Claiming the Tower

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Claiming the Tower : The cover has a vibrant orange-gold background. Two women in 1850s dresses are silhouetted in the centre, one handing the other a cup of drinking chocolate. Below them is the silhouette of a castle with towers and crenellations.

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Part of the Council Mysteries series:

Claiming the Tower

Hereswith is frustrated with the world. There’s the utter mismanagement of the war in the Crimea. While she moves among the diplomatic set of London, she’s limited in what she can do there by her gender and their assumptions. She has more scope within Britain’s magical community, but expectations hem her in there as well. Hereswith loves the times she can retreat to her family home, her father, and their library. But those things don’t improve a world that needs something better.

Bess has moved from house to house as companion to a series of increasingly difficult older women. Her current position has narrowed her world to tangled embroidery thread, small household tribulations, and dealing with her mistress’s whims and changes of mood. She treasures the few hours she gets to herself on Tuesday afternoons.

When Hereswith and Bess begin to talk, they find each other pleasant company in a way neither of them expected. Those Tuesdays with a lavish tea spread and drinking chocolate become a highlight of the week. As they talk, both of them begin to wonder what the world might look like if things were a little different.

When one of Albion’s Council suggests Hereswith’s skills might have a wider scope, neither Hereswith nor Bess know what might come from it. Not for the land, not for Albion, and certainly not what it might mean for both of them. Are they brave enough to change the world?

Join Hereswith and Bess in 1854 for a f/f (sapphic) romance full of drinking chocolate, Victorian delights, and growing love and mutual support. There’s the utter delight of a trip to London’s Crystal Palace, and a social triumph or two for both of them. The first book in the Council Mysteries series, Claiming the Tower can be read in any order.

Content note details

The book begins shortly after the start of the Crimean War, with increasing mismanagement and needless death mentioned. Both characters deal with issues around limitations due to being female. The death of a character's (much loved) father during the course of the book. Those who've read the Mysterious Fields trilogy (later in their lives) may realise that Hereswith later marries a man, while continuing her relationship with Bess. (That will be a later book in the series.)

Available on: September 19, 2025
Genres:

Tags:

Class and class differences, Council, Demisexual, First relationship, Friends to lovers, Grief, Lesbian, LGBTQIA+, Older protagonist, Parents and children, Secret societies, Start of a series, Victorian

Begins: 1854-04
Period: Victorian
Romance: F/F, First relationship, Late in life romance, Lesbian, Not a romance
Content notes: Click here to reveal

Sapphic (f/f) romances:

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Period: Click here to revealVictorian (Click here to hide)

Romance: Click here to revealF/F, First relationship, Late in life romance, Lesbian, Not a romance (Click here to hide)

Content notes: Click here to revealGrief, Class differences (Click here to hide)

Claiming the Tower : The cover has a vibrant orange-gold background. Two women in 1850s dresses are silhouetted in the centre, one handing the other a cup of drinking chocolate. Below them is the silhouette of a castle with towers and crenellations.

Claiming the Tower

Period: Click here to revealEdwardian (Click here to hide)

Romance: Click here to revealF/F, Late in life romance, Closed door, Lesbian (Click here to hide)

Content notes: Click here to revealADHD, Diverse background (Click here to hide)

Cover of Complementary. Two women in Edwardian dress in silhouette stand talking with each other. One is taller and calmer, the other is shorter, gesturing. They are on a green background, with an artist's palette in the bottom right.

Showing books 1-2 of 2

Books about Albion's Council:

Showing books 1-12 of 12

Period: Click here to revealVictorian (Click here to hide)

Romance: Click here to revealF/F, First relationship, Late in life romance, Lesbian, Not a romance (Click here to hide)

Content notes: Click here to revealGrief, Class differences (Click here to hide)

Claiming the Tower : The cover has a vibrant orange-gold background. Two women in 1850s dresses are silhouetted in the centre, one handing the other a cup of drinking chocolate. Below them is the silhouette of a castle with towers and crenellations.

Claiming the Tower

Period: Click here to revealVictorian (Click here to hide)

Romance: Click here to revealM/F, First relationship, Closed door (Click here to hide)

Content notes: Click here to reveal (Click here to hide)

Cover of Enchanted Net: A silhouetted man and woman in Victorian dress stand with their backs to the viewer. She is holding a glass of wine as they look toward each other. The background is a purple damask, crossed by pipes and gears and a streak of lightning, with a book inset in the top left corner.

