My interest waned a little with the love stories, but I do have a heart of stone. The book highlighting the influence of strong women in the shadows and mainly left out of history. The female characters were strong, from the equally evil Marguerite d’Anjou to Elizabeth Woodville and Richard’s own mother, Cecily Neville. Who is Earl of Warwick now? Those medieval people needed more variety in their names. There were far too many Edwards, Georges, Johns and Richards. I struggled occasionally with the names of the characters but this is where the facts constrain the author. The politics and alliances are wild and tempestuous, outstripping any of the political shenanigans in modern day. The battle scenes are lively and colourful, providing great insight into the battle strategy and the bloodiness of medieval wars. Perhaps this build-up was what kept my interest, I was waiting to find out what happened when Richard actually became King. I was surprised how two-thirds of the novel was devoted to the reign of his brother, Edward.
The novel starts in 1459 and is split into four books Edward, Anne, Lord of the North, Richard by the Grace of God. With her excellent storytelling, I could suspend my disbelief and go along with Penman’s tale of a man betrayed by his friends and history.
Others with pre-conceived ideas about the “real” Richard III may not have as much fun as I did. And it was a rollicking ride over 1,200 pages, keeping my interest along the whole way. I came to this story with an open mind and went along for the ride. I’m no history buff (which makes my sudden penchant for historical event even stranger, more on that later) and had little more than a passing knowledge of Richard III and his story – his caricature as a deformed Machiavellian king. This is the re-telling of the story of Richard III, a large monstrous figure, who Penman feels was wrongly treated by history and this is her version of the events. Originally published in 1982, this was re-released in 2013 with additional author notes. I’m on a real historical fiction jaunt and my most recently finished novel is The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman.
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