In this rich portrait of an indomitable woman, comes an epic tale of Tudor life in an England poised between Reformation and ruin. Lady-in-waiting Jane Sweetwater's resistance to the legendary attentions of Henry VIII may have saved her pretty neck, but her reward is a forced and unhappy marriage to a much older man and a harsh life on his farm. Her only consolation is that she still lives upon her beloved Exmoor, the bleak yet beautiful land that cradles Allerbrook house, her family home.Played out in this remote, forbidding place, Jane's long life is fraught with change. Fiercely protective she assumes responsibility not only for her husband and child, but also for the rebellious son of her wayward sister. In time, she regains the position of a woman with status and property, but cannot ignore the rumblings from London, as the tide of religious change sweeps the country with every new monarch. Jane's small world is dominated by plotting, treachery and even thwarted love as those she holds dearest are forced to choose between family loyalty and fealty to the crown.