review: ROYAL MISTRESS by Anne Easter Smith

Title:  Royal Mistress

Author:  Anne Easter Smith
Publisher:   Touchstone
Publication Date:  May 7, 2013
How Acquired:  Through Net Galley

What it’s About:  Jane Lambert, the quick-witted and alluring daughter of a silk merchant, is twenty-two and still unmarried. When Jane’s father finally finds her a match, she’s married off to the dull, older silk merchant William Shore. Marriage doesn’t stop Jane from flirtation, however, and when the king’s chamberlain, Will Hastings, comes to her husband’s shop, Will knows King Edward will find her irresistible.

Edward IV has everything: power, majestic bearing, superior military leadership, a sensual nature, and charisma. And with Jane as his mistress, he also finds true happiness. But when his hedonistic tendencies get in the way of being the strong leader England needs, his life, as well as those of Jane and Will Hastings, hangs in the balance. Jane must rely on her talents to survive as the new monarch, Richard III, bent on reforming his brother’s licentious court, ascends the throne.

My thoughts:  I’ve had a lovely couple of days spending time with my favorite Plantagenets thanks to Anne Easter Smith.  I read and reviewed Anne’s last book QUEEN BY RIGHT about Cecily Neville, the Duchess of York, which I enjoyed, so I was eager to dive back into this world that I have loved ever since I saw THE LION IN WINTER in high school.  Jane Shore, Edward IV’s last mistress, was someone that I had heard of, but knew very little. At first when I started reading the novel, I thought that it was just going to be another harlot with a heart of gold story.  You know, “she sleeps with the King, but she’s a really good person who helps the poor,” type of thing but Jane’s story is much deeper than that.

When the book opens, Jane Lambert is on the verge of spinsterhood.  She’s twenty-two and still unmarried which was highly unusual at that time.  Her father is bit of an asshole; he adores her younger sister Isabel but treats Jane like she’s a nuisance.  He expects absolute obedience, and prefers women to be seen and not heard. Jane however is quick-witted, intelligent and not afraid to speak her mind. There’s a telling scene with her mother Amy who shares her story with Jane, that once she too was outspoken and feisty, until basically Jane’s father beat it out of her.  She tells Jane that one day she too will learn to keep silent.  How awful but also probably how common was that in the 15^th century when educating a woman was seen as a waste of time.  The fact that Jane can actually read makes her something of an anomaly.

She’s also gorgeous, petite with an hour-glass figure, and wavy blonde hair.  She’s the type of woman who men gape at on the street, while their women glare. It’s not Jane’s fault that she’s a pocket Venus but most men don’t see much past her pretty face.   Jane is also a bit of a romantic, she wants true love which she thinks she’s found with Thomas Grey, Marquess of Dorset until she discovers that he’s not only married, but that he’s lied about who he is.

Since she can’t marry the man that she loves, Jane settles for marriage to William Shore, a much older silk merchant who is eager to get in good with her father.  She’s determined to make her marriage work but William won’t cooperate, or more to the point, a certain part of Will’s anatomy won’t cooperate.  As I read further into the book, I experienced a range of emotions towards Jane.  I liked her enormously for her sense of fun, her optimism, independent, and most of all her loyalty to her friends, her King, and Will Hastings. When she has the opportunity to help her friend Sophie as well as others in her community, she does. On the other hand, Jane was also naïve, stubborn, and headstrong.

The novel details the last few years of Edward IV’s reign as well as the first two years of Richard III’s reign. Although the book is predominantly Jane’s story, it is told in multiple points of view, including Will Hastings, Richard III, Elizabeth of York and Thomas Grey.  Ah poor Edward IV, he comes across as a relatively decent man who started out as a good King but then through boredom, and having to constantly deal with his asshole of a brother George, Duke of Clarence, he’s given full reign to his hedonistic side, spending more time drinking, eating and whoring than he does governing.  You finish the book feeling what a waste of a human life.  To spend all that time fighting to get what you want, the Crown of England, just to turn into a fat git towards the end. When the revelation comes to light in the book about Eleanor Butler, one is not surprised; it is exactly the type of boneheaded move that you would have expected from Edward.

And then there is Richard, my Richard.  For the record, I’m a diehard Ricardian but that doesn’t mean that I believe that Richard III was a saint.  As portrayed by Easter Smith in ROYAL MISTRESS, Richard’s downfall is his inflexibility when he thinks that he is right.  In his own way, he’s as arrogant as Edward IV and George, Duke of Clarence.  Like Jane, he is incredibly loyal to Edward IV and by his extension his family, although he loathes the Queen and the Woodvilles as many people did at the time.  One has to wonder if Elizabeth Woodville hadn’t made such a power play after Edward IV’s death, whether or not things would have turned out differently.  Edward IV’s death meant that people stopped playing nice and began to get real.  Easter Smith has an interesting take on the death of the two Princes, it’s a theory that has been tossed about before, but she lends it real weight in her portrayal of the events that lead to their death.

Edward’s death means that Jane is in danger of losing everything.  It’s to her credit that she didn’t demand more from Edward. Her plight illustrates the lack of opportunities available to women in the 15^th century if they are not married.  While the reader may not like Jane’s choices, in the end one understands where she is coming from.  There is a moment towards the end of the book, where she is talking to her close friend Sophie, that is just so self-aware without taking you out of the story.   Jane makes no apologies about the choices that she has made in her life. In the end, after everything that Jane has been through, her unhappy marriage, her relationship with Edward IV, and the punishment meted out to her by Richard III, you long for her to have a happy ending.

