Tragic tale of a much-maligned king

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	• The Sunne In Splendour: A Novel of Richard III Sharon Kay Penman St. Martin's Griffin, 2008 - 944 pages average customer review:based on 139 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Tragic tale of a much-maligned king

The Sunne in Splendour tells the complicated story of Richard III, the last of the Plantagenet Kings. Younger brother of Edward IV, Richard would never have become king if not for a series of political maneuverings on his part. History (and Shakespeare) have made Richard out to be an evil, greedy hunchback; Sharon Kay Penman tells the story of a man who was fiercely loyal to the people he loved and who was reluctant to take the throne. Richard had his faults, to be sure; but in this novel, he comes off as extremely sympathetic.

Penman has a writing style that literally had me hooked from the first sentence. A trite cliché, I know, but I was definitely drawn in from the first page. I knew in advance of reading the story what the outcome would be, but still I kept on reading to see what would happen. The novel is fiction based on fact that sometimes seems like fiction.

The characters are well drawn; and while the book is ostensibly about Richard, we get to see the story as seen through the eyes of others, which I thought was well done. Penman has a knack of really getting into her characters, no matter what the time period or where they come from, which is nothing short of genius. The author even gives a thoroughly believable explanation for Richard's behavior with regard to his nephews, the Princes in the Tower, which was quite satisfying. And although the book is over 900 pages long, it only took me about a week to read; I was disappointed when I reached the last page. I can't believe that, with my interest in historical fiction, it's taken me this long to discover Sharon Kay Penman's works; I can't wait to read more by her.

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Plantagenet tragedy

Autumn 1459. A seven year-old boy gets lost in the forest. His easy-going eldest brother has had better things to do than watch over him, that is to say seducing a pretty servant girl. After a prolonged search the lad is found, having bravely fought his fear, and despite being afraid of punishment he doesn't even think of informing against his sibling. A fiercely loyal and earnest boy, he is the youngest of his family, small, dark and intense and very different from his three tall and fair brothers. He is Richard Plantagenet, who, as King Richard III, will go down in history as the epitome of evil.

The reader wonders what happened to turn this earnest child into a murderous usurper. Murderer he wasn't, claims Sharon Penman. Believable and compelling, the story of the four sons of Richard, Duke of York unfolds with all the relentlessness and inescapability of a Greek tragedy.

"The Sunne in Splendour" is a magnificent book. Intimate family scenes alternate with bloody battles, scenarios of betrayal and murder are followed by tender love scenes. A host of unforgettable characters populates it. There is the lovable Edmund, the first of the four Plantagenet princes to die; proud foolish Warwick and his tragic brother John Neville; the icily beautiful Elizabeth Woodville, Edward