Customer Reviews

A Rose for the Crown: A Novel

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I must admit, I had high hopes for this novel. I love an intelligent historical romance, and this looked like it would be right up my alley.

Anne Easter Smith focuses her story on a character who is mostly fictional--her name is in the historical record but it's not clear what for. Smith theorizes that, given Richard III's kindness toward his illegitimate children, perhaps they were all the offspring of one beloved mistress. She surmises that this obscure name may belong to this mistress, and uses the scant historical record as the bones of the story she fleshes out here.

Kate Haute, Smith's protagonist, is that mistress. We follow her through two disastrous marriages and into her relationship with Richard, who will later become king. The spotlight really is on Kate, not on the politics of the day; you'll read a great deal about Kate's mundane life. When the politics begin to appear more heavily in the story, they've perhaps been absent too long. Suddenly the author is trying to cram years of background into a few pages to catch the reader up. It might have worked better to introduce more of the politics into Kate's conversations with Richard and other characters, such as Jack Howard. It's not that I didn't know what was going on--I'm relatively familiar with the history--it's just that it clunked a bit.

Where the story really failed to engage me, though, was in the character department. We'll start with Richard. I understand that Smith was trying to write a sympathetic Richard, but her portrayal is over-the-top perfect. I prefer the more conflicted, nuanced version written by Sharon Kay Penman in _The Sunne in Splendour_, warts and all.

Then we have Kate. Kate is a Mary Sue. Every man falls to his knees at the sight of her beauty, except the gay character. Everyone remarks at every turn upon Kate's independent spirit. She doesn't make mistakes much. She, like Richard, is just a bit too much. In addition, I'm not sure I've ever seen a more baby-obsessed character, which I just had trouble relating to. I know there was a lot of emphasis on childbearing in that time period, but it wasn't so much a sentimental thing as it is today.

The way Kate deals with her third child is confusing and doesn't quite seem in-character; her actions feel forced, as though the author was trying too hard to come up with a way that this child, historically speaking, could have been Kate's offspring.

Then we have Anne Neville, who is never really consistent--good-hearted or rude and snobbish?

I'm sounding like I didn't like the book; that's not true at all. I was pretty engrossed in it while it lasted. It's not _The Sunne in Splendour_--but few books are. You might want to give this one a try, if you go in knowing that the turbulent Wars of the Roses are fairly peripheral to the story.

At first while reading this book I thought I must have read it earlier so much of it felt familiar. In the beginning I thought that was because the main character in this book, Kate, is almost a carbon copy of Anne from Posie Graeme-Evans Anne series. But no, that wasn't it. Then I knew what it was.

You see, I used to write fan-fiction, stories that people wrote about their favorite TV show or movie or book, generally with the fan inserted into it. In this genera the "Mary-sue" character-a perfect person-pops up a lot. But there is one Mary-sue that pops up more than the others. This is the "Desirable Red head." She is small, slender, red haired and fantastically desirable to all people even if she looks like she's about twelve. She can also heal people amazingly.

That is the main character of this book, Kate. Physically she is exactly like the main character, Anne, from Posie Graeme-Evans' novels, and has the same healing skills (she also hooks up with a royal, just like Anne did.) She is the lover of Richard III, and the book is about her love affair and life with him. I suspect that "Kate" is just the body that Anne Easter Smith put her fantasy love for Richard into. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but this novel reads like well written fan-fiction.

This book isn't bad really-it's more that it's very predictable. There's a certain way that historical novels like this one go. The lovers have bad love lives before meeting each other. One of them (usually the woman) will be from a disadvantaged background and thus be refreshingly earthy. That one will have rose to riches in a way that made her spunky and cute, but tough. Both will be essentially virgins the first time they have sex and they will not only fall instantly in love but have a baby immediately. Eventually the noble one of them will have to marry and thus they will be parted as lovers (the married one will be far too religious to cheat on his wife) and their lives will end tragically apart. This novel is that to a T.

