Charlotte Sophia: Myth, Madness, and the Moor

Charlotte Sophia was Queen of England. Wife of "mad" King George III. But when did her king, her country, or her lover discover she was of African descent? Is this why King George went mad? In this sweeping portrait of one of England's most unexplored yet beloved queens, award-winning author Tina Andrews (Sally Hemings An American Scandal) combines meticulous research and her adept mastery for "connecting historical dots." This, the second edition of her successful novel boldly imagines the aristocratic intrigue, sexual deviance and family dysfunction in the odyssey of the German princess for whom King George III bought Buckingham House which has become the world famous "Buckingham Palace." The story begins in Mecklenburg, Germany where young Princess Charlotte learns a family secret before her father's death that would send her on a lifetime quest. Meanwhile, newly crowned King George III is informed he must marry. But to his dismay, he cannot wed the woman he loves because she is Catholic with a defective bloodline. Thus a search begins for an appropriate German, Protestant royal. Charlotte has been forced to hide her tawny ethnic coloring under white Elizabethan make-up iby her mother anxious for a suitable for the title-rich-but-cash-poor family. Now Charlotte has the opportunity to be interviewed as a potential wife for the British king. But Charlotte, too, is in love with someone else - the talented, dashing, but commoner Johann Christian Bach (son of JS Bach). Now, in order to attract the rich, eligible king she must give up Bach. Does George give up Lady Sarah? What is the high price Charlotte must pay to be a British Queen consort? And what of her family secret and quest for answers? All is revealed. The novel spans 50 years in the life of a formidable queen whose history collides with lust, betrayal, politics, murder...and madness.