would like to thank netgalley and Harper Collins for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review,
I loved that recent archaeological finds have been used to inform the direction of the story, It's a complicated time period to put into fiction, and I loved that the author has thoroughly researched and kept up to date with research, I enjoyed the description of the court of the duke of Brittany, and I enjoyed some insight into the life of the principal female characters, As a whole though, not really a book for me, Hard going in places. A brutal editor could work wonders, Thanks to NetGalley and to Harper Collins UK for providing me an ARC copy of this novel that I freely chose to review,
I must start by saying that although Ive been reading more historical fiction recently, I am not an expert on the subject, and I know a bit more about other historical periods than about the rise to power of Henry VII of England.
I was familiar with the bare facts and, like many people, knew of Richard III through Shakespeares play, So, please take my comments about historical accuracy with a pinch of salt I might be totally wrong!,
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, I had not read any of Joanna Hicksons previous books but thought this would be an opportunity to familiarise myself with the period and to discover her writing, The book follows the adventures of Henry Tudor, whom we meet as a youth, as he escapes England with his uncle Jasper Owen, and also his mothers, Lady Margaret Beaufort, who is left in the unenviable position of being widowed and a known supporter of the losing side the House of Lancaster in the new court of Edward IV of the House of York.
The chapters, written in first person from the points of view of the two protagonists, alternate as required by the action at times we might have several chapters from Margarets point of view, and towards the end, when Henry returns to England, while his mother is confined to her husbands household, we have several from his point of view, and we also have access to their epistolary interaction as many years passed before they set eyes on each other.
To begin with I was overwhelmed by the large cast of characters, some with pretty complex titles and similar names, but the book offers a Family Tree and a Map at the beginning, that allow us to follow some of the intricacies of the relationships and to better understand the movements of the characters, and a glossary at the end, that includes definitions of some of the historical terms in use and others relevant to the story some French and Welsh words that are introduced in the action.
Those who access the story in ebook format should be able to find most of the terms in the dictionary included with the ereader, Do not be put off by talk of historical terms, as the language used in the story, although not jarringly modern or inadequate to the times, is easy to follow, flows well and feels completely natural to the setting and the situation.
As for the characters I liked Margaret from the very beginning, Even though her circumstances are miles and centuries apart from most of us, it is easy to empathise with a woman who has lost her husband, is separated from her son, and has to make difficult decisions in order to survive and to further the cause of her son.
She is intelligent, astute, determined, but also caring, generous, and kindhearted, She takes on the children of noblemen and women who have lost their lives in the war or fallen on hard times perhaps as a way of compensating for the loss of her son, and she is presented as a woman particularly attuned to the difficulties and tragedies other women are faced with.
She is a staunch supporter of her son, schemes and puts herself at great risk, at times, to try and further his cause,
I found the early chapters from Henrys point of view, less interesting, Although he finds himself in dire situations, he is too young to fully understand what is happening, and he gets sidetracked at times and behaves like a boy his age, no matter what fate might have in store for him.
This is as it should be and shows the skill of the writer, who presents Henry as somebody aware of his position but also a young boy with much to learn, not only about becoming a king but also about life in general.
The book is, in part, his comingofage story including a romance, which the author explains in her note at the end, she made up, but as he grows, he comes into his own and ends up being the one to drive the action.
Whatever our opinion of the historical events of the time, his life in exile, always at risk of assassination due to his bloodline, the early loss of his father and the forced separation from his mother make him another character easy to side with.
The fact that we see the story from his point of view, and have no insight into Richard III or his actions other than thirdhand through comments and gossip from others adds to our enjoyment of the story as it is told, although I found that, like Margaret, we come to appreciate some of the members of the York House Edward IV, his wife, and his daughter, Elizabeth of York and, like the country, we see that politics and alliances can be difficult to fathom and understand without full knowledge of the circumstances.
There are enigmatic characters Margarets husband, Lord Stanley, is fascinating and plays his cards very well, although he is not heroic in the standard sense, and the novel offers us a good sense of the complexity of the historical period, of what passed for diplomacy at the time that might include marrying somebody to further ones claims to land, power, and titles, and of how easily somebodys luck can turn.
Survival was complicated in such a period, no matter who you were in fact, it might be more difficult if you were of royal blood, and knowing how to present yourself and who to choose as your ally could be and often was a matter of life or death.
The author includes recent discoveries like Richard IIIs body being unearthed from a Leicesters car park and research to bring to life Bosworth Battle or Redemore Battle, if we were trying to be more precise.
The scene is set in detail and she manages to convey the brutality of it and the tactical elements, Richard IIIs determination also comes through, and no matter what we might think of him as a person, it seems he was a brave and determined fighter,
The ending, which is satisfying of course, not surprising, leaves us with Henry waiting to be crowned and talking about his marriage, after having finally been reunited with his mother.
In her note, the author tells us she plans more books with Margaret as a character, and she explains her firsthand research including visiting some of the Bretton and French castles where Henry spent his youth, and the Battle of Bosworth Heritage site, which sounds like a must for anybody interested in the topic, and the books and sources she has accessed.
She also explains which liberties she took with the story and how much she made up very little is known of Henrys life in France, and it did not sound excessive, considering this is not intended as a history book but as a novel.
In sum, I enjoyed learning more about this historical period I felt the firstperson narration made it easier to get invested in the fates of the characters and enjoyed the mixture of politics and action.
I recommend it to people interested in this historical period, lovers of historical fiction and all things Tudor, and to fans of the author, I will keep my eye on future releases and will check her other books,
Such a fine book! I loved every word of itand it helped to know a bit about the War of the Roses going into the book, This one is from the pov of young Henry Tudor and his mother, Margaret Beaufort, who has one goal in life: to see her "exiled" son for fourteen years return to England as Henry VII.
