The Sunne in Splendour
by Sharon Kay Penman

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Book Reviews of The Sunne in Splendour

Book Review: Medieval Fiction at it's Best
Summary: 5 Stars

As it opens, Queen Margaret, paranoid due to her Lancastrian husband Henry V1's mental illness, has Richard, Duke of York and his eldest son Edmund assassinated simply because of York's popularity. York's youngest son Richard watches in adoration as his now-eldest brother Edward then crushes her, becoming King of England himself. But triumph turns to tragedy as Richard watches Edward mary the grasping Elizabeth Woodville, gets caught in the middle of Edward's battles to the death with their cousin Richard Neville as well as their own brother George, is left by Edward's early death to deal with the Woodvilles as Richard III and finally suffers the greatest of his many personal tragedies just as Henry Tudor, the last hope of the Lancastrian family, finally makes his move.

The characters are incredibly strongly drawn. My only complaints might be that, although a good romance is nice, Richard's relationship with his wife-cousin Anne, the second main character, is sometimes a bit too sugary for me; and his cousin Henry Stafford of Buckingham is so stereotypical (everything but a twirling mustache!) that it's hard to believe Richard was taken in by him even if he was so devoid of other adult male relatives that he was blinded by gratitude. Edward, the third of the three main characters, is just right - with enough good points to make you understand Richard's devotion while still making it clear that he had alot to do with the subsequent disaster that befell his sons as well as Richard.

Speaking of said disaster, we will, of course, probably never know the answer to the all-important question of Richard's reign - whether or not he murdered Edward's sons Edward V and Richard of York at only 12 and 10 years of age. Penman's solution is quite interesting - it wasn't Richard, but her Edward V is an angry boy who barely knew Richard, was devoted to his Woodville relatives and would never forget either that Richard (however justified) executed his Woodville kin or his claim to the throne (which more historians are considering invalid as more start to believe that Edward IV had been precontracted before his marriage to Elizabeth) - leaving open the question of what Richard might have had to do a few years down the road whether he wanted to or not if someone else hadn't done it for him.

The children are, incidentally, as fully developed as the adult characters. Ironically, it's George's son Edward (whose mind-numbing, drawn out fate after the events of the novel made what may have happened to his cousins seem merciful in comparison) who will haunt you afterwards rather than the famous Princes in the Tower.

The novel is also, refreshingly, not dominated by the question of the Princes' fates - much, much more happened in Richard's life, and it's the whole tapestry of Richard's short, sad history that makes it so wonderful. Some of the most memorable subplots - like the almost unbearably tragic story of Richard's sweet-natured cousin John Neville whose suicide/death in battle saves him from having to chose between deserting his brother or possibly having a part in Edward or Richard's deaths - are long over before there's even a hint that Richard will eventually wear a crown.

After all, even Richard's fiercest critics have to grant him that to make a fair decision, one has to start the story from the begining.

Summary of The Sunne in Splendour

Action & Adventure Books

• Subjects > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Action & Adventure
• Historical
• Literary