I am very grateful to Larry and Jill de Wit for their friendship, and for their unfailing patience with me both on the ground and terrifyingly high up on their trapeze.

And to Martin Lacey – the boy prince of ringmasters – whose courtesy and generosity made our visits such fun.

About the Author

Meridon

Philippa Gregory is an established writer and broadcaster for radio and television. She holds a PhD in eighteenth-century literature from the University of Edinburgh. She has been widely praised for her historical novels, including Earthly Joys, Virgin Earth and A Respectable Trade (which she adapted for BBC television), as well as her works of contemporary suspense. Philippa Gregory lives in the North of England with her family.

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

Wideacre

The Favoured Child

The Wise Woman

Alice Hartley's Happiness

Fallen Skies

A Respectable Trade

Perfectly Correct

The Little House

Earthly Joys

Virgin Earth

Zelda’s Cut

Bread and Chocolate

The Other Boleyn Girl

Copyright

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

HarperCollinsPublishers

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This paperback edition 2002
FIFTH EDITION

First published in Great Britain by
Viking 1990

Copyright © Philippa Gregory Ltd, 1990

The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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EPub Edition © MARCH 2010 ISBN: 978-0-007-37011-5

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About the Publisher

About the Publisher