New Book Alert – Thwarted Queen by Cynthia Haggard + Giveaway

Author Cynthia Haggard is currently touring with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and is making a stop here today with a giveaway. 

Thwarted Queen
By Cynthia Haggard
Paperback, 496 pages
Createspace
ISBN: 978-1-480-15539-8
October 29, 2012

Book Blurb:

THWARTED QUEEN is a portrait of a woman trapped by power, a marriage undone by betrayal, and a King brought down by fear.

Cecylee is the apple of her mother’s eye. The seventh daughter, she is the only one left unmarried by 1424, the year she turns nine. In her father’s eyes, however, she is merely a valuable pawn in the game of marriage. The Earl of Westmorland plans to marry his youngest daughter to 13-year-old Richard, Duke of York, who is close to the throne. He wants this splendid match to take place so badly, he locks his daughter up.

The event that fuels the narrative is Cecylee’s encounter with Blaybourne, a handsome archer, when she is twenty-six years old. This love affair produces a child (the “One Seed” of Book II), who becomes King Edward IV. But how does a public figure like Cecylee, whose position depends upon the goodwill of her husband, carry off such an affair? The duke could have locked her up, or disposed of this illegitimate son.

But Richard does neither, keeping her firmly by his side as he tries to make his voice heard in the tumultuous years that encompass the end of the Hundred Years War - during which England loses all of her possessions in France - and the opening phase of the Wars of the Roses. He inherits the political mantle of his mentor Duke Humphrey of Gloucester, and become’s the people’s champion. The rambunctious Londoners are unhappy that their country has become mired in misrule due to the ineptitude of a King prone to fits of madness. Nor are they better pleased by the attempts of the King’s French wife to maneuver herself into power, especially as she was responsible for England’s losses in France. But can Richard and Cecylee prevail? Everywhere, their enemies lurk in the shadows.

This book is filled with many voices, not least those of the Londoners, who forged their political destiny by engaging in public debate with the powerful aristocrats of the time. By their courageous acts, these fifteenth-century Londoners set the stage for American Democracy.

You can follow along with the rest of the tour at the Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours site or on Twitter with the following hashtag: #ThwartedQueenVirtualTour.

And now a giveaway for you all.  I have one paperback copy up for grabs to one resident of the USA.  Giveaway will be open until March 10th.  Entry by Rafflecopter below.  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Copyright © 2013 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Queen by Right by Anne Easter Smith

Queen by Right by Anne Easter Smith

ARC, Paperback, 528 pages

Touchstone

May 10, 2011

★★★★★

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Received from publisher for review as part of Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

“In Cecily Neville, duchess of York and ancestor of every English monarch to the present day, she has found her most engrossing character yet. History remembers Cecily of York standing on the steps of the Market Cross at Ludlow, facing an attacking army while holding the hands of her two young sons. Queen by Right reveals how she came to step into her destiny, beginning with her marriage to Richard, duke of York, whom she meets when she is nine and he is thirteen. Raised together in her father’s household, they become a true love match and together face personal tragedies, pivotal events of history, and deadly political intrigue. All of England knows that Richard has a clear claim to the throne, and when King Henry VI becomes unfit to rule, Cecily must put aside her hopes and fears and help her husband decide what is right for their family and their country. Queen by Right marks Anne Easter Smith’s greatest achievement, a book that every fan of sweeping, exquisitely detailed historical fiction will devour.”

I have read a couple of books that took place during the Wars of the Roses and dealing with the battle between King Henry VI and Edward of York. This was the first book that I have read that takes place during the events that actually ignite this battle of wills. The book begins almost at the end – Cecily, Duchess of York is looking back at the events that led up to the death of her dear husband and son five short weeks ago. We go back and look at her life from the early days when she was the Rose of Raby and the light of her father’s eye, we see her grow to love her husband, Richard, Duke of York, and we endure all of the triumphs and tragic events that they endure. Throughout this retelling we get glimpses of the present and understand what Cecily is thinking now after the fact. It is a look into her soul and the decisions that they made.

There is no doubt what side of the argument that the author writes from and I enjoyed reading the York perspective of events that I had only previously read from a Lancastrian viewpoint. With every book I read set during the Wars of the Roses I am persuaded to switch my loyalties and this book was no different. One of my favorite parts of this novel was the development of the love between Richard and Cecily. They were friends as children and grew to respect and encourage each other and truly find a love match. It felt so realistic and organic to the characters. This was the first book that truly made me like Richard of York – until about the last 50ish pages when I felt like his character took a complete turn around and was back to what I did not like about him. Cecily on the other hand I absolutely admired and thought that she was so brave in the midst of what was going on around her.