Period: Click here to revealVictorian (Click here to hide)

Romance: Click here to revealM/F, First relationship (Click here to hide)

Content notes: Click here to reveal (Click here to hide)

Cover of Silent Circuit: A silhouetted man and woman in Victorian dress face each other. He is holding a book open for her, as her hand moves to turn a page. They’re on a background of green damask with green pipes, a streak of lightning behind them. A bee is inset on top of a gear in the top left.

Period: Click here to revealVictorian (Click here to hide)

Romance: Click here to revealM/F, First relationship (Click here to hide)

Content notes: Click here to reveal (Click here to hide)

Cover of Elemental Truth: A silhouetted man and woman in Victorian dress waltz hand in hand on a golden damask background bordered by pipes and gears with a streak of lightning behind them. A jewelled ring is set in the top left.

Elemental Truth

Period: Click here to revealEdwardian (Click here to hide)

Romance: Click here to revealM/F, Late in life romance (Click here to hide)

Content notes: Click here to revealNo specific content notes (Click here to hide)

Cover of Sailor's Jewel. A plump woman in flowing artistic dress and a man in an Edwardian suit are silhouetted against a blue background. An ocean liner is behind them, bow facing the viewer.

Period: Click here to reveal1920s (Click here to hide)

Romance: Click here to revealM/F (Click here to hide)

Content notes: Click here to reveal (Click here to hide)

Cover of Eclipse, with a man and woman wearing academic robes in silhouette on a twilight blue and sunset orange background. She is gesturing up toward the sky. A telescope is inset in the top left.

Period: Click here to reveal1920s (Click here to hide)

Romance: Click here to revealM/F, Late in life romance (Click here to hide)

Content notes: Click here to revealDifficult family, Background violence (Click here to hide)

Cover of The Hare and the Oak. A man and woman silhouetted on a brown and green background. She wears a dress with long sleeves and calf-length skirts, he wears a suit and half-cloak. A hare leaping out of an oak leaf is inset in the top left.

The Hare and the Oak

Period: Click here to reveal1930s (Click here to hide)

Romance: Click here to revealM/M, Late in life romance, Asexual, Bisexual, Polyamorous (Click here to hide)

Content notes: Click here to reveal (Click here to hide)

The cover of Best Foot Forward has a deep red background with map markings in a dull purple. Two men in silhouette stand, looking up at a point in the top left. An astrology chart with different symbols picked out takes up the left side of the image, with glowing stars curving up to the title.

Best Foot Forward

Period: Click here to reveal1930s (Click here to hide)

Romance: Click here to revealAsexual, Not a romance (Click here to hide)

Content notes: Click here to revealDiverse background (Click here to hide)

The cover of Nocturnal Quarry has Alexander silhouetted seated in a chair, leaning forward, one leg crossed over the other against a purple background with a map of Manhattan. An astrological chart to the left has the symbols for the Sun, Mercury, and Mars in close conjunction in Leo and Virgo, glowing against the pale grey of the chart.

Nocturnal Quarry

Period: Click here to revealSecond World War (Click here to hide)

Romance: Click here to revealM/F, Established relationship (Click here to hide)

Content notes: Click here to reveal (Click here to hide)

The cover of Old As The Hills has a man with a cane and a woman silhouetted on a green ground with a map. She holds out her hand, he is putting something into it, forming a doorway between them. An astrological chart behind them shows the symbols for Venus, the Sun, Jupiter, and Saturn highlighted behind a splash of glowing stars.

Old As The Hills

Period: Click here to revealSecond World War (Click here to hide)

Romance: Click here to revealM/F, M/M/F, Established relationship (Click here to hide)

Content notes: Click here to reveal (Click here to hide)

The cover of Upon A Summer's Day shows a man in a suit silhouetted over a map of northern Wales in a muted green. He is gesturing, holding his cane in one hand, a cap on his head. Behind him is an astrological chart, with Jupiter and Saturn highlighted in the sign of Taurus.

Upon A Summer's Day

Period: Click here to revealPost-war (late 1940s) (Click here to hide)

Romance: Click here to revealM/F, First relationship (Click here to hide)

Content notes: Click here to reveal (Click here to hide)

Cover of Grown Wise: A silhouetted man and woman in 1940s clothes, walking together as he reaches for a branch full of apples. The background is a muted green and brown, scattered with a swoosh of golden light.

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