The Wars of the Roses through the eyes of Kate Woodville and Harry Stafford...

The Stolen Crown: The Secret Marriage that Forever Changed the Fate of England

by Susan Higginbotham

The Stolen Crown, by Susan Higginbotham, appealed to me because I wanted different perspective on Edward IV’s Queen, Elizabeth Woodville.  Higginbotham selected one of my favorite perspectives from which to craft a historical fiction novel; the selection of living people who were peripheral figures at the time and of whom the reader does not have a long entrenched opinion of how the character should develop.  By using these marginal but historical figures Higginbotham focuses her reader on the story line, which she crafts masterfully. 

The Stolen Crown’s protagonist is Katherine Woodville, called Kate, the younger sister of Elizabeth Woodville who secretly weds King Edward IV and becomes England’s queen.  The entire large Woodville family suddenly rockets to the center of the English court and Kate finds herself a pawn in her sister’s plan to extend her influence by marrying her brothers and sisters into as many of the noble families as possible.  Kate is just seven years old when she is married to nine-year-old Henry Stafford, 2^nd Duke of Buckingham, referred to as Harry, as in life.  As the Duke of Buckingham, Harry is the foremost noble in the land, behind only King Edward, his children and his brothers.  A coup for the Woodville’s but one of many that made the entire family many enemies.

The narrative is given through the eyes of both Kate and Harry throughout their lives, which just happen to be during one of the most tumultuous periods in English history, the Wars of the Roses.  The reader follows along as Kate and Harry mature, from childhood friends to finally discovering their deep love for each other and beginning a family.  The marriage however is haunted by the influence of Richard, Duke of Gloucester the one man that Harry admires above all others.  Kate however does not like the Duke and finds that the feeling is mutual.

Kate and Harry’s lives take many twists and turns, first when Harry supports Richard against King Edward and then again when the young King unexpectedly dies and Harry along with the King’s brother Richard are given charge of the heir apparent, the uncrowned Edward V, during his minority.  However, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, craves the throne for himself and only the young Edward and his brother, George, Duke of Clarence, stand in his way.  Kate feels that not only must she save her marriage and her husband from Richard but also the lives of her young nephews.

The Stolen Crown gives the reader richly developed characters as well as vivid descriptions of 15^th century England.  Historians will appreciate Higginbotham’s attention to factual historical detail but it is presented in such a way that the casual reader of the genre will not be put off.  I enjoyed the portrayal of Elizabeth Woodville, which is in contrast to the usual vilification found in other works and I appreciated another perspective on this dynamic and interesting woman.  However, do not look to find any vindication of the character of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III.  Within the pages of The Stolen Crown Richard is every inch the duplicitous power hungry murderer Tudor propagandists made him out to be.  Also, important to note is that Higginbotham provides an excellent Author’s Note explaining her decisions for presenting the account as she did. 

Without a doubt I enjoyed The Stolen Crown, it is not only a great novel but also a wonderful example of historical fiction.  I recommend it highly and without reservation but do caution anyone with strong opinions about Richard III to be on notice that this might not be the novel for you.

This review qualifies for the following challenges:
Historical Fiction Book Review #20
Tudor Book Blog Reading Challenge #18

Kate Emerson continues to impress...

By Royal Decree

Secrets of the Tudor Court, #3

by Kate Emerson

By Royal Decree is the third installment in Kate Emerson’s series, The Secrets of the Tudor Court.  This series is unique is that each novel is narrated by an actual but marginal woman within the Tudor Court.  I truly enjoy Emerson’s use of this innovative and fresh point of view and at the same time enjoy her novels as they follow the history accurately.  Surprisingly, Emerson includes the actual events of the woman’s life and weaves that into the larger historical setting.  Every installment has been a new and interesting journey into the lives of those Tudor enthusiasts recognize, but do not know much about.  I find this technique enables Emerson to expand and explain motivations in such a way that the greater historical framework is not broached.  I find Emerson’s writing both innovative and classic and truly a wonderful example of how historical fiction should be done.

By Royal Decree follows the story of Elizabeth “Bess” Brooke, daughter of Lord George Brooke, 9th Baron Cobham of Kent.  The story opens with Henry entertaining a group of eligible women of noble birth, including Bess, in his search for his sixth wife.  In the first chapter we again encounter Nan Basset, Between Two Queens, and Emerson allows the second and third installment of the Secrets of the Tudor Court to overlap ever so slightly, which worked for this reader.  Bess brought to court by her parents to attend the King’s banquet.  Bess, young and beautiful, attracted the King’s interest that made her wary and she felt the need to escape his notice.  In her attempt to leave Bess accidently catches her aunt Dorothy Bray in an intimate embrace with Lord William Parr. Much to her aunt’s displeasure Parr seems taken with Bess but she leaves Court the following day to return to Kent, wisely laying low until Henry snares another bride.

