stuart times.
Inspired by family archives and residences from Lydiard Park to the Tower of London, Elizabeth spends much of her time exploring ancestral portraits, diaries, and lost gardens. And encountering the occasional ghost. But that’s another story.
Living between California, England, and the past, Elizabeth is the International Ambassador for The Friends of Lydiard Park, an English charity dedicated to conserving and enhancing this beautiful centuries-old country house and park. As a curator for The Lydiard Archives, she is constantly looking for an undiscovered treasure to inspire her next novel.
Elizabeth's works include The Lydiard Chronicles, a family saga set in 17th-century England during the Civil War, and The Godmother's Secret, which unravels the medieval mystery of the missing princes in the Tower of London. Her latest release, The King’s Intelligencer, follows Franny Apsley in the treacherous court of Charles II as she risks everything to uncover the dangerous truth behind the discovery of the princes’ bones.
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Thanks for the lovely feature about "The Ladies of Lydiard". Writing about these extraordinary and resilient women has been a fascinating journey, and it's joyful to share their lives through my novels!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Elizabeth. It's such an insightful post into their rather dangerous lives. And it shows the divisions even within families. Fascinating. xx
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