Thomas Cromwell has helped Henry VIII end his marriage to Katherine of Aragon and place Anne Boleyn on the throne. Now Anne has failed to produce a surviving son, and Henry's attention has shifted to Jane Seymour. Cromwell must turn royal dissatisfaction into legal and political action, navigating old enemies, fragile evidence and the king's unpredictable will. The novel follows the swift, dangerous events that lead to Anne's arrest and the destruction of her circle.