g. ‘good we needed one’ (in response to one the Irish chieftains rising against RoY) or ‘they know what I tell them’ etc (these are just some of the few examples I tried to find while skimming through - but you’ll get it when you see it). Here, we get the story of the end War of the Roses as seen through the eyes of one women who was probably closest to the action - and perhaps a greater part of it than anyone of us will ever know. From there we follow Cecily for thirty more years until her husband Richard the Duke of York and her son Edmond are killed, but her eldest Edward steps on the English throne in March 1461. While Richard is an outsider to the court due to his father's struggle for power, he is born with royal blood; and it is in Cecily's interest to raise herself, her husband and all of her future children as high as she can within circles of power to secure their future. Her depictions of the heads of state are great, put vivid physical descriptions and personalities to legendary names.

We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. The book covers a thirty year period from 1431, starting with the death of Joan of Arc where Cecily demonstrates her strength of character and finishes when her son is crowned Edward IV in 1461. She was a powerful matriarch during the Wars of the Roses; someone always at the very heart of the Yorkist cause.

It’s just so, so, so good and this era is so incredibly starved of good historical fiction that even that clanger didn’t ruin it totally for me.

Margaret of Anjou is already incredibly well-established as a malicious figure and antagonist for Cecily, we don’t need this scene to hammer it in. Some of the other characterisations are so bare that we often get a figure reduced to one thing/personality trait - Warwick: Swaggery, Holland: His dogs, Elizabeth and Richard Woodville: their hair colour. Happily, Garthwaite doesn’t do this – the Hundred Years War sections are dealt with marvellously and the weight of the history behind them helps to contribute to the frustrations with Henry and his court. Despite the decidedly Yorkist-Ricardian bent to the story, the story was nuanced and complex, full of morally grey characters. I am a relative newbie to historical fiction but I often watch films and programs set in the period of The War of the Roses, so when I saw this book about Duchess Cecily, I jumped to read it.I loved the role she was afforded - not only in her own story but in the history of the Wars of the Roses and the eventual victory of her son. More contemplative passages immerse the reader in the hardships, and sometimes joyful simplicities, of the period. The prose may not be original or rare within modern fiction as a whole (although I wouldn’t know as I only read post-1940 fiction when it’s historical fiction) , but I certainly think it is in TWOTR /medieval fiction. Cecily is one strong woman - feisty, intelligent and determined - she will stop at nothing to protect her own. While Lytton-Bulwer’s work is objectively superior and transcends historical fiction even when focused on the same events, this one has no ‘deeper meaning/insight into the human condition’.

It isn't anti-men, in fact her relationship and alliance with her husband is one of the strongest themes in the book.Coincidentally, I then signed up to NetGalley and I was really excited to be approved to read it early. It is mentioned that they adopt the Mortimer name, but the ramifications of this are never fully explored. With such an imposing figure as Cecily at the heart of the book, it would be easy for Richard to disappear into the background but the author convincingly conveys his natural charm, leadership skills and determination to fulfil what he believes is his and his family’s destiny. Garthwaite clearly knows her stuff, and is happy to leap across the sea to France, show you what’s happening there, leap back, drag you around castles in England, leap over to Burgundy. Overall, I was hoping that as I got further into the book Cecily would start to become a real character but sadly the novel remains like a patchwork of recorded historical events with no insights/imagination as to how Cecily felt.