After crushing the "usurper," Richard III, of course, Nice to have this from Henry and Margaret's perspective, as most seem to settle on Edward IV and Richard III and their brother, George, Not to mention the two young princes in the tower, Here, the boys' disappearance/deaths at the hands of their uncle Richard contribute to English support for Henry to claim the throne, I purchased this after reading a wonderful Historical Novel Society review and seeing the setting is, since my workinprogress isItaly, and I love comparative history, Lorenzo de' Medici "loaned" Edward IV funds the Medici Bank never got back, I've always been a big reader of books written in the Tudor Era but I've only read a couple about Henry VII, as most are about Henry VIII, his wives and his mistresses.
This book starts with the young Henry Tudor, one of the remaining potential claimants to the Throne of England for the Lancaster faction, fleeing the army of York King Edward IV, who want to wipe out the line of Royal blood that threaten Edward's position.
Henry is smuggled out of England and a storm at sea lands him in Brittany with his uncle Jasper Tudor, Jasper is determined to protect Henry and prepare him for potential invasion and rule in England, while watching out for enemy attacks and fighting
to keep them safe and protected by their host.
The book looks at the story of Henry's forced exile through his own eyes, It covers being moved around Brittany under the protection of the Brittany leader, the boredom of isolation, and the fear of the ever changing political landscape in England and France, which regularly affects his personal safety.
I liked the dramatic chapters that occured whenever the Brittany leader took ill, as his advisors then seemed ready to sell Henry to King Edward for various prizes, only to be thwarted when he recovered from the illness.
There were attempts to snatch Henry or have him transferred to France and it was only years later that France became a better option for Henry to flee to,
I liked the interaction with Henry and Jasper, and Henry's relationship with his companion Davey, his best friend and fiercest defender, To be honest I wasn't that bothered one way or the other about the invented romance for Henry and his child from the union, We know so little of Henry's life in exile that we assume he did have relationships of some kind over the years, so a fictional one didn't bother me, I was more interested in the changing nature of the proposed union with King Edward's daughter as a sub plot which changed with each development at the English Court,
The more interesting view in this story were the chapters following Henry's mother Margaret as she tries to stay safe in King Edward's Court and plot a way to send hope, money and support to her son while treading a fine line between mother to a rebel King and traitor to the King of England.
I loved her complex relationships with King Edward's Queen Elizabeth, and how both women sought to manipulate the King to get what they wanted, Margaret's fight to try and get her son home either to live as a noble in safety or as the new King was fascinating, I liked her plotting and the way that the story was moved forward in stages by the use of letters between mother and son, which allowed weeks or months of developments to be given to the reader without turning the book into a George RR Martin epic!
Margaret's clever plotting kept her safe at a time when being part of the House of Lancaster was dangerous.
The interesting wedded life with Lord Stanely, a man determined to remain as neutral as possible in the Wars, was part of what made her chapters really stand out, He was trying to keep his wife on the right side of the Yorkist King while assisting her to help her Lancaster born son, and trying not to be executed for treason in the process.
He was a great character and the fact that he did manage to keep his head says a lot about his diplomacy skills!
The book got better as the invasion grew nearer.
The death of King Edward, the fleeing of his Queen and her children into exile, their sons disinherited and vanishing in the Tower Of London feared murdered by his power hungry younger brother who becomes King Richard III.
. . these are all historical events that have always fascinated me and it was fun to get a look at these key moments through the eyes of another author, I have never been sure about the guilt of Richard III in the murder of the Princes in the Tower but we are never going to know the truth so I like reading different views about it.
I very much enjoyed the book overall and I would love to see the author tackle the trials of King Henry VII and his children, There doesn't seem to be a follow up which is a bit of a shame, I'm not sure if I'll read more by the author, purely because it is the Tudor period that really holds my interest but I certainly liked her writing style and storytelling.
I absolutely love reading historical novels, especially about the Tudor period so I was excited to find this book covering a part of the Tudor period that I havent read much about.
Based on the time Henry VII was in hiding in Brittany and France from the age ofyears until his return to England at the Battle of Bodsworth, Chapters were split between him and his mother Margaret who was fighting for her son to be able to return home to her,
It was interesting to hear what the Young Harri as he was known in his youth endured to be able to become the man and leader that we are more familiar with.
I found this a very enjoyable read, Historically accurate. This is the second Joanna Hickson book Ive read and in both Ive found the characters rather bland and one dimensional, somehow superficial and with a lack of nuance, I cant engage with them in the way that I do with Sharon Penmans, Alison Weirs or Elizabeth Chadwicks characters, I skim read the lastpages or so and dont think Ill be reading another Joanna Hickson, I enjoyed this book, but I did find it hardgoing in places, as it seemed to be quite repetitive in places so I struggled to get through those bits.
However, overall, it was a very engaging read and made me think about things that I hadnt considered before, like what life was like for English exiles in France in the sixteenth century.
I thought that this book looked interesting because it focused on the lesserknown period of Henry VIIs life his time in exile in Brittany and France before he became king.
I thought that the portrayal of Henry VII was particularly engrossing because it is so different to the way he is typically portrayed as a miserly and miserable old man Hickson makes him handsome, exciting, and a bit of a daredevil, in ways which I didnt expect.
Genre Historical
Characters Henry VII / Margaret Beaufort / Richard III / Thomas Stanley / William Stanley / Davy Owen / Catherine de Belleville / Roland de Belleville / Thomas Grey Marquis of Dorset / Elizabeth Woodville / Anne Neville / Elizabeth of York
Setting London amp Lathom England and Brittany France
Series N/A
Recommend Yes
Rating/
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