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 The first child of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, Elizabeth of York seems destined for greatness. She is the apple of her father’s eye, betrothed to the heir to the French throne, and loved by the people. When her father dies too young and Richard III takes the throne over her brother Edward, Elizabeth’s mother rushes the family into sanctuary. Increasingly, the family hears horrible things about Richard and fears for the worst. One night, however, Richard himself visits the sanctuary and everything changes. As history inexorably moves forward, changing lives all over England, Elizabeth well earns her reputation as selfless, generous, and noble.
I’m not sure how to review this book. Let me say first that I really enjoyed it and give you my historian’s opinion. Sandra Worth never goes outside of the facts; she fills in between the lines. With Elizabeth of York, there is quite a bit to fill in; she is so little known. In some ways, I’d call this a very romantic interpretation of the history, but I think that’s why many of us read historical fiction. I simply know too much about Richard III. Worth has definitely done her research, and I really appreciated her selected bibliography at the end, but I’m wondering why she didn’t include more of the modern histories on Edward IV and Richard III. Personally, I loved the idea that Perkin Warbeck was actually the younger of the two princes in the tower. So little has been done on that possibility and it’s an exciting question, if one we’ll never know the answer to. I too wonder why the bones found in the Tower haven’t been exhumed and analyzed in recent years. If they are the princes, then these questions would be conclusively answered.
Okay, now, as a book, how did it hold up? Well, I really liked it. I loved Elizabeth. She’s a great, strong, sympathetic character throughout. I knew what was going to happen, so I didn’t get caught up in the plot, but I think if I didn’t know the history I would have been. In any case, the book is well-written and easy to lose yourself in for a while. Something else I really liked was how well the author depicted the changes between the Plantagenet kings and the Tudors and the shift into the early modern period, which for me is marked by the growth in the king’s power and the lessening of the nobles’ power.
Overall, this is solid, entertaining historical fiction and I definitely recommend it.
Buy The King’s Daughter on Amazon.
First off, let me thank Meghan for hosting the second stop on my virtual book tour of The Textile Planet. The Textile Planet is a serialized novel published at BookViewCafe.com with one new episode going up every other Sunday. So far three episodes are available (http://tinyurl.com/5lbtqv).
BookViewCafe (BVC) itself is an interesting website in that it’s a cooperative run by twenty print published authors. We all have previously published novels, novellas, and short stories in the traditional book industry. BVC represents a way for each of us to try out Internet publishing models. The group includes such writers as Ursula K. Le Guin, Vonda N. Mcintyre, and Sarah Zettel. Needless to say, I feel quite honored to be a member.
Most of the work offered through BVC consists of out-of-print books, as-yet-unpublished stories, or work that is experimental in nature and unavailable elsewhere. That’s one of the draws of the site: you can’t get this stuff anywhere else. Another draw is that so far all of the stories are free. There are plans to provide some of the work for sale in ebook format and/or actual hardcopy printing, but there will always be free fiction available. We update the website daily with new content right on the first page. It’s been a very busy and exciting launch due to the great response we’ve received from the online community.
My own offering, The Textile Planet, is speculative fiction with 32 episodes in all. Like most of my writing it’s social satire. This somewhat surrealistic story follows the hapless Marla Gershe as she muddles through a day at the textile factory where she works. On the particular day in question, things go terribly wrong for her and she has to make a drastic change in her life. And it’s not for the better. It’s a darkly humorous tale that will resonate with anyone who has ever had a bad day, a bad boss, or made a bad career move.
I’m hoping readers will try out the interactive content that goes with the episodes: links to back story, sound files, Youtube video, that sort of thing. Skipping the links won’t hinder an understanding of the plot, but the added content is fun. There’s a form for feedback too. Love that feedback, good or bad. I did a trial run with about 50 beta readers and received a great response from that effort. I’m confident about it now that it’s out there in the wild world ready for service, but you never know. With a piece like mine that is experimental in nature, it’s hard to know how it will come off. Who’s going to be stopping by and what are they expecting? Will it seem surprising, or silly? Will they get it? Who knows?
I invite the Medieval Bookworm readers to stop by and see what they think. No charge. And send that feedback!
BookViewCafe.com: http://www.bookviewcafe.com
The Textile Planet: http://tinyurl.com/5lbtqv
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Thanks, Sue, for stopping by! I’ve had a look myself at Sue’s novel and the website and I find both very worthy of your time. This is an exciting venture in our changing book world, so please check it out!
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