October 10, 2013
Genre:
Historical Fiction/Medieval Fiction
Length: 482 pages
Series: The Wars of the Roses
Book description courtesy of Goodreads
King Henry V - the great lion of England - is long dead.
In 1437, after years of regency, the pious and gentle Henry VI, the Lamb, comes of age and accedes to the English throne. His poor health and frailty of mind render him a weakling king -Henry depends on his closest men, Spymaster Derry Brewer and William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, to run his kingdom.
Yet there are those, such as the Plantagenet Richard, Duke of York, who believe England must be led by a strong king if she is to survive. With England's territories in France under threat, and rumours of revolt at home, fears grow that Henry and his advisers will see the country slide into ruin. With a secret deal struck for Henry to marry a young French noblewoman, Margaret of Anjou, those fears become all too real.
As storm clouds gather over England, King Henry and his supporters find themselves besieged abroad and at home. Who, or what can save the kingdom before it is too late?
In 1437, after years of regency, the pious and gentle Henry VI, the Lamb, comes of age and accedes to the English throne. His poor health and frailty of mind render him a weakling king -Henry depends on his closest men, Spymaster Derry Brewer and William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, to run his kingdom.
Yet there are those, such as the Plantagenet Richard, Duke of York, who believe England must be led by a strong king if she is to survive. With England's territories in France under threat, and rumours of revolt at home, fears grow that Henry and his advisers will see the country slide into ruin. With a secret deal struck for Henry to marry a young French noblewoman, Margaret of Anjou, those fears become all too real.
As storm clouds gather over England, King Henry and his supporters find themselves besieged abroad and at home. Who, or what can save the kingdom before it is too late?
My Thoughts:
I have to confess.....this was my second attempt at this book. Years ago I tried the series and at the time was not as immersed in knowledge of the time period or the Wars of the Roses and found it kind of boring. This second time it was really good and I plan to continue with the other three books. Having said that, I did find the first half much better than the second. I know the author is generating a slow build because the series is four books long covering the wars in detail. And I know I should care about Jack Cade's rebellion but it was so detailed and became almost monotonous the last part of the book. I ended up skimming chapters. Probably this stems from two things: 1. I do not like historical fiction that is heavy on the military/battle angle (I am interested in the real people and their stories) and 2. I am not a huge fan of historical fiction about real events that make a fictional person the main focus. Both things happen in this book.
The first part leaned more heavily on Margaret of Anjou and William de la Pole, the French King, etc. and that was riveting. It gave me a great feel for Margaret and what she must have gone through marrying Henry. And I was very invested in de la Pole's story and Richard of York and how he came to be protector when Henry's mental state collapsed. So the book was a great way to learn history which is what I most want out of historical fiction.
Derry, Thomas, and his son Rowan, all fictional characters, were just not super interesting to me. I'm hoping the next book, titled Margaret of Anjou here in the U.S. will get back to more of the real historical characters. I understand why the fictional ones were included, to show how the situation developed from the perspective of the common man, etc. but I just thought too much time was spent on them. I also didn't much care for them personally, especially Derry. So there was no one to root for during those parts. The author included Derry as the King's fictional spymaster and says he is sure someone like him must have existed and had great influence over some of Henry's decisions so that was kind of an interesting fun fact.
The book starts with the marriage of Margaret and Henry, takes you through the events leading up to Henry's first mental episode, explaining in detail why people were so angry at the loss of French territories and looking for scapegoats to blame, thoroughly covers Jack Cade and his march to London, and ends with Richard of York becoming King in all but name. I appreciate that it follows the facts and isn't trying to embellish things. It's written with great suspense, easy to follow, gritty and entertaining. If you want to get a good grasp on how the Wars of the Roses began, this book will definitely be a great starting point. In a way it's a prequel to the others and you should probably start here if you are going to understand it all.
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