A unique angle that I did not expect was the inclusion of the storyline of Joan of Arc and her connection throughout the novel to Cecily. While the author admits in the historical note that there is no evidence showing that these two women ever met they were certainly in each other’s vicinity and it did add to the weighty-ness of the novel and filled out Cecily’s character. I had never really thought of Joan of Arc set historically and this novel certainly helped solve that issue for me. Another thing that I found interesting (don’t quote me on this because I don’t have Daughter of York on hand) was that the beginning of this novel seemed very similar to the beginning of Daughter of York. I recollect Cecily coming to the rescue of her daughter Margaret’s nightmare following the death of Richard in both books. This would make sense with both of these novels taking off from the same point in history (one on the mother and one on the daughter) and it ties both of them together.

Overall I thought that this was a wonderful novel – not overly vilifying the Lancasters – and telling this wonderful story.

If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Burton Book Review
• Rundpinne

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

Also by Anne Easter Smith

Daughter of York
[My Review]

A Rose for the Crown

Royal Mistress

The King’s Grace

Find Anne Easter Smith: Website | Facebook | Goodreads

Follow the Tour

Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours site.

Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Pale Rose of England by Sandra Worth

Pale Rose of England by Sandra Worth

ARC, Paperback, 464 pages

Berkley Trade

February 1, 2011

★★★★☆

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Received from publisher for review for HFBRT February event

“From the award-winning author of The King's Daughter comes a story of love and defiance during the War of the Roses.

It is 1497. The news of the survival of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, has thundered across Europe, setting royal houses ablaze with intrigue and rocking the fledgling Tudor dynasty. Stepping finally onto English soil, Catherine arrives at the island of Saint Michael’s Mount, along with her husband and young son Dickon, their second child already on the way. With the keen support of Scotland’s King James IV,
Richard—known in England as Perkin Warbeck—has come to reclaim his rightful crown from Henry Tudor. Based on a prophecy given Catherine by a seer that she would be loved by a king, she has no doubt Richard will succeed in his quest. But rather than assuming the throne she believed was their destiny, Catherine would soon be prisoner of King Henry VII, and her beloved husband would, unimaginably, be stamped as an imposter.

Nothing could shake Catherine’s belief in Richard and her loyalty to the man she loved. She became a favored lady-in-waiting to the queen, Elizabeth of York, but her dazzling beauty only brought her unwanted affections from a jealous king and enmeshed her in a terrifying royal love triangle. With her husband facing execution for treason, Catherine, alone in the glittering but deadly Tudor Court, finds the courage to spurn a cruel monarch and shape her own destiny, winning the admiration of a nation.”

This story takes on a unique subject in the genre of historical fiction – that of the quest of Richard, Duke of York to reclaim his throne, but he is known to the world as Perkin Warbeck, the pretender to the throne. I love when authors take on a subject that has very rarely been written about. In my opinion, Sandra Worth does Richard much justice. He was just waiting for the right author to come along and write his story. Her writing style really allows you to connect with Richard and uncover his thoughts and feelings and motivations. The author also presents and very convincing case that suggests the person known as Perkin Warbeck was really Richard. Honestly Richard was a character you could easily fall in love with. I haven’t encountered one of those since William Marshall and Roger Bigod from The Greatest Knight and For the King’s Favor respectively.

At the same time, this book is a story of Catherine Gordon and the adversity that she faces being married to Richard and then later having to live in the court of Henry VII, the great enemy of her husband. Her and Richard really were fighting an uphill battle throughout the whole book and I just kept thinking, “could they ever catch a break!?”.

All of the books I have read where Henry VII was involved, he played a minor character and I was never really given enough information to even have an opinion about him. In Pale Rose of England Henry is very much a key player in the story and I really came to despise him – he just caused problem after problem for our protagonists. Another thing that I really enjoyed about the characters in this book was that it wasn’t your typical Tudor cast of characters. You had Catherine and Richard, as well as King James of Scotland, James Strangeways (courtier to Henry and her eventual second husband), and Matthew Craddock (her eventual third husband) as well as several of the sisters of Elizabeth of York (Cecily, Anne, Catherine and Bridget). It was great to see a little more of who was who in this time period.

A truly wonderful read that will pull on your heartstrings.

If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?

