Queen by Right
Anne Easter Smith, 2011
Simon & Schuster
528 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781416550471
Summary
In Cecily Neville, duchess of York and ancestor of every English monarch to the present day, she 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. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1950
• Raised—England, Germany, Egypt
• Currently—lives near Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Anne Easter Smith is an English-American historical novelist. She is the aunt of England rugby No. 8, Nick Easter.
Smith's novels are set during the Wars of the Roses, the period during which two branches of the House of Plantagenet, the Houses of York and Lancaster, were in contention for the throne of England. As a Ricardian, Anne Easter Smith's novels show a more sympathetic treatment of Richard III than Shakespeare's famous play — but Shakespeare was writing under the reign of the Tudors, who had taken the throne when forces under the command of the future Henry VII of England defeated Richard III's Yorkists at the Battle of Bosworth.
Easter Smith's first novel, A Rose for the Crown, has as its central theme the love story between Richard, while he was Duke of Gloucester during the reign of his brother Edward IV, and the woman who gave birth to Richard's pre-marriage illegitimate children. History tells us of these children, but never identifies who their mother was (or mothers were...). Easter Smith's well-researched novel puts the real characters in the right places at the right dates, eating the period foods, and suffering from period maladies, while inventing other characters to round out the story.
In her second novel, Easter Smith focuses on Margaret of York, Richard and Edward's sister, who, like all royals of the time, anticipates a marriage negotiated for political advantage. Margaret is wedded to Charles the Bold, ruler of the Duchy of Burgundy, the wealthiest in Europe. Daughter of York tells the story of Margaret's early life in England, her lavish wedding to Charles, and both her personal and public life in Burgundy's leading cities, which at the time included Bruges, Binche, and Mechelen, among others.
Easter Smith's third novel, The King's Grace, explores the identity of Perkin Warbeck, through the eyes of Grace Plantagenet, an illegitimate daughter of King Edward IV. Her fourth novel, Queen by Right, concerns the life of Cecily Neville, mother of Edward IV and Richard III. (From Wikipedia.)
In her words
In my novels, I strive to serve those readers who are looking for accuracy in historical fact and yet also engage those who are looking for a good story with strong characters, a little romance and lots of period detail. A Rose for the Crown, Daughter of York, The King's Grace, and Queen by Right are for those readers who enjoy settling into a book and living with the characters for a good long time.
I spent my childhood in England, Germany and Egypt as the daughter of a British Army colonel. At my boarding school in Surrey a teacher we called "Conky"—after William the Conqueror—inspired my passion for history. When in my early 20s, I read Josephine Tey's A Daughter of Time, I became particularly fascinated by Shakespeare's so-called villain, Richard III.
At age 24, after living and working as a secretary in London and Paris, I came on a lark to New York with my flatmate just for a "two-year stint." Many years, two marriages, two children and five cross-country moves later I'm very definitely a permanent resident of the U.S.—but my love for English history remains.
I began writing professionally a few years after I landed in Plattsburgh, NY near the beautiful Adirondack Mountains with my first husband and daughters, Joanna and Kate. For ten years, I was the Features/Arts Editor for the daily newspaper and wrote articles on every conceivable subject that was not hard news! It proved a wonderful training ground for my foray into authoring.
It was while living in Plattsburgh that I took on another persona as a folksinger, playing in music festivals, clubs, restaurants, and on public radio. When I'm not writing, I can be found either on the local stage or weeding my garden, the latter which I hate almost as much as I do sewing!
My husband, Scott, and I love biking, canoeing, cross-country skiing and sailing, which we can do either near Boston, where we live now, or back in the Adirondacks. I should also add that I'm a member of the Richard III Society and the Historical Novel Society. And my daughter Kate has even got me posting to Anne Easter Smith Facebook page. (From the author's website.)
Book Reviews
Intelligent, compelling and engaging, her novel is lively, believable historical fiction with a heroine readers will take to their hearts.
Romantic Times
Familial betrayal, political scandal, savage wars, decapitations, and licentious affairs.... Fans of medieval historical fiction will undoubtedly appreciate this intimate portrayal of some of the era's key players.
