Audiobook Review: Daughter of York by Anne Easter Smith

Daughter of York by Anne Easter Smith

Unabridged, 23 hr.

Random House

Rosalyn Landor (Narrator)

February 15, 2008

★★★★☆

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Digital Download from my Library

“It is 1461: Edward, son of Richard of York, ascends to the throne, and his willful sister, Margaret, immediately becomes a pawn in European politics as Edward negotiates her marriage. The young Margaret falls deeply in love with Anthony Woodville, the married brother of Edward's queen, Elizabeth. But Edward has arranged for his sister to wed Charles, son of the Duke of Burgundy, and soon Margaret is setting sail for her new life. Her official escort: Anthony
Woodville.

Margaret of York eventually commanded the respect and admiration of much of Europe, but it appears to history that she had no emotional intimate. Anne Easter Smith's rare gift for storytelling and her extensive research reveal the love that burned at the center of Margaret's life, adding a new dimension to the story of one of the fifteenth century's most powerful women.”

I have a confession to make – this was my first read based on The War of the Roses! Gasp…I know…I don’t know what took me so long – but now that I have broken that spine I am reading more and more about it now. I think that this was a decent introduction to that time period because it doesn’t just throw you right into the War. You get a little bit of life before the War on the York side and as we follow Margaret’s story, you really are not right in the middle of everything. As Margaret is living in Burgundy, she isn’t in England and just hears news from messengers and her brothers when they come by. This made it possible to dip your toes in the water and generally get a sense of what was going on – so the next book I read I will be ready for more intrigue and action. It was really interesting to get a sort of outsider’s perspective on the War. She certainly has her loyalties, as she is a York, but she isn’t being directly affected by it.

As I didn’t have a lot of knowledge about the characters in this book prior to reading it, my opinions of them were not tainted either way going into it. And let me tell you I was so surprised as I got toward the end of the book and suddenly realized that young Dickon would eventually become King Richard III. I know that he is a polarizing figure in this era of history – but I was really loving him as a young boy! And just to throw it out there, I still don’t think that I am on either side of the fence about him yet.

Overall, the story was a delightful read that helped introduce me to the world of The War of the Roses.

★★★★½☆

Choosing to read this as an audio book turned out to be a blessing and a curse. It was great because I loved hearing the accents and pronunciation of words and the reading was superb, but it was SO long (I’m pretty sure it was about 18 disks). This was one of those times that I really wished I could flip back a few chapters to reference something or reread a few pages to get back on track after taking the weekend off from reading it. I will take this into consideration when I think about reading other books by this author.

You can listen to a sample from the audiobook here (links to Audible):

Here is a video with Anne Easter Smith talking a little about Daughter of York and her writing process.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Jenny Loves to Read
• Medieval Bookworm

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Anne Easter Smith

A Rose for the Crown

Queen by Right
[My Review]

The King’s Grace

Royal Mistress

Find Anne Easter Smith: Website | Facebook | Goodreads 

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