You can also watch the book trailer below.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• The Tudor Book Blog
• Booking Mama

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

Also by Sandra Worth

The King’s Daughter

The Rose of York: Love & War (Book 1)


The Rose of York: Crown of Destiny (Book 2)

The Rose of York: Fall From Grace (Book 3)

Lady of the Roses


Find Sandra Worth: Website | Facebook 

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Also as part of the HFBRT event, check out:

A guest post by Sandra Worth at Historical-Fiction.com
A highlight on Sandra Worth at HFBRT




Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Guest Post by Sandra Worth

One of the mysteries that I have always been curious about is that of the two princes in the tower and the "pretender" to the throne, Perkin Warbeck. As I read Pale Rose of England I couldn't help but wonder if the man known to the world as Perkin Warbeck was really Richard, one of the lost princes. I certainly think it could have been feesible. When Sandra offered me this guest post I was so excited because it spoke directly to my interest in this character. So without further ado, here is Sandra Worth.

Behind the Legend of Perkin Warbeck 

Guest Post by Sandra Worth, author of 

Pale Rose of England

The disappearance of the little princes in the Tower has fascinated people for centuries. Was the mysterious young man the Tudors nicknamed “Perkin Warbeck” really a fraud as they claimed, or was he Richard, Duke of York, the younger of the two princes who vanished in the Tower of London, as he himself said he was? His story has been given before, so what can Pale Rose of England possibly offer?

Consider this. Have you ever read a book where he stars in his own story? In novels he is someone seen by others as “an event” in their lives. What is different in Pale Rose of England is that it presents the Pretender’s case based on a wonderful new biography. Now Richard aka “Perkin Warbeck” takes center stage to tell his own tale—and what a tale it turns out to be!

There is no definitive answer to the mystery of the princes at this great distance in time, but my research of the facts and inconsistencies surrounding the Pretender have convinced me, as it has numerous others, that he was indeed the lost prince in the Tower. Certainly, many contemporaries thought so and even Henry VII behaved as if he believed the young man was who he claimed to be.

Pale Rose of England relates the heroic journey of a young prince who comes to reclaim his inheritance—his father’s crown. While Arthurian elements lend his story heart, at essence it remains a murder mystery wrapped up in lies and half-truths that is served up to history as fact by those who had the most to gain at the time. Pale Rose of England peels off the misrepresentations to reveal a young man who finds great love, and great adventure, and for a fleeting moment is seen to touch his dreams. At his side stands the grand passion of his life, a princess of royal Scottish blood who never wavers in her love and support of him, even when faced with temptation of Mephistophelian proportions. Her loyalty, courage, and beauty win her the love of the king who took her captive, and the admiration of the English people who come to call her their “Pale Rose of England.”

The Romantic Times gave Pale Rose of England their highest marks. To quote: “Worth creates a love story amidst war, a history filled with glorious people and an unforgettable female character who triumphs when others fail; whose faith and love move a king and who has been lost to history until now.” Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, took Richard/Perkin to her heart over a hundred and fifty years ago, and left us this observation: “The various adventures of this unfortunate prince… and his alliance with a beautiful and high-born woman, who proved a faithful, loving wife to him, take away the sting from the ignominy which might attach itself to his fate; and make him, we venture to believe, in spite of the contumely later historians have chosen, in the most arbitrary way, to heap upon him… a hero to ennoble the pages of a humble tale.”

I hope you enjoy my humble tale, Pale Rose of England.

Sandra Worth is the acclaimed author of five books set during England’s Wars of the Roses. Each is a recipient of multiple awards and prizes, including three Reviewers Choice Awards. For more information, visit her at http://www.sandraworth.com/.

As part of this week's HFBRT event, check out:

The giveaway for a copy of the book at the HFBRT site

Review of the book at Historical-Fiction.com

Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: The Queen of Last Hopes by Susan Higginbotham

The Queen of Last Hopes by Susan Higginbotham

ARC, Paperback, 345 pages

Sourcebooks Landmark

January 1, 2011

★★★★☆

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Received from publisher for review

“When fifteen-year-old Margaret of Anjou journeys from France to marry England’s Henry VI, she hopes that her wedding will mean a lasting peace between England and France. Instead, England’s losses of French territory infuriate the people, resulting in the horrific murder of Margaret’s first friend in England, William de la Pole.

Pregnant at last after eight years of marriage, Margaret places her hopes in her coming child. Then the worst happens: the gentle, ineffectual Henry suddenly goes mad and cannot even recognize his longed-for son. As feuding nobles rush to exploit the situation, Margaret determines to protect the rights of her husband and her child.

Undaunted by exile, poverty, danger, and the slanders of her enemies, Margaret remains loyal to her cause even as those around her falter in their allegiances. For the man and the boy she loves best, she will risk everything—her reputation, her
safety, and the future of England itself.”