If the rest of the book was better written that might be forgiven, but its really not. The dialog is stilted (people always go "woe is me" when something bad happens) and there is absolutely no use of the setting (wonderful England!) None of the characters are fully fleshed out and their actions make little sense. Kate's cousin in law, Elinor, decides to make Kate rue the day she came to live with her just because Kate is prettier than her daughter! If the character isn't a Mary sue than they are either all evil, or all good and quite jolly. The central theme in this book, loyalty, is introduced when Kate's father give her a lecture on it including a definition of the word. To be less subtle would have been impossible. And the romance is...unromantic. I still don't understand why they loved each other-they just seem to after having talked for about five minutes.

I've read a lot of books like this one. This one is better than most, because the woman in it was real (if nothing is known about her, including no evidence pointing to her being Richard's mistress) it does a fine job of describing the war of the roses and the whole Lancaster/York fight. Not knowing much about the period I was a little puzzled because in this book Richard can do no wrong. I know that he's a fairly controversial topic for historians, but didn't he do something bad? This book provided no alternative viewpoint and parts felt like it was written by Richard's publicist! Of course, the author does belong to the Richard III society, which battles to clear his name, so that makes sense.

In the end I don't know what to say. This is not a bad book by any means, its just not original or historical enough for me. I will say that this book has made me want to learn more about Richard III. For the money this book costs you should by a history book, or one of the more "historical" fiction versions of Richard's life. This one feels a little bit too much like the author's fantasy of her love affair with Richard III.

A Rose for the Crown begins with Kate Bywood as a young, outspoken girl who attracts the attention of a well-off relative and is taken into his home as a companion for his mousy daughter. Through many twists and turns, young Kate is married twice and becomes friends with Margaret and John Howard, later to be the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk. Through them, she is introduced to Richard of Gloucester, the future King Richard the Third. A love affair ensues that brings Kate into the circles of royalty and intrigue and ultimately heartbreak.

I wasn't sure at first if I was going to like this novel, as it spends a great deal of time establishing Kate's early life before she meets Richard. In fact, much of that could have been cut in order to get to the heart of the story, the relationship between Kate and Richard. It is from this point that the story takes off and doesn't let go. The author spent a lot of time researching her subjects and is able to seamlessly weave historical characters and situations into her fabricated world. While both Richard and Kate are very young at the time of their relationship, Smith brings them to life and makes us ache with longing for them to remain together. Smith has accomplished that rarest of tasks: she has taken the known facts and embellished them into a believable, tantalizing tale. I especially appreciated her author's notes at the end that established how she obtained her material and why she developed the story as she did.

While a bit slow in the beginning, this book is a wonderful tale of love and intrigue. The author's style developed substantially over the course of the book and she did a fine job of creating the tale of Richard and the mother of his bastard children. Recommended reading for those who enjoy historical fiction.

In 1459 near Kent, eleven years old Kate Bywood works on the family farm until her mother's wealthier and connected kin, Lord Richard Haute over the objections of his wife Eleanor, takes his plucky niece to become companion to his reticent daughter Anne. A few years later Kate is forced to marry an aging affluent merchant, but he dies not long afterward leaving her rich. Though wealthy, she is forced into a second marriage this time to George Haute, Richard's cousin, who wants to control her money, but not her body as he prefers young boys. Kate yearns for love, but feels trapped by society to ever find such.

That is until Kate meets Richard of Gloucester, who reciprocates her deepest feelings. They begin a torrid tryst. When her second spouse dies mysteriously during an attack in the nearby forest, Kate openly turns to Richard. They have three out of wedlock children, but he has no freedom in spite of his lofty position that is if he wants his ambitions achieved of one day being the third Richard sitting on the throne. He marries Anne Neville.

This is a strong biographical fictionalized account of the life of Kate Bywood that provides a warmer loving side to Richard III through the tender eyes of his paramour. The tale is at its strongest when Kate and Richard are together, but though gaps exist when they are apart (reflecting real history) the look at the era is loaded with rebellions and pretenders to the throne; though some readers might find the specifics tedious. Kate is a fabulous heroine whose story makes for a fascinating indirect look at another perspective of Richard III.

