Maeve Haran’s THE PAINTED LADY is a gripping romantic tale set in 1660s London, following the restoration of King Charles II to the throne after the English Civil War. It tells the story of Frances, a young aristocrat, beautiful and idealistic. She has captured the king’s heart, but – unlike scores of other women around him – refuses to be his lover because she is deeply in love with another man, Charles Stuart, the Duke of Richmond. The Duke returns her love, but is married, and too honourable to betray his wife, locking all three characters into a tragic love triangle. It seems that Frances and her beloved are doomed to remain apart, until the Duke’s wife dies – and then all that stands between them is the obsessed king.

The story takes place against the dramatic backdrop of the Great Plague, the Dutch wars and the Great Fire of London, and it's full of the atmospheric sense of place and history that Haran is known for evoking. Rich in period detail, vivid in description and character, THE PAINTED LADY is an utterly irresistible, compelling historical novel.