Lord William Parr’s sister Katherine would become Henry’s sixth wife and Queen thereby rocketing the Parr’s up the sociopolitical latter virtually overnight.  Not that Lord William seemed to personally profit from this rise.  He was divorced from his child bride, with whom he had spent only one night and who shortly after left him with a former priest and had many children through that relationship. Divorce, ironically, even in Henry VII’s England might be granted but the spouse could not be remarried until the death of their former spouse.  The relationship and love affair between William Parr and Bess seems genuine both in the novel and in the research I’ve done into the pair after reading Emerson’s account.  In the end, politics and religion shaped the couple’s relationship.  Under Edward VI the pair were allowed to marry, Mary I quickly reversed that decision and Elizabeth I reunited the pair again.  It is from this proclamation that the novel takes its name.  Bess and William were married or not by royal decree.

Again, Emerson delivers a wonderfully crafted and carefully researched novel that truly opens up the world of the peripheral figures within the Tudor Court.  For this reader it is Emerson’s meticulous adherence to historical fact that truly allows her fictional account of Bess Brooke and William Parr to truly come to life. I recommend By Royal Decree and am eagerly awaiting delivery of the next installment in the series, At The Kings Pleasure, which will feature Lady Anne Stanhope, sister of The Duke of Buckingham.

This review qualifies for the following challenges:
Historical Fiction Book Review #12
Tudor Book Blog Reading Challenge #10

Before the Tudors...

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

First, I must admit that I am stepping out of my area of historical concentration I have long meant to discover more about England’s War of the Roses and especially Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII.  However, Philippa Gregory begins her series on the women of the Wars with The White Queen.  

The white rose of Lancaster, is a commoner, Elizabeth Woodville, which I knew little about before reading this novel, but who certainly must be an interesting woman worth more investigation.  Elizabeth, as portrayed by Gregory, is dynamic and complex.  At the beginning of Edward’s reign, Elizabeth comes to the King with a financial dispute and wins his love by her refusal to be his mistress.  The novel in fact depicts the first encounter between the two as a violent one in which Edward attempted to force Elizabeth to have sex with him and she had to pull a knife out to defend herself.  Strange way to begin a relationship certainly, but stranger still was that Edward returned and married Elizabeth in secret which ultimately led to his estrangement from the Earl of Warwick, the Kingmaker and would continually haunt both of them throughout their lives and after Edward’s death. 

Elizabeth is portrayed as a political queen who seeks the promotion of her family with ruthless ambition.  Her mother, Jacquetta, who had served Margaret of Anjou, Henry VI’s now exiled Queen, aids Elizabeth in her political schemes with very unorthodox methods.  Jacquetta claims the women are descendants of the river goddess Melusina and both use this connection to the river goddess combined with witchcraft to influence events and curse enemies.

Elizabeth and her mother are safe while Edward IV remains in power but unexpectedly find themselves vulnerable when Edward IV dies young and unexpectedly.  Elizabeth with her mother and children flee into sanctuary at Westminster Abbey while Edward’s brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, named Lord Protector by Edward has control of Elizabeth’s son and heir to the throne Edward V.  Her younger son Richard is with her in sanctuary until she is forced to surrender him.  The Elizabeth that Gregory portrays would never surrender the last hope of the Yorkist cause into Richard’s hands, which adds to the mystery surrounding the Princes in the Tower.  Could a changeling have been substituted in Richard’s place while the true son and heir after his brother was hidden to perhaps reappear in the reign of Henry VII as Perkin Warbeck?  The story line is plausible if Elizabeth was anything like the worldly women Gregory portrays.  I would say we will never know, but since the bones of Richard himself have been found perhaps the boys thought to be the Princes, now buried at Westminster Abbey, will one day be exhumed for DNA testing.  While Gregory’s account is fiction, and she admits in her author’s note that more than any of her previous novels, The White Queen has the least amount of true historical fact because so little primary documentation exists, so enjoy it for what it is fiction with a tad of history. 

Perhaps this was the appeal for me of The White Queen.  Unlike Gregory’s novels regarding the Tudor era where I find myself unable to lose myself completely in the story because I disagree with her take on the historical record.  My reading of The White Queen was more pleasure based and thought provoking prompting me to delve further into the Wars of the Roses in both fact and historical fiction.

Overall I enjoyed The White Queen and found myself engrossed in the plots and schemes as a welcome break from the more romantic historical fiction.  I especially enjoyed the depiction of Elizabeth Woodville, a strong women navigating through the tumultuous upheaval of the Plantagenet era and eagerly await Gregory’s next installment in the series, The Red Queen, the story of another strong woman in a man’s world, Margaret Beaufort.

This review qualifies for the following challenges:
Historical Fiction Book Review #5