Cardinal's Man

'Gritty and lively... a colourful depiction of 17th century France'– CAROL BIRCH, author of Jamrach's MenagerieA SPELLBINDING TALE SET IN CARDINAL RICHELIEU'S FRANCEWith enemies advancing on all sides and Cardinal Richelieu's health failing, France is at breaking point. Yet salvation may arrive in the most unlikely form...Born into poverty and with terrible deformities, Sebastian Morra is a dwarf with the wit of Tyrion Lannister and three foot, four inches of brazen pluck. Through a mixture of brains and luck, he has travelled far from his village to become a jester at the royal court. And with a talent for making enemies, he is soon drawn into the twilight world of Cardinal Richelieu, where he discovers he might just be the only man with the talents to save France from her deadliest foes.'Intelligent, cunning and occasionally reckless, Sebastian Morra lights up The Cardinal's Man with his zest for survival. The excesses and squalor of 17th century France are brought viscerally and vividly to life in this engaging, beautifully researched novel'VICTORIA BLAKE, author of The Return of the Courtesan