Harriet Klausner

It is not a badly written book, it is very readable and a good fiction. However for historical fiction I prefer something a little more realistic. It is just a little to simplistic, at the end Kate even rides to where Richard final battle is to see him off, not particularly plausible. I suppose I just prefer my historical fiction to be a little more factual and this sort of missed that part. More of romantic than historical novel. Still, as not a bad read.

Usually when I spot a historical novel, if it's set in the medieval period, there's a good chance that I'll read it. If the author stays within the period setting, and does some research into the story, there's an equally good chance that I will like it. And Anne Easter Smith's _A Rose for the Crown_ nearly met this standard for me.

What I really enjoyed was that the author stayed within the bounds of life and daily living in late medieval England. The story starts out with a dreadfully foreshadowing chapter, but if that opening can be forgotten, the story of Kate Bywood is interesting, if a bit dragging in spots. Kate is a young child as the novel opens, but already responsible for her younger siblings, as her mother's hands are filled with yet another pregnancy, and her father works at keeping their farm going. The outside events of politics and the slowly brewing Wars of the Roses is far far away. But when a wealthy relative invites Kate to come and be a companion for his only daughter, Kate finds herself into a new world.

First at her wealthy relations, Kate is educated in the gentler arts, finding a talent for herbalism and music, and that life is composed of mostly happiness and sorrow. When a rich -- but old -- merchant offers to make her his wife, Kate rebels, wanting to instead marry the younger son of a landowner, a glorious, blond boy named George who is the embodiment of youthful knightliness. Kate bows to pressure, and when the merchant dies, she has the opportunity to win George Haute for her husband, and she thinks all of her dreams are to come true.

But George has a secret and all too soon, Kate realizes that her marriage is a sham to cover up George's dislike for women. Kate is furious and the rage between the couple turns ugly, especially when Kate is befriended by the local Howard family, and she meets a noble hunter astray in the woods. The hunter is none other than Richard of Gloucester, the youngest son of the Duke of York, and the pair soon fall in love.

If you know anything about English medieval history, it's a safe bet to say that Kate and Richard are doomed lovers. We see the War of the Roses unfold through the eyes of Kate, and more personal tragedy in the form of her loathely husband, and her own thwarted passion for Richard. Despite the fact that Kate is well-loved by nearly everyone, and at least the author did show her as being deceitful when necessary and with a vile temper at times, Kate is self-sacrificing to an embarassing degree. One other reviewer called her a Mary-Sue, and yes, she is. Men are smitten by her beauty, women by her goodness, and the characters that don't like her are disposed of in grim and grisly ways.

In other words, Kate is sickeningly _good._ So too is Richard, and the novel is more of an apologia for his time as King.

As for the style, the author slides into the trap of telling the reader what is happening, especially in the earlier sections of the novel, and her persistance in focusing on the more distasteful aspects of medieval life gets very annoying. But what saved the novel for me were indeed the details, and the amount of research and thought that went into the giving up the motives of the Wars of the Roses that crippled England for decades, and allowed the Tudor dynasty to finally take over as monarchs.
At over six hundred pages of story, the novel does drag in spots, (and why it got only four stars from me) and makes for tiresome reading in sections, especially when the author uses her 'explain' mode. To be honest, I still prefer Sharon Kay Penman's novel _The Sunne in Splendour_ if I want to read about Richard III, but this one does a nice job of trying to show the life of a royal mistress, and the choices that she must have made in a no-win life.

I think this could have been a much more enjoyable book had the editor had a stronger hand. It's very easy to read, not too many vocabulary words to look up, in fact I only have six written down and the book is over 600 pages.

Unfortunately, I thought the first 370 pages were pretty dull. Eventually the story does pick up and I did appreciate learning about Richard III and the turbulent politics of the times.

There are some seriously forced situations that made me roll my eyes and the real story is the love story between Richard of Gloucester and Kate Haute so it is a bit I hate to say it...chick lit.

