The Sunne In Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman

The Sunne In Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman

This is another excellent historical fiction by Sharon Kay Penman. At 971 pages, it takes awhile to read but is engaging  and for a book this length, very readable. The backdrop to the story is The War of the Roses, which for anyone who doesn't remember, was a war of succession fought between 2 branches of  the Plantagenet dynasty founded by Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Penman has written extensively about Henry and Eleanor and their offspring in another series. The book begins with open rebellion by the Duke of York and his allies against King Henry VI who represents the Lancaster line.  The Duke of York and his second son are killed in battle leaving the path clear for Edward and his brother Richard to continue the fight. Edward eventually triumphs and comes to power as Edward IV and of course Richard will come to power after his brother's death as the infamous Richard III.  This part of the story constitutes Book I.
Book II considers the controversial marriage of Richard to Anne Neville, his cousin and childhood friend, who was a pawn of her ambitious and scheming father The Earl of Warwick aka the Kingmaker.
Book III covers Richard's role of governing the north of England for his brother and the growing tensions and conflicts inside the royal family which culminate in Edward having his youngest brother George executed.
Edward dies after a lifetime of excess and leaves his young son and heir in Richard's protection.
Book IV is about the aftermath of Edward's death, power struggles between Edward's widow and Richard, the disappearance of Edward's two young sons, the death of Richard in battle, and the victory of Henry Tudor.
This version of history is told from the perspective of Richard and contradicts the well-known "stereotypes" of Richard III from Shakespeare and Tudor historians.  Penman is a revisionist of Richard  and she makes some interesting points. The disappearance of Edward's sons remains a mystery still but Penman has some other culprits who may have had the boys murdered and she makes a case for them.  Also, there seems to be no indication of Richard wanting to be king while his brother was alive.  He was always loyal and followed Edward into combat many times and proved to be invaluable. Yet, once Edward dies,  Richard was supposed to have killed his nephews to take the throne.  This would have been in total opposition to the way he'd lived his whole life. Penman make a case for why Richard would have seized the throne for other reasons other than strictly personal ambition. Told from Richard's perspective this is a tragic story in which Richard loses everything and dies more a victim of betrayal than a villain. For anyone who enjoys historical fiction or English history this is a must read.