NPR’s Books We Love • Named a Best Book of 2025 by Barnes & Noble • The Guardian

“The Pretender is a rollicking account of a befuddled boy’s pillar-to-post existence as a political pawn.” —The New York Times

“A frontrunner for historical fiction book of the year.” —The Times

“[The Pretender] contains some of the most authentic writing in a child’s voice I’ve ever read. And while the book is a deeply engaging read, it underlines profoundly the experience of those who must try to forge and keep their identity without agency, caught in the powerful maw of history.” —NPR

“A bold and brilliant comedy of royal intrigue. . . . Fantastically accomplished. . . . There’s a deep love for literature here, and a desire to showcase the formation of the late-medieval mind, which elevates The Pretender above other novels about this period.” —The Guardian

“This sympathetic and brilliantly executed book beguiles to the very end.” —The Wall Street Journal

“The Wars of the Roses are always ripe for story—and Jo Harkin’s turn to historical fiction looks like it’ll be catnip for Tudor/Plantagenet fanatics like myself. Following the little-known true story of a boy raised first as a humble country squire before discovering he might well be the secret heir to Richard III’s throne, it should be a ripping adventure.” —Literary Hub

“An auspicious venture into fictionalised history.” —The Observer

“Magnificent. . . . This is the most enjoyable historical novel I’ve read in years.” —The Spectator

“A poignant odyssey.” —The Washington Post

“Harkin skillfully evokes the foreboding and intrigue that surrounds the throne with rough-hewn language and fistfuls of bawdy humor. . . . [A] rollicking saga of royalty, loyalty, lechery and treachery.” —BookPage

“Harkin’s imaginative take on a calculated hoax in English history and portrait of a curious young personage is a wildly entertaining and satirical comedy full of interesting characters.” —Booklist

“Funny, clever and unapologetically filthy.” —Winnipeg Free Press

“Dazzling. . . . The Pretender is a stylish, profane, hilarious read, and Harkin is the proverbial writer to watch.” —The Minnesota Star Tribune

“This razor-sharp historical is on par with Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Advance Praise for The Pretender

“A brilliant piece of historical storytelling that’s also gorgeously irreverent, contemporary and fun. Witty, poignant, wildly engaging, and with a huge heart—I loved it.” —Sarah Waters, author of Fingersmith

“The Pretender is a vivid, transporting feat of imagination and storytelling, so alive I felt Jo Harkin might be a time traveler.” —Maggie Shipstead, author of Great Circle

“What Jo Harkin has accomplished in The Pretender left me awestruck on every page. I had no idea that a medieval historical novel could be this wickedly funny, this timely and timeless. A work of genius, a wellspring of laughter and sorrow, a feat of time travel, and a feast of language.” —Karen Russell, author of The Antidote

“I blazed through full of wonder and admiration . . . the writing is searingly confident, the sense of time and place dizzyingly good, the dialogue ribald and the description elegant. . . . I loved every single page. . . . The Pretender has everything: history richly drawn, amazing characterisation, humour, wit, vigour and bravery. It’s magnificent.” —Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters

“Jo Harkin’s writing is consistently original, vivid, and witty. [The Pretender is] Glorious Exploits meets Wolf Hall—and I completely loved it.” —Joanna Quinn, author of The Whalebone Theatre

“Raw, beautiful and true . . . I loved it.” —Leah Redmond Chang, author of Young Queens

“This captivating novel casts dramatic new light on the turbulent world of the first Tudor king and those who plotted to bring him down. At its heart is a human story that has been waiting to be told for centuries. I couldn’t put it down.” —Tracy Borman, author of Elizabeth’s Women

“The Pretender is the real deal—nimble, vibrant, playful, and daring. It pulses with life. I loved it.” —Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies