Meg Roper's world encompassed the greatest personages of Renaissance England in the early 16th century. For Meg's father was Sir Thomas More, the very center of the intellectual and political elite, scholar, lawyer, diplomat, the King's chancellor, defender of his own faith. And Meg was his favorite daughter; like him, a scholar who believed in mercy, justice, and love of living.

The whole history of an age passed through the More household. There, Henry VIII was a dinner guest. Houseguests included such men as Erasmus and Holbein. The Mores were firsthand observers of the King's divorce, his subsequent break with the Catholic Church. They knew the Lutheran Reformation and Will Roper's sympathy for Martin Luther, More's own fight with the King, his imprisonment, and finally his execution.

Then it was Meg who brought the sunshine back into the house at Chelsea. "Merry as he would wish," she said.

"Skilful writing that has endowed even minor characters with real warmth and vitality, and has depicted . . . an important political era with clarity and authenticity." Library Journal.

". . . absorbing . . . the story is fundamentally happy—appropriately so, for among Thomas More's greatest earthly pleasures was joy in his children and his home." Horn Book.

". . . the gay and affectionate tenor of life in the More household is well realized." The New York Times.

" . . . warm and vivid portrait . . . colorful characters and details of 16th century life enrich the story." Chicago Tribune.

From the dust jacket