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Queen By Right A Novel Anne Easter Smith Books

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Queen By Right A Novel Anne Easter Smith Books

As a dedicated Ricardian, I expected to love this book. I've long wanted to know more about Cecily Neville. She lived through some of the more tumultuous times in England's history. She was the mother of two kings, and outlived them both. I have read three previous books by this author, and I do appreciate that she takes care to bring her female leads to life, a difficult thing to do given the limited information available about most people, let alone most women, from these times.

I just felt that the book dragged. It's about the same length as those I had previously read, and they never became tedious. Also, I thought there was a bit much about Joan of Arc (though it was certainly interesting to learn that Cecily Neville was present at Joan's execution). The early part of the book was interesting and engaging; somewhere along the line it just became kind of humdrum.

I was also surprised to find there was relatively little about Richard III. I know this author is also a Ricardian (we belong to the same chapter of the Richard III Society), so I thought Richard would figure a bit more prominently. (It may be that A.E.S. doesn't want to try and compete with "The Sunne In Splendour" - wisely, if that's the case; don't reinvent the wheel).

It seemed to me to be cheating to end the book with Edward IV's coronation. Cecily lived for many years after this event, and while that part of her life is already better known than her earlier days, there is certainly something to be said about the family interactions that went on during the reigns of both Edward and Richard. It wouldn't make for happy reading, certainly, but it would have been interesting.

All in all, not a BAD book, but not one I'll likely re-read in it's entirety any time soon (though I may go back through the first third or so).


Tags : Amazon.com: Queen By Right: A Novel (9781416550471): Anne Easter Smith: Books,Anne Easter Smith,Queen By Right: A Novel,Atria Books,141655047X,Historical - General,Biographical fiction,Great Britain - History - House of York, 1461-1485,Great Britain - History - Lancaster and York, 1399-1485,Great Britain - History - Wars of the Roses, 1455-1485,Great Britain;History;House of York, 1461-1485;Fiction.,Great Britain;History;Lancaster and York, 1399-1485;Fiction.,Great Britain;History;Wars of the Roses, 1455-1485;Fiction.,Historical fiction,Richard,York, Cecily,York, House of,1411-1460,1415-1495,Duchess of,,Duke of York,,ENGLISH HISTORICAL FICTION,England,FICTION Biographical,FICTION Historical General,FICTION Romance Historical General,Fiction,Fiction - Historical,Fiction-Coming of Age,Fiction-Historical,GENERAL,General Adult,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),Richard,,United States,Richard of York; Margaret of york; Anthony Woodville; Duke of Burgundy; Anthony Woodville; charles the bold; cecilly neville; Edward IV; Richard III; Lancaster; york; war of the roses; plantagenet; Will Hastings; Jane Lambert; philippa gregory; the white queen; the white princess; the other boleyn girl; tudor fiction; the cousin's war; historical novels; historical romance; historical fiction; english royalty fiction; novels about english kings and queens; books about the war of the roses; war of the roses novels; rose for the crown; king's grace; daughter of york,Richard of York; Margaret of york; Anthony Woodville; Duke of Burgundy; charles the bold; cecilly neville; Edward IV; Richard III; Lancaster; york; war of the roses; plantagenet; Will Hastings; Jane Lambert; philippa gregory; the white queen; the white princess; the other boleyn girl; tudor fiction; the cousin's war; historical novels; historical romance; historical fiction; english royalty fiction; novels about english kings and queens; books about the war of the roses; war of the roses novels; rose for the crown; king's grace; daughter of york,York, Cecily,,York, House of,FICTION Biographical,FICTION Historical General,FICTION Romance Historical General,Fiction - Historical,1411-1460,1415-1495,Duchess of,,Duke of York,,Richard,,York, Cecily,,English Historical Fiction,Fiction,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Queen By Right A Novel Anne Easter Smith Books Reviews

Queen By Right is the story of Cecily Neville who was the mother of Edward IV and Richard III (him that Shakespeare immortalized). I've read a lot about the War of the Roses and, honestly, I don't feel there are many perspectives that still interest me. But what interested me about this book is that it tells the story of right before the War of the Roses and the people who started the whole mess.

This book starts a little slow. Cecily and Richard, Duke of York are engaged when she is eight and he is eleven but they can't marry for at least another four years (when Cecily turns the decrepit age of 12). So we meander through several years. But once they do get married, things pick up.

