The Tower

The Tower is such a vivid, visceral read, you feel you're locked in the tower alongside the characters, acting out a royal family drama. I am moved and impressed

Tracy Chevalier

An imaginative, dark gem of a novel, about women, power and fear, still, intelligent and beautifully written, yet as tense as a thriller

Neil Blackmore

An absorbing read and an utterly believable female perspective on history. Its cocktail of tension and tenderness perfectly captures the claustrophobic world of the four women in the tower; a historical narrative with contemporary relevance

Sally Hinchcliffe

The Tower is an intimate, exquisitely told story of Mary Queen of Scots and her maids during their year of imprisonment, portraying their hopes and fears, their affections and irritations with such skill that you feel you are in the room with them. A beautiful, poignant book that draws you into the world of these women so fully that it is a wrench to leave it

Elizabeth Lee

It’s like being there! An immediate, immersive experience of sharing the year the fallen Mary Queen of Scots was held in a Scottish island castle prison with a few attendants and only her courage and charm to rescue her. Lyrical, riveting, and unforgettable

Margaret George

An unforgettable, spellbinding debut--Flora Carr's THE TOWER offers an immersive and intimate portrait of Mary Queen of Scots and the women in her orbit, revealing their humanity beyond the stories and myths

Lindsay Lynch, bestselling author of Do Tell

Carr’s taut debut recalls Maggie O’Farrell’s The Marriage Portrait in its evocation of a highborn Renaissance woman trapped against her will and desperately contriving to escape . . . Carr dexterously explores how the seductive allure of royalty is undimmed by Mary’s grim circumstances, which are depicted with earthy physicality. Despite Mary’s foreshadowed downfall, this pulled-from-history novel resounds as a victory for female camaraderie and cleverness.

Sarah Johnson, Booklist

Many authors have produced fictional portraits of Mary, Queen of Scots, but none has been quite like that provided by Flora Carr in her debut novel . . . Carr has taken an often overly romanticised historical figure and given her new life and originality.

The Times

[An] accomplished and engaging novel

Allan Massie, Scotsman

Bold and intimate . . . it maintains a sharp immediacy in keeping with the bristling antagonisms and power plays that take place within the castle walls.

Christopher Shrimpton, The Times Literary Supplement

Carr succeeds admirably in depicting the joylessness of Mary's incarceration and the various indignities to which she is subjected . . . Carr draws us tightly into the skulduggery of the tower, building a gripping and claustrophobic read.

John Boyne, Irish Times

Readers are steeped in the physical sensations of daily life . . . Carr probes the enduring appeal of the Scottish queen.

Suzy Feay, Literary Review

Immersive and engaging prose captures the tensions, power plays and bonds forged in the claustrophobic world of the four women in the tower and their daring escape . . . Flora's Mary is multi-faceted and viewed through a modern lens

Laura Smith, Sunday Post

Masterfully unravels the doomed tale of Mary Queen of Scots . . . breathes life into the forgotten corners of Mary’s story, illuminating the resilience and fortitude that defined her character. [There is] remarkable craftsmanship evident in Carr’s writing . . . The depth of research and thoughtful storytelling shine through every page

Marika Page, NB Magazine

Richly detailed . . . Through her tale, Carr depicts the ways in which women can care for and exert power over one another.

The New Yorker

'A devastating portrait of what it was like to be a woman in the 16th century . . . lively . . . Carr imbues the visceral story with the female empowerment that much of male-centric history lacks

The Washington Post

The historical context is superb, with research thorough and melded seamlessly into the narrative. This is historical fiction at its very best: literary, yet thoroughly absorbing

Historical Novel Society

Carr manages to provide fresh insight into a historical figure whose story would appear to have already been thoroughly mined

New York Times Book Review

One of those books that grabs you instantly . . . vivid and intimate

Kate Foster

Simmering with frustration, intrigue and plotting . . . Masterful.

Cathryn Kemp, author of A Poisoner's Tale

Bold and righteous

Amy Twigg, author of Spoilt Creatures

Jaw-droppingly good

Emily Howes, author of The Painter's Daughter

Beautifully, insightfully told

Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things

Powerfully reimagines a pivotal year in the life of Mary Queen of Scots . . . I’ve never read an account of Mary that made her so comprehensible to me . . . With sublime and fearless prose Flora examines the devastation of lost power and the terror of being at the mercy of men whose threats are both political and personal . . . The Tower is beautiful at sentence level and, at the same time both modern and of its time. It’s a novel by a woman who understands history – and has a profound understanding of the dangers it has posed to women. This is historical fiction for the Me Too age.

Annie Garthwaite