Evelyn Anthony

Evelyn Anthony was the literary byline of British novelist Evelyn Ward-Thomas, whose long career moved between court-centered historical fiction and twentieth-century suspense. The Cardinal and the Queen, published by Coward-McCann in 1968, imagines the contested relationship between Cardinal Richelieu and Anne of Austria during the reign of Louis XIII. The novel spans years of political isolation, dynastic pressure, and rivalry between French and Spanish interests. The French Bride dates to 1964; Dell later issued an American edition. Set in the court of Louis XV, it follows Anne de Bernard after a marriage of convenience draws her into the ambitions surrounding her Scottish husband and his former mistress. The book continues the story begun in Clandara. Across both works, Anthony uses private relationships to enter public history, making royal marriages, inheritance, and court favor mechanisms of power. Her recurring interest is how women maneuver inside institutions designed to treat them as diplomatic or financial assets.