Although there is no historical proof that Cecily ever met Joan of Arc, Anne Easter Smith points out that Cecily stayed in the castle where Joan of Arc was currently being held prisoner and so a meeting was quite probable. I thought the scenes between Cecily and Joan were very interesting as was the influence that Easter Smith had Joan's death play on Cecily throughout her life.

I also thought religion was handled well. Cecily is deeply pious but when she loses a second baby, she questions her faith. Eventually she finds her path again but I thought her reaction to losing her children was very realistic and well portrayed.

I did find that sometimes the births of the children were a little confusing, especially when time was skipped in between Margaret's birth and George's. There are two boys in the skipped time who died right after birth but when they were mentioned it confused me and I had to look at the family tree in the front to remember which child we were on. There are 13 or 14 pregnancies though so some confusion is expected. Also, some of the language was a little overdone. It is language that is accurate to the period but in this book it sometimes just felt thrown in, instead of really adding veracity.

I liked this novel and enjoyed reading about Cecily. I really like that the book has an afterword where the author explains what she invented and why it is historically possible. I think it is extremely important in historical fiction to have a place that clarifies what is historically accurate and what is conjecture.

As a final note if you like this book but haven't read Sharon Kay Penman's Sunne in Splendour, you should do that. Immediately.
From the political maneuverings of royals and nobles to the intimate details of apparel, the research put into this epic novel shined through. There are a ton of historical figures featured in this novel, some written very closely to the historical record and some with a bit of writer’s license used. I loved seeing all the pieces of the chess match that was 15th century politics move into place and being introduced to all the leading figures of the upcoming War of the Roses.

For the most part, I enjoyed the characters and historical figures presented. Many were very three-dimensional and made me root for them, no matter which side of the struggle they fell on. Yet, I felt that sometimes the main character of Cecily got to be a bit too perfect. Most of the time she was your typical mythical noble lady of the day beautiful, attractive to every man she met, courageous, pious, and intelligent. The list goes on. She did show the occasional lack of maternal love and a stubborn arrogance that gave her the nickname “Proud Cis”. But, those times were few and far between.

I’d say overall that this book is a pretty solid War of the Roses novel. It definitely gets into the nitty-gritty of how that war started and the powerful figures in the background of that massive struggle. Characters are mostly solid, but the main character of Cecily does slide into the “too perfect” rang far too often to be completely enjoyable. Still, give this work a look if you enjoy the time period.
If you ever need to understand the "War of the Roses" this book exceeds all other books in acknowledging the claims of York. We all should breath a moment of acknowledgment that York and Lancaster eventually came together (with Lancaster and York eventually marrying) to create the "Tudor" dynasty. Perhaps it was heavenly sent or not? Maybe man-made, yes? And so, history moves on whether we like it or not. But history repeats itself over and over again. So what is the solution? Let us be stewards of history bringing forth human fact from fiction and move civilization forward in a positive way.
As a dedicated Ricardian, I expected to love this book. I've long wanted to know more about Cecily Neville. She lived through some of the more tumultuous times in England's history. She was the mother of two kings, and outlived them both. I have read three previous books by this author, and I do appreciate that she takes care to bring her female leads to life, a difficult thing to do given the limited information available about most people, let alone most women, from these times.

I just felt that the book dragged. It's about the same length as those I had previously read, and they never became tedious. Also, I thought there was a bit much about Joan of Arc (though it was certainly interesting to learn that Cecily Neville was present at Joan's execution). The early part of the book was interesting and engaging; somewhere along the line it just became kind of humdrum.

I was also surprised to find there was relatively little about Richard III. I know this author is also a Ricardian (we belong to the same chapter of the Richard III Society), so I thought Richard would figure a bit more prominently. (It may be that A.E.S. doesn't want to try and compete with "The Sunne In Splendour" - wisely, if that's the case; don't reinvent the wheel).

It seemed to me to be cheating to end the book with Edward IV's coronation. Cecily lived for many years after this event, and while that part of her life is already better known than her earlier days, there is certainly something to be said about the family interactions that went on during the reigns of both Edward and Richard. It wouldn't make for happy reading, certainly, but it would have been interesting.

All in all, not a BAD book, but not one I'll likely re-read in it's entirety any time soon (though I may go back through the first third or so).