I thought that Smith had a difficult time transitioning from one scene to another. I would have liked more details on setting so that I could picture the situation more realistically. Often times I was wondering where we were. I thought she needed to develop the characters better, they all seem rather flat except maybe John Howard. I also thought that she could have done a better job using the character's names and titles more consistently. Thank goodness for that family tree in the front or I would have been baffled for another hundred pages or so that George and Clarence were the same person. And I don't think that Anne Easter Smith does a very good job describing whose who in general, there are a lot of people mentioned and it became difficult for me to keep track of them. I need more that just a name mentioned once to remember someone. Someone better acquainted with this period in time would likely have done a better job than I did of keeping everyone straight.

I'm glad to be done, it was rather long as I said before, though only took six days to read, again it was an easy read. It did spark my curiosity to read more about Richard III and the princes in the tower. And I was moved by Kate Haute's choices for her children. Overall it wasn't a very satisfying read, I felt like the author bit off more than she could chew with this complex period in time.

I delved into this book with great expectations after reading reviews from other readers, but found myself wanting much more from the story as I read it.

It is true that Smith built her story around real people (with the exception of the main character, Kate Bywood, as she explains in her author's notes) and places, which is always a plus in historical fiction; however, the actual story seemed hollow.

Kate's character - an independent thinking red head (slightly stereotypical or borrowed from Elizabeth Chadwick?) - didn't seem real to me. Her acceptance of her 2nd husband's homosexuality & her accelerated rise into noble social circles in particular do not ring true of what we know of the time. Smith spends a significant amount of time writing about Kate's childhood and relationships with her servants and friends, rather than her relationship with Richard III (which is the topic which drew this reader to the story). That Kate and Richard love one and other is established quickly and without question. Fans of historical romances may miss traditional elements such as a drawn out courtship, development of sexual tension, or having the focus of the story be solely on our two subjects.

While the story is not a traditional 'historical romance,' it still leans more to the romantic side of fiction than historical. Readers hoping for in depth speculation or details to defend Richard's innocence in the taking of the crown and killing of his two nephews will be left wanting. Kate is rather detached from the court and politics of the time, and thus so are the readers of this story.

That said, novels portraying Richard III as innocent are few and far between. This story is decent hold-over material until the next one is published, and Smith does do a good job of transporting the reader to the 15th century in other ways.

I was just about to put the book down when the story actually started. The first third of the book, I guess, is simply background on the main character's life at the farm, and how she came to be a companion to her noble cousin, blah, blah, blah. If I wanted to read about farm life in the 15th century, I would have looked it up.

Once the story gets going, the Mary Sue character REALLY shows herself. Kate Haute is perfect. No, really. Everyone loves her, even the people who for whatever reason shouldn't. She behaves thoughtlessly with a friend? The friend is angry for three seconds, and then they are holding hands again. She does the same with a servant? The servant chalks it up to being a servant and moves on happily with serving her mistress with devotion. There were teensy bits of potential drama that I wanted to grab hold of with both hands, but in each and every case they petered out completely.

Add this to the equally perfect Richard, and we are beginning to get tired of the fantasy. As a fan of history I wanted to know more about the period (rather than being informed second or third hand as Kate finds out much after the events take place) and as a fan of romance I wanted some actual romance in the book. The ease that Richard sets Kate aside for the entire last third of the book and the annoying mooning that Kate does for the rest of the book left me more tired than fulfilled.

It was an interesting enough read because of the period that I finished it, but I am glad that it was a library book and not my own wasted money.

I gave this two stars instead of one because I did enjoy the first two parts. It lost me in the third. When the heroine gave herself to Richard and agreed that it was ok to break her married vows, but when he marries into a woman of "his station" it would not be ok for him. I say, No Deal. I decided to give the woman the benefit of the doubt, as she had been a strong, rather independent for the times, and outspoken gall up until this point. However, she proceeds to give Richard three sons, the last of which she throws away as not to harm his marriage to Anne. I would also like to add, she allowed her gay husband to smack her around a bit. I am truly not impressed. I like to read about strong, admirable woman and I found this woman horribly weak. My only other compliant is the peasant speak was a bit much. "I be here.. You be there.. I be sorry" are examples. It makes it a difficult read at times.