Surface and the Deep, Story of Anna of Cleves

Swan Castle, Cleves, 1521. Nestled deep in a land rich in myth and fairy-tale, within the changing politics and religion of the Holy Roman Empire, a young girl grows to adulthood, watching war and faith tear the world she knows asunder.

November 1539. Sent as a bride for the much-married King of England, Anna of Cleves has left her homeland and family behind to travel to England. There to be wed to a man who has killed one wife, and perhaps caused the deaths of two more, Anna fears her marriage and husband, yet she has been promised to Henry VIII to secure alliance for her country, and safety for her people. But will there be safety for Anna? Into a court of scandal and cutthroat politics she is thrown, and only by her wits will she survive.

Removed from the shadow of death as the Queen of King Henry VIII, Anna of Cleves revels in her new life as the King's "good sister". A new Queen has risen, the young Catherine Howard, and as court and country try to pit Anna against Catherine, the Lady of Cleves strives to show only friendship and support to the new Queen and the royal family.