Recently, I've read some very good books on the subject, but none of them was from the view point of Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, mother of Edward IV king of England. Brief history recap for anyone unaware: Cecily Neville was a descendant of King Edward III; the wife of a would-be king, Richard of York; and the mother of two actual kings, Edward IV and Richard III.

I wanted to see her *spoilers* grieve York properly, and experience all the complex emotions that come with seeing her son wear the crown that was once bound for her husband's head. She arranges advantageous marriages for her daughters, positions her son to be future king, helps her husband to see the bigger picture and be loved seemingly in any territory.

I really like to see an author harnessing her own personal experiences, contributing her own spin to the canon of TWOTR fiction. She instructs their nurse Annette to beg Isabella of Burgundy to keep them alive, but Annette rebukes her saying she as their mother should be the one going with them. The novel ends on a tragic but triumphant note, with a great deal more set to happen in the heroine's life.

She’s not always likeable, doesn’t always break with stifling traditions, but overcomes huge loss and shows such perseverance that you’re left with no doubt that if she were with us today, she’d be in charge. This sets our aforementioned feeling of proximity to the historical premises making for a successful novel. There were however a couple of occasions when she gives direction, not advice, and I did think that a tad strong, given the era.

The only thing that I found challenging is that the first few chapters were full of a lot of names and locations that I could only dimly remember from history at school! There’s treason and humiliation as ambition rises and falls, palpable grief but hope as Edward raises his ‘Sun in Splendour’ banner. I’m not arguing he should be their spotless BFF but at least somewhat sympathetic and liked by them. You can, then, imagine that I found it a bit disarming yet refreshing to behold the modern, middle-class, middle aged businesswoman inserted into a 15th century setting. Just like with the other figures - I feel like it’s safely hinted in the text that there is more to RoY than we see in the book but we are just not going all the way there.

All the while continuing to give birth and maintaining her religious virtue - how did she have the time? But I was actually pleasantly surprised to find out that Garthwaite had chosen to focus solely on the period in Cecily's life before she was raised so high in the world.I know enough of the history to have context, but not enough to be distracted by possible inaccuracies. Perhaps I went into this comparing it to The Sunne in Splendour, which I've said before is the pinnacle of historical fiction for me, and perhaps that coloured my experience with this book. Cecily despises unequal marriages and feels nothing but scorn when Jacquetta, the widow of the duke of Bedford, marries the pretty golden boy Woodville; a marriage to which the groom can only bring his good looks. Because the pace is so fast, major things like Cade's rebellion are dealt with quickly, and we get no real insight into the rebels, their motivations, or their connections to York. They will establish two administrative centers: Ludlow in the west with its vast revenues from their Mortimer estates and Fotherinhay in the east to manage their English holdings.

I loved seeing the author’s business background squirrel itself into Cecily’s characterisation and some of her speech e.Here we have Cecily as the centrepiece, also Jacquetta who is married to Richard Woodville the first Earl Rivers and Marguerite of Anjou who marries the hapless (or is that hopeless? If you understand anything about the War of the Roses, and the royal family dynamic at the time, Cecily is hardly given a mention. With such an imposing figure as Cecily at the heart of the book, it would be easy for Richard to disappear into the background but the author convincingly conveys his natural charm, leadership skills and determination to fulfil what he believes is his and his family’s destiny.