This book came at just the right time for me, as I had started watching Philippa Gregory’s The White Queen on BBC1. Although I have read many of the books that write about the Tudor reign, this book featured an earlier part of their history than I had previously read about.
As I don’t know very much at all about this era of British history, I’m obviously not in a position to comment on the accuracy of the novel. Nor am I aware enough of the events and battles to know whether or not they are true to form.
However as a novel, I found it enjoyable and I was able to keep up with all the events. Focusing on the events in Normandy and Kent during Henry VI’s reign, the action switches back and forth from France to the UK, with a few stop offs at the Tower of London for a gruesome torture scene. The main characters, both royal and peasant, feature throughout and are well written. I found it interesting to note some of the events and how they lead onto later monarchs and the later Tudor reign. Henry’s wife, Margaret, who continues to play a large role in the other books I have read about the Tudors, fitted in well and her description as a young girl, matched the older descriptions of her and blended in seamlessly.
As with many other stories of the Tudors, there is a person behind the crown, in this case Derry, who uses and manipulates the young and ill king and enters into a battle of wills with his young wife. Derry sacrifices the English lands in France to create a truce between the warring countries. Whilst on the ground in France, is a farmer and his son, determined to fight against losing their land to the French knights.
I did find that the story and the plot maybe went on a little bit too long. By the end of the book I found that the action was really dragging and it could have been wrapped up a lot sooner. I would also be intrigued to see where the second book in the series falls, as this book faded out somewhat, rather than leading to an ending where the second book could pick up.
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