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A review by amna99
The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman
5.0
Spoilers for historical events
”He fell, regained his feet. Richard’s banner still fluttered, St George and the Whyte Boar, but as he stumbled toward them, they disappeared from sight, were dragged down into the surging red tide.”
I knew even within the first 100 pages that I had reached the peak of historical fiction on the Wars of the Roses. I even suspected it before I started the book, having read When Christ and his Saints Slept last year.
This book takes us from Richard of York’s life as a small child to his tragic death at the Battle of Bosworth. Penman is a master at characterisation. Apart from Richard, I was so invested in Francis Lovell, George Plantagenet, Elizabeth of Woodville, Warwick and, most surprisingly of all, Edward Plantagenet. Penman truly illustrates him as enigma, a ruler who likes to appear like a passionate and impulsive man but is actually one of the most rational and level-headed people in the entire book.
I can see why this book changed so many minds about the villainy of Richard III. The British Education system does tend to teach us the Tudor perspective of his reign but it makes me laugh that all modern fictional retelling I’ve come across prefer Richard Plantagenet to the less likeable Henry Tudor, and I agree with them. I was biased towards Richard III already going into this and that feeling has only intensified. I finally teared up, after the buildup of betrayal after betrayal, when the North of England reacted against their best interests, and in defiance of Henry Tudor, to mourn the last Plantagenet king.
What an epic this book is! If you’re looking for just one novel to read on the Wars of the Roses, I highly recommend this one.
”He fell, regained his feet. Richard’s banner still fluttered, St George and the Whyte Boar, but as he stumbled toward them, they disappeared from sight, were dragged down into the surging red tide.”
I knew even within the first 100 pages that I had reached the peak of historical fiction on the Wars of the Roses. I even suspected it before I started the book, having read When Christ and his Saints Slept last year.
This book takes us from Richard of York’s life as a small child to his tragic death at the Battle of Bosworth. Penman is a master at characterisation. Apart from Richard, I was so invested in Francis Lovell, George Plantagenet, Elizabeth of Woodville, Warwick and, most surprisingly of all, Edward Plantagenet. Penman truly illustrates him as enigma, a ruler who likes to appear like a passionate and impulsive man but is actually one of the most rational and level-headed people in the entire book.
I can see why this book changed so many minds about the villainy of Richard III. The British Education system does tend to teach us the Tudor perspective of his reign but it makes me laugh that all modern fictional retelling I’ve come across prefer Richard Plantagenet to the less likeable Henry Tudor, and I agree with them. I was biased towards Richard III already going into this and that feeling has only intensified. I finally teared up, after the buildup of betrayal after betrayal, when the North of England reacted against their best interests, and in defiance of Henry Tudor, to mourn the last Plantagenet king.
What an epic this book is! If you’re looking for just one novel to read on the Wars of the Roses, I highly recommend this one.