This is the first book that I have read on the Wars of the Roses that has been from a Lancaster point of view and I was surprised how the author was able to turn my opinion to their side after reading this book (though I have to admit as I am writing this I am reading another WOTR book from the York side and now I am leaning back that way too!). I think that part of the draw was that the story is mostly narrated by Margaret of Anjou who has been victimized by history as a “she-wolf” and seen mostly as an evil woman who wrested power from her poor mad husband King Henry VI. Seeing things from Margaret’s perspective and experiencing her feelings first hand really made a soft spot for her in my mind. I have found that some of the best novels are those that take on the maligned character and make you see them as a person and not just the historical stereotype – Higginbotham does that amazingly well here.

There are a few chapters sprinkled throughout the story that are narrated by other characters on the Lancaster side. It is essential in this story because the narration is first person you can only see what that character saw; Margaret wasn’t actually at many of the places where the action on for the Lancaster’s happened. These other narrators were well developed as characters in the story before they were a narrator so it wasn’t jarring to have them telling the story. There was only one major issue I had with these alternate narrators and this was when someone would narrate their own death scene – or still talk to us after they were dead (this shouldn’t be a spoiler as you should expect a lot of deaths in the Wars of the Roses). Here is an example of what I didn’t like (and I am not indicating who said this):

“He turned away, having made the common mistake of thinking that the dead cannot hear, and that God is not watching all. If I could have spoken, I would have told him that” (Higginbotham 310, ARC).

It would just really aggravate me because it didn’t fit with the rest of the novel whereas the narrators are alive and well and telling what is going on around them. This sort of thing happened a couple of times.

I was most impressed with the extensive character listing in the book. With so many characters in the Wars of the Roses, it is tough to keep track of who is who, especially when their titles changed all of the time. The listing had little descriptions of who that person was and it was organized by families – so it was much easier to keep your mind straight. I referred back to this time and again. I will probably also use it when I read other WOTR books.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Now that I have read one book from each side of this War, I have a better sense of what they were fighting for. Higginbotham effectively turned a character with negative stereotyping into a character that I could care about and connect with.

You can also read an excerpt of Queen of Last Hopes at here.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Celtic Lady’s Reviews
• Rundpinne

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

Also by Susan Higginbotham

The Stolen Crown

The Traitor’s Wife

Hugh and Bess

Her Highness, the Traitor
[My Review]

Hanging Mary

Margaret Pole

The Woodvilles

Find Susan Higginbotham: Website | Facebook | Twitter

Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

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 

Copyright © 2010 by The Maiden’s Court

The Wars of the Roses - It's All In The Color!

The War of the Roses – or more correctly, the Wars of the Roses is a complicated period in English history for a new to the era history lover to follow. During the period of roughly 1455 to 1485 the house dominating the throne switched back and forth and there were several battles and other events taking place as well. I’m not going to even attempt to enlighten you as to the politics of these wars as I struggle to follow them as well. I thought I would take some time today to discuss why it is called The Wars of the Roses.

To get to the very heart of this discussion, I would point out that it’s all in the color. The House of York was represented by the White Rose, while the House of Lancaster was represented by the Red Rose. Sounds simple? Well, it’s not quite that simple. While these roses were the badge of their houses, when they went out into battle, the different groups fought under the personal badges of the lord that they served under – not the overall House badge. For example, if you were fighting as part of Richard III’s army, you would likely be under a symbol of a white boar. So where did this widespread usage of the Wars of the Roses come from?
Well, it looks like history after the fact is at its best again here. During the time of the Wars, this naming system was not used. At the time of the actual occurrences it was just known by the different battles between the ruling factions of the House of Plantagenet. It seems that Shakespeare may have had something to do with our modern understanding of the Wars of the Roses (he seems to poke his nose in everywhere). There is a scene in Henry VI, Part 1 that takes place in the Temple Garden. In this scene, Richard Plantagenet (Duke of York) and the Duke of Somerset have a huge argument and ask for the nobles present to select either a white or red rose to choose which side they have allegiance with. Then in the 19th century, author Sir Walter Scott used this scene in discussion the Wars of the Roses in his book Anne of Geirerstein or Maiden of the Mist. And we have a name!

As the Wars of the Roses came to an end with the Battle at Bosworth Field and Henry Tudor established the House of Tudor, he made his own Tudor Rose. As you can see, this is an amalgamation of the York White Rose and the Lancaster Red Rose. What a way to end a war – bring the two sides together!




Copyright © 2010 by The Maiden’s Court