My verdict:  A compelling and intimate account of the last days of the Plantagenet dynasty. An utter joy to read and a must for lovers of The War of the Roses.  Now that I have read ROYAL MISTRESS, I will definitely be seeking out A ROSE FOR THE CROWN, DAUGHTER OF YORK and A KING’S GRACE. The only trouble is which one am I going to read first?  Hmm!

Scandalous Review: QUEEN BY RIGHT - Anne Easter Smith

Title:  QUEEN BY RIGHT

Author:  Anne Easter Smith

Paperback: 528 pages

Publisher: Touchstone; Original edition (May 10, 2011)

Language: English

Received copy from Publisher

From the back cover:

From the award-winning author of A Rose for the Crown, Daughter of York, and The King’s Grace comes another masterful historical novel—the story of Cecily of York, mother of two kings and the heroine of one of history’s greatest love stories.  In Cecily Neville, duchess of York and ancestor of every English monarch to the present day, Anne Easter Smith has found her most engrossing character yet. History remembers Cecily of York standing on the steps of the Market Cross at Ludlow, facing an attacking army while holding the hands of her two young sons. Queen by Right reveals how she came to step into her destiny, beginning with her marriage to Richard, duke of York, whom she meets when she is nine and he is thirteen. Raised together in her father’s household, they become a true love match and together face personal tragedies, pivotal events of history, and deadly political intrigue. All of England knows that Richard has a clear claim to the throne, and when King Henry VI becomes unfit to rule, Cecily must put aside her hopes and fears and help her husband decide what is right for their family and their country. Queen by Right marks Anne Easter Smith’s greatest achievement, a book that every fan of sweeping, exquisitely detailed historical fiction will devour.

My thoughts:  It's no secret that I'm a Plantagenetaholic.  You can keep your Tudors and your Hanoverians, the Plantagenets are my favorite dynasty.  They ruled England and most of France for over 300 years! So when I received a copy of Anne Easter Smith's new novel QUEEN BY RIGHT, I was in Plantegenet heaven. QUEEN BY RIGHT is the story of Cecily Neville known to history as the Rose of Raby.  I'd forgotten, until I looked through the genealogy tables, that Cecily was the granddaughter of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford.

Cecily is exactly my type of heroine, she's strong, stubborn and somewhat spoiled, but she's also incredibly intelligent, which was not exactly prized in the Medieval era. Her mother, Joan Beaufort, struggles to get her daughter to conform to what is socially acceptable for women, embroidery, music, and being a good wife but Cecily also enjoys political discussions and hunting. The revelation for me in this book was the character of Joan of Beaufort. Born on the wrong side of the blanket, although later legitimized by Richard II after her parents were married, Joan is always aware that she and her family almost have to be even more correct than others.  Their loyalty lies with the Lancastrian Kings (Henry IV being Joan and her siblings half-brother), which makes it interesting that Cecily is betrothed to Richard, Duke of York who is descended not only from a younger son of Edward III but also from Lionel, Duke of Clarence and perhaps has a better claim to the thorne then the Lancastrians.

One of the joys of the novel is seeing Richard and Cecily grow into their marriage. Although it was an arranged marriage, it grows into a true love match which was rare for the period.  Richard and Cecily grow up together, and forge an early friendship as children. Richard grows to appreciate Cecily's intelligence and her forthrightness,  particularly as the relationship between Richard and Henry VI grows strained due to the machinations of Margaret of Anjou and Cecily's cousin Edmund Beaufort.  Even when Cecily has a hard time conceiving due a miscarriage in the early years of their marriage, their love remains strong. Cecily is a supportive wife, even when at times, she knows that her husband may be making the wrong choices.

This novel has a depth and breadth to it that you don't often find in historical novels nowadays. I never felt that the book was rushed, or that the author was jumping from one event to another, kind of like the 'greatest hits of the War of the Roses,' which often seems to be the case with some historical novels.  There are just as many quiet family scenes as there are big dramatic scenes.  Easter Smith, in her author note, is very clear where she deviates or adds to the historical record. One of these instances is during Richard and Cecily's time in Rouen which just happened to coincide with the trial and execution of Joan of Arc.  The scenes where Cecily meets Joan are riveting, if they didn't happen, they really should have! Having done extensive research on Joan of Arc for SCANDALOUS WOMEN, Easter Smith's interpretation will certainly please those of us who are fascinated by the Maid of Orleans. Amongst the real-life historical characters, Easter Smith offers the reader Constance LeMaitre, a female physician who is taken into Cecily's household and becomes her confidante and friend.

By the end of the book, I felt as if I had made a new friend in Cecily Neville. I wept with her when her children died, laughed at some of the most uproarious sections of the book, and marveled at the relationship between Cecily and Richard, a relationship that most of us only dream of having.

My Verdict:  Highly Recommended. A vivid and compelling novel about one of the most turbulent periods of English history, with a compelling and attractive heroine.  A must read for all historical fiction lovers. My only complaint was that the book ended, but at least I have 3 more Anne Easter Smith novels to add to my TBR pile!

You can order the book here at Borders