Customer Reviews

We Speak No Treason

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Fortunately, I didn't buy this book but read it on loan from the library. I thought it would be primarily about Richard III, however, it seems to be more about the historical fictional characters that are supposed to be telling his story. They talk about thier own experiences much more than we hear about Richard's. Very sad, as this could have been an excellent novel about him. The fictional characters POVs touch very little on Richard but when they do they are very insightful and at times touching. The day-to-day living descriptions of England are very realistic and not always rendered as fairy-tale like conditions even for the nobility.

If you want to read excellent historical fiction about Richard III try Sharon Kay Penman's "The Sunne In Splendour", "Treason" by Meredith Whitford, or even "Desire The Kingdom" by Paula Simonds Zabka. Any of those novels far surpasses the content and readability of "We Speak No Treason."

I do have a soul when it comes to reading historical fiction, just much better taste. If you really want to struggle through 576 pages, find it at the library and read it.

Rosemary Hawley Jarman's masterpiece is "We Speak No Treason". This book is undoubtedly one of the best fictional accounts of the controversial King Richard III ever written. The characterizations are superb,and the protagonists' intertwining stories each offer different facets of a complex story which combine to round out the plot from many points of view. The fictional and non-fictional characters blend seamlessly and believably.Ms. Jarman's knack for historical detail and her well-developed and fascinating storylines result in a book that is impossible to put down and one that leaves the reader feeling as if he or she has lived in the Middle Ages ! I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in English History, The Wars of the Roses,and especially King Richard III. A word of warning to those who accept Shakespeare's villainous portrayal of Richard III: This book may very well change your mind!

I recently re-read my old copy of this book, mainly because I was amazed at some of the negative reviews here on Amazon. I wondered if the book was really not as good as I remembered.
Well - I still love it. The writing is poetic and moving and sad, and I personally thought the device of using different narrators to tell Richard's story made the book much better than Penman's "The Sunne in Splendour", which I found MUCH too wordy.
This is a novel, and one writer's personal interpretation of one man's life. It's not meant to be history for historians.
If anyone were to ask me about what to read concerning Richard, I'd tell them to read the Shakespeare play first, and then the Charles Ross biography, and then Tey's "The Daughter of Time", and then Costain's "The Last Plantagenets", and then this book. You'll then have a full circle of opinion, but I think that this book will be the one you remember.

To write Sharon Penman's "The Sunne in Splendour" and this book in the same sentence is almost unbearable, not that i was truthfully expecting Speak No Treason to be of the same caliber. I really didn't like anything about the book, and I didn't like the main characters, especially the maiden. I thought a lot of that was just silly. I wish I could say something nice, after reading all the positive reviews that led me to search for it, but I was unable to even finish it. It was just boring.

If you're looking for a novel ABOUT Richard III, then prepare to be underwhelmed. Richard isn't a major player here - he is the sun around which everything else turns, but this book isn't about him, but the various satellites in his orbit.

This book wasn't my cup of tea, despite having read and enjoyed many Victorian novels that are known for long-winded and florid prose. However, Jarman seemed to take it to another level, at times so purple and worshipful that I could almost hear her breathlessly dictating it and bringing a kerchief to her flushed cheek. The chapter "The Maiden" is dangerously on the border of self-insert fantasy, if not gleefully over it. I suppose I should be grateful that at the time she wrote it, full-fledged sex hadn't invaded historical fiction. Had it been more intimate, the book could have turned into fluffy slush like Anne Smith's "A Rose For the Crown."

Come armed with knowledge of the Houses of York and Lancaster, because Jarman doesn't do a thorough job of acquainting the reader with the various historical figures and the family tree in the front of the book only goes so far. If you've read Penman's "Sunne in Splendour" you should be fine, but having read Penman, be prepared to have this book not measure up in terms of Richard-saturation or straightforward storytelling & characterization.

I'd put this book several notches below Penman, but FAR above Sandra Worth's simplistic, boring trilogy.

I kept reading rave reviews about this book (on other sites) and finally decided to buy it--ugh! I can't believe I searched and searched for a copy and was thrilled when I found one. I'm of an age to remember all of the Yucky women's magazines of the 60's--this novel reads like some of the short stories I remember all too well in those. It's written in sentimentally lurid, gushing, florid prose. I think the scenario is quite clever, but couldn't get past the style to appreciate it fully.

This book reads like the gorgeous, fevered dream of someone who really lived in Richard's time. Although I knew Richard's story already, I was cared so much for the characters that I was literally shaking as I approached the end of this book. I can't recommend it highly enough.

I can't say enough about this amazing novel. So revisionist in its telling of the story of Richard III, this novel will forever change the way you look at historical fact and the shaping of historical prejudices (thank you very much, Thomas More). Sensible brother of King Edward and rapturous lover of Anne, Richard Plantagenet comes off as potentially the greatest ruler of Britain, a mind-spinningly different portrait of the humpless hunchback pilloried by Shakespeare. Rosemary Hawley Jarman catapulted to the top of my list of favorite authors after I read this matchless book.

I SIMPLY HAD TO JUMP TO THE DEFENSE OF THIS BEAUTIFUL NOVEL.ICAN'T BELIEVE ANYONE COULD FAIL TO LOVE IT. THE CHARACTERS ARE EVEN MORE REAL TO ME THEN PENMAN'S.I THOUGHT THE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS WERE AS WONDERFUL AS THE REAL ONES.I HAD A CRUSH ON BOTH RICHARD AND THE MYSTERIOUS "MAN OF KEEN SIGHT."I READ THIS BOOK SEVERAL TIMES AND HAVE NEVER FAILED TO CRY TEARS.I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY MS. JARMIN'S BOOKS COULD BE ALLOWED TO GO OUT OF PRINT WHEN THERE ARE SO MANY PATHETIC SO-CALLED HISTORICAL NOVELS THAT ARE NO BETTER THAN FIRE PLACE KINDLING IN MY OPINIO,I'LL NEVER UNDERSTAND.FOR THE LOVE OF LITERATURE, MS.JARMIN,PLEASE WRITE!ATLEAST PUBLISH THIS AGAIN.THIS BOOK MADE ME A RICHARD III FAN.READ IT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS OUT ON A MASTERPIECE!

I bought this book on the recommendation of another ... reviewer--a mistake. This is NOT a great book; it's OK--it's actually a bit strange in places (so fictionalized as to be unrecognizable). The idea is a clever one: create 4 non-historical characters who knew Richard and present their point of view of him, but so much other "stuff" about these 4 unbelievable non-historical characters intrudes that you feel bereft: Richard is almost always in the background, filtered through the stories of people you'll find it hard to care about. The style is flamboyant and cloying at times (and "feels" old-fashioned). It's also not terribly accurate historically (although it never claims to be anything but fiction--yet one yearns for a bit more reality and a bit less fiction!). Even if you're a die-hard R3 fan, you might want to pass on this one. Read (or re-read) Sharon Penman's "The Sunne in Splendour" instead!!!