ELIZABETH AND LEICESTER Milton WaldmanHoughton Mifflin ($3).
One cold, rainy morning in the reign of Mary Tudor, an official barge swept up to the landing stage of the Tower of London. Out stepped 20-year-old Elizabeth, Queen Mary's red-haired half-sister, who had just been arrested on suspicion of treason. At sight of the terrible Tower, where her luckless mother, Queen Anne Boleyn, had lost her head, the Lady Elizabeth's legs sank under her, and she fell weeping on the wet stones. Then she pulled herself together and walked into the prison with her head held high.
In a nearby cell of the Tower...