Publishers Weekly
Thanks in no small part to William Shakespeare, history recognizes Richard III, the last king in the Plantagenet dynasty and last ruler of the House of York. But less well remembered is his mother, Cecily of York. An intelligent, dynamic woman unafraid of speaking her mind, she and her husband, also Richard, were a rare love match in a time of marriage as social and political contract. With her signature attention to detail, Smith fully fleshes out the life of this English lady and, through her eyes, skillfully dramatizes the thick of the Wars of the Roses. A master of historical accuracy and complex political intrigues, the author suffers one surprising downfall here; at times flat and at times awkward, the romance between Cecily and Richard works best when the lovers are apart. Verdict: Though this latest is not quite as effortlessly engaging as Smith's previous novels (e.g., The King's Grace), her fans will enjoy it. —Leigh Wright, Bridgewater, NJ
Library Journal
Discussion Questions
1. How would you characterize the initial relationship that develops between Richard Plantagenet and Cecily Neville when Dickon joins the Neville family as a young ward? Why is their betrothal considered a great match for Cecily? How does their formal betrothal ceremony alter the dynamics of their relationship?
2. On a ride through the woods when she is eight, Cecily surprises a white deer and interprets its appearance as a holy sign. Later, at her father's death, she witnesses a white dove, and it to be a symbol that her father will be accepted into Heaven. How would you describe the trajectory of Cecily's faith over the course of her life? How does her faith guide her decisions? What events eventually bring about her disbelief?
3. How does his father's execution during Richard's childhood create a kind of social "guilt by association" that Richard must strive to overcome? How does Richard's behavior at Court bear evidence of his wish to compensate for his family's scandalous past?
4. Given her own station as the noble daughter of an esteemed English family, and the wife of the powerful and well-connected Duke of York, why does Cecily Neville feel a special kinship with Jeanne d'Arc, a young French peasant? What aspects of Jeanne's life might Cecily especially admire or envy? How does their encounter in Jeanne's cell change Cecily's life forever?
5. In the scenes involving Jeanne d'Arc, Cecily undergoes moments of intense spiritual awareness, in which she witnesses what she believes is the physical presence of the Holy Spirit. Have you ever felt a similar awareness of a divine presence or spirit? How were those experiences transformative for you? If you've never felt anything of the sort, can you imagine why such an experience might change someone's life and way of thinking? Why or why not?
6. How does the author's strategic use of flashbacks in the novel's narrative enable you as a reader to see Cecily's life through her own memories? Of the many parts of her life that Cecily reveals through her memories, which ones were most powerful or memorable for you, and why? Consider Cecily's childhood, her relationship with her husband, and the births and deaths of her many children.
7. Cecily is surrounded by women who help her navigate her life—her mother, Joan, who informs her morality; her sister-in-law, Alice Montagu, who explains carnal matters with forthrightness; her attendants, Rowena and Gresilde, who take care of all of her daily needs; and her personal physician, Constance LeMaitre, who helps deliver her children and serves as her confidante. What do these relationships reveal about the sphere inhabited by women in this era? Of the many connections Cecily has with women, which seem to influence her most profoundly?
8. How would you describe Cecily's feelings about motherhood? How do the many children she loses in infancy affect her feelings toward her surviving children? How would you characterize her role in her children's development, and how does it compare to her husband's influence?
9. How does Henry VI's mental instability contribute to volatility in the English kingdom and Europe at large? How is the fragility of his mental state foreshadowed in Queen by Right? Why does the pregnant Margaret of Anjou, Henry's French-born queen, see Richard's efforts to serve as Regent during Henry's illness as a threat to her child's future? To what extent are Margaret's fears warranted?
10. How does Cecily actively subvert the following advice from her mother: "I suppose you will learn the hard way that women will never be a man's equal in this world. We may lend an ear, we may even counsel our husbands when asked, but we are a man's property from one end of our lives to the other." To what extent does her role in her husband's decision-making suggest that her power in their marriage is far greater than meets the eye?
11. What does Cecily's behavior in departing from her embattled castle in Ludlow reveal about her true nature? Why does Henry VI show mercy in sparing her and her young children from execution? Given her frustration with her husband for his absences during other difficult moments in their life together, to what extent were you surprised that Cecily did not bear any resentment toward Richard for putting her in such a dreadful position?
12. How does Richard of York's intense military campaign against Henry VI enable Edward's political rise and eventual crowning as King Edward IV? What does Edward's public reception as a hero and sovereign reveal about the English people's attitudes toward Henry VI? How does Edward's ascent to the English throne impact Cecily Neville personally?
13. If you could relive any periods of Cecily's life, which would you choose to revisit and why? How does Cecily Neville compare to other heroines and historic figures you have encountered in literature?
(Questions issued by publisher. See http://readinggroups.simonandschuster.com/)