See Anne Easter Smith's 10 Books to Read on 15th Century England, and browse through dozens more expert reading lists from your favorite authors in Grownup School.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Inspired by the historical record of Richard III's bastard children, Smith invents a spirited, "tawny-eyed" mistress for the 15th-century king in her sweeping debut. Kate Bywood is plucked from her peasant life at the age of 11 to join the household of her mother's noble cousins, the Hautes, as companion to her timid cousin, Anne. A brief, unwilling marriage to an older, wealthy merchant leaves Kate a young widow with a considerable fortune. A second marriage to George, an opportunistic Haute cousin who prefers the stable boy to Kate, leaves her yearning for love. In a chance encounter, she meets Richard of Gloucester, and the ensuing secret romance is filled with the passion and intimacy her marriage lacks. George is killed during an attack in the forest, and Kate bears Richard three children. The narrative flies when the lovers are together, but once Richard marries Anne Neville, and he and Kate are separated for long stretches, the story loses its spark. Readers hungry primarily for romance may also tire of Smith's details about the complicated internecine rebellions and rivalries among pretenders to the throne. Nevertheless, this story fills in some historical gaps and conjures a winning heroine. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Into the crowded ring of fictional treatments of fifteenth-century English royal court life, rife with strife, this first novelist tosses her colorful hat. From the start, given the novel's length, it is apparent that a copious amount of research has been done. The question is, then, for the first-time historical novelist, has it been done smoothly? What Smith accomplishes with elan is a very credible biographical novel about a woman whose true identity has never been known. Smith creates Kate Haute as the mother of the illegitimate children of the infamous King Richard III, who is reputed to have had his nephew, the boy-king Edward V, and the king's little brother murdered when Richard usurped the throne. Fans of historical fiction will little note nor at all care that this is the author's first novel. Smith's involved plot correlates well with the convoluted politics of the time. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
See all Editorial Reviews
Inspired by the historical record of Richard III's bastard children, Smith invents a spirited, "tawny-eyed" mistress for the 15th-century king in her sweeping debut. Kate Bywood is plucked from her peasant life at the age of 11 to join the household of her mother's noble cousins, the Hautes, as companion to her timid cousin, Anne. A brief, unwilling marriage to an older, wealthy merchant leaves Kate a young widow with a considerable fortune. A second marriage to George, an opportunistic Haute cousin who prefers the stable boy to Kate, leaves her yearning for love. In a chance encounter, she meets Richard of Gloucester, and the ensuing secret romance is filled with the passion and intimacy her marriage lacks. George is killed during an attack in the forest, and Kate bears Richard three children. The narrative flies when the lovers are together, but once Richard marries Anne Neville, and he and Kate are separated for long stretches, the story loses its spark. Readers hungry primarily for romance may also tire of Smith's details about the complicated internecine rebellions and rivalries among pretenders to the throne. Nevertheless, this story fills in some historical gaps and conjures a winning heroine. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Into the crowded ring of fictional treatments of fifteenth-century English royal court life, rife with strife, this first novelist tosses her colorful hat. From the start, given the novel's length, it is apparent that a copious amount of research has been done. The question is, then, for the first-time historical novelist, has it been done smoothly? What Smith accomplishes with elan is a very credible biographical novel about a woman whose true identity has never been known. Smith creates Kate Haute as the mother of the illegitimate children of the infamous King Richard III, who is reputed to have had his nephew, the boy-king Edward V, and the king's little brother murdered when Richard usurped the throne. Fans of historical fiction will little note nor at all care that this is the author's first novel. Smith's involved plot correlates well with the convoluted politics of the time. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
See all Editorial Reviews
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