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#BookReview ‘Broken Faith’ by Toby Clements #historical

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Broken Faith, second in the Kingmaker series by Toby Clements, takes place in the lull after the 1461 battle of Towton and 1464 when Edward IV marries Elizabeth Woodville. The history of these intervening years is subject to much confusion, guesswork and mystery, wonderful territory for an imaginative novelist. Clements gives Katherine and Thomas, who we first met in Winter Pilgrims, a secret which if revealed will change the succession to the throne of England. Exactly what the Yorkists and Lancastrians are fighting about. Toby ClementsThe battles are bloodthirsty, the battlefield surgery by Kit [aka Katherine in disguise] is gruesome but surprisingly modernistic, the betrayals of self-seeking lords are countless and amongst it all shine the people of genuine morals, driven by belief in what is right, with humble and generous natures. That brave and endearing pair Thomas and Kit are separated, not sure if the other is alive, and forced to do what is necessary to survive. Life in the 15th century was tough enough without living through war, Clements describes the life of a common soldier, the weapons, the methods of fighting, the battle tactics, the food, the smells. Although the detail is fascinating, Clements doesn’t leave the story languishing. Thomas and Katherine move north from one castle to another, one battle to another, as soldiers run from the battlefield and lords turn their coats. Thomas and Katherine though cannot turn back until a lost book is found and a lord is killed.
Mostly set in the north, while reading the northern scenes I pictured the Northumbrian castles of Alnwick and Bamburgh which makes the adventure come alive. An enthralling chapter in this War of the Roses story which at times, like the real history, is a tad confusing. Just go with the flow and enjoy it!
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Here’s my review of the first in the series, WINTER PILGRIMS.

If you like this, try:-
‘Cecily’ by Annie Garthwaite
‘The Pillars of the Earth’ by Ken Follett
‘Gone are the Leaves’ by Anne Donovan

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#BookReview ‘Winter Pilgrims’ by Toby Clements #historical

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This is the first of a four-book series about the Wars of the Roses. Toby Clements is a new author for me, I admit to picking up the paperback in a bookshop when browsing and am happy to find an unknown historical author to explore. Winter Pilgrims is the first of the four novels, telling the well-documented story of the Lancaster versus York wars through the eyes of two fictional people on the edge of the action. Toby Clements

In February 1460, at a priory in Lincoln, two people flee from marauding soldiers. Despite living yards apart in the same priory Brother Thomas and Sister Katherine have never met until this morning, their previously segregated lives are to be entwined as they escape danger only to encounter new threats. And some old ones.

At first I worried that the plot was moving slowly and felt occasionally drowned by detail, but I stuck with it and was rewarded. By the end – and it’s a long book, the paperback is 560 pages – I wanted to starting reading the second novel straight away. Clements excels at historical detail, particularly soldiers and fight scenes, living conditions and basic human detail. Both characters are conflicted by their religious backgrounds, the things they must do to survive frequently challenge their faith. Life in the real world is brutal, dirty, dangerous and poor. Neither have the personalities of victims. Thomas trains as an archer, Katherine – adopting the male persona as Kit – proves to be an adept surgeon.

Making snap decisions takes them to unknown places with sometimes reliable, sometimes untrustworthy people. Along the way they become involved in some of the key battles of the year as their story is set within the broader framework of civil war. Over the years I have read a lot about the Wars of the Roses due to an early fascination via Shakespeare, but still find it disorientating and so was disappointed with the map and superficial character list. But the story of Thomas and Katherine kept me turning the pages late at night, just one more chapter.

A good book to lose yourself in.
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If you like this, try:-
‘The Evening and the Morning’ by Ken Follett
‘The Lady of the Rivers’ by Philippa Gregory
‘The Burning Chambers’ by Kate Mosse

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#BookReview ‘Cecily’ by @anniegarthwaite #historical

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Cecily by Annie Garthwaite was a gradual falling-in-love process for me as I became so immersed in the story and fell in fascination with the character of Cecily Neville. What a wonderful fictionalised account of the Duchess of York it is. Mother of two kings, equal partner to her husband Richard, mother, politician, diplomat, kingmaker. Annie Garthwaite

I started knowing nothing more of her than that she was mother to both Edward IV and Richard III. Garthwaite paces herself in the telling of Cecily’s story and there were times when the [necessary] exposition of England’s 15th century politics and the seemingly endless battles and arguments of the Wars of the Roses, seemed to pause the narrative. But as the pages turn, the tension builds as you wonder how the family will survive. The politics and family connections of the time were intricately linked and can be confusing, so the exposition is a necessary part of the novel.

Cecily is a gift of a character who was somehow overlooked in the history books, as Garthwaite explains in her afterword, ‘Writing Cecily’. “Cecily lived through eighty years of tumultuous history, never far from the beating heart of power. She mothered kings, created a dynasty, brought her family through civil war…. Last woman standing.”

This does not feel like a debut novel. Cecily comes alive off the page and it’s clear that Garthwaite lived and breathed in Cecily’s shoes. She creates a modern woman, a strong woman in a man’s world which, given Cecily’s history, she must have been to survive. This is an epic story starting in 1431 as the teenage Cecily watches as Joan of Arc burns at the stake, ending with the coronation of her eldest son as King Edward IV. On the way, family alliances are sundered, friends become traitors, battles are won and lost and Cecily gives birth to thirteen children. Through it all, she believes her husband has a stronger claim to the throne than the current king, Henry VI. The tension between husband and wife ebbs and flows throughout the years as Cecily encourages and pushes Richard to claim his rightful place.

There are so many twists, betrayals, secrets and threats that I found myself just reading one more page, one more chapter, even as my eyes closed late at night. I did not want this book to end.

And what a stunning cover!
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If you like this, try:-
‘Orphans of the Carnival’ by Carol Birch
‘Dangerous Women’ by Hope Adams
‘Rush Oh!’ by Shirley Barrett

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
CECILY by @anniegarthwaite #bookreview https://wp.me/p5gEM4-5it via @SandraDanby

Book review: The Lady of the Rivers

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Philippa GregoryYet again, Philippa Gregory brings history alive. Her story of Jacquetta of Luxembourg, from her first encounter with Joan of Arc, kept me riveted. She is so attuned to the period and the language that her writing is seamless. At no point does the research show itself. And there is a lot of research, Gregory herself admits she does four months of solid research before starting to write. She also says that she often finds the idea for a different novel when she is researching another.

It may seem to the outsider that Gregory re-invents the same story – ‘what another Tudor woman?’ But this could not be further from the truth. Witchcraft is an intriguing story thread throughout this book, something introduced in The White Queen about Jacquetta’s daughter Elizabeth Woodville. Women are obliged to hide their knowledge and skills in order to survive, knowledge that today we would think of as alternative medicine and gardening by the phases of the moon. My knowledge of the period, the Wars of the Roses, the various kings and factions, is definitely improving though I was concerned that the reverse-telling of the Cousins’ War series would eliminate some of the tension. After all we know the fate of many of the characters, but her plotting and the scheming of the characters kept me reading.

I do think, though, that the titles and cover design is getting a little repetitive and lends confusion. I have been given duplicate copies as gifts, because of confusion between The Red Queen and The White Queen.

If you like this, try:-
‘Dark Aemilia’ by Sally O’Reilly
‘Wolf Hall’ by Hilary Mantel
‘Kings and Queens’ by Terry Tyler

‘The Lady of the Rivers’ by Philippa Gregory [UK: Simon & Schuster]

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
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Book review: ‘The Lady of the Rivers’

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philippa gregory - the lady of the rivers 10-6-13Yet again, Philippa Gregory brings history alive. Her story of Jacquetta of Luxembourg, from her first encounter with Joan of Arc, kept me riveted. She is so attuned to the period and the language that her writing is seamless. At no point does the research show itself. And there is a lot of research, Gregory herself admits she does four months of solid research before starting to write. She also says that she often finds the idea for a different novel when she is researching another.

It may seem to the outsider that Gregory re-invents the same story – ‘what another Tudor woman?’ But this could not be further from the truth. Witchcraft is an intriguing story thread throughout this book, something introduced in The White Queen about Jacquetta’s daughter Elizabeth Woodville. Women are obliged to hide their knowledge and skills in order to survive, knowledge that today we would think of as alternative medicine and gardening by the phases of the moon. My knowledge of the period, the Wars of the Roses, the various kings and factions, is definitely improving though I was concerned that the reverse-telling of the Cousins’ War series would eliminate some of the tension. After all we know the fate of many of the characters, but her plotting and the scheming of the characters kept me reading.

I do think, though, that the titles and cover design is getting a little repetitive and lends confusion. I have been given duplicate copies as gifts, because of confusion between The Red Queen and The White Queen.
‘The Lady of the Rivers’ by Philippa Gregory