Highlighting: “The Tudor Queens’ Midwife” by Brigitte Barnard. Independently Published. 2025. 299 pages. ISBN-13: 979-8305559118.

(Courtesy of Stuart Schnee Public Relations) Step into the glittering yet perilous Court of King Henry VIII in “The Tudor Queens’ Midwife,” the captivating debut novel by Brigitte Barnard. Against a backdrop of political intrigue, religious strife and desperate ambition, this story follows Sarah Menendez, a skilled midwife hiding her true identity, as she becomes a lifeline for Queen Katherine of Aragon in her struggle to bear a male heir.

Plagued by miscarriages, Queen Katherine turns to Sarah for help, entrusting her with the most delicate and dangerous of tasks: to help her have a son.

However, Sarah has her own secret—she is one of the small number of crypto-Jews living in Tudor England. Despite the official expulsion of Jews from England in 1290, some practiced their faith in secrecy or lived as converts to Christianity, contributing discreetly to fields such as medicine, trade and scholarship amidst widespread antisemitism. Sarah fled the Inquisition in Spain in 1492, escaping the brutal enforcement of Catholic orthodoxy during the Spanish Expulsion. This makes her a double crypto-Jew, concealing her Jewish identity not only in England but also previously in Spain, where the Inquisition had forced thousands of Jews into exile, conversion or clandestine practice of their faith.

As Sarah navigates the treacherous politics of the Tudor Court and her perilous role in the Queen’s precarious pregnancy, she must also guard her hidden heritage. The stakes couldn’t be higher: the survival of the Queen’s unborn child, Sarah and her daughter’s safety, and the stability of the English throne all hang by a thread.

Bringing to life the opulence and tensions of Tudor England, “The Tudor Queens’ Midwife” is a gripping tale of secrecy, sacrifice and resilience in a world where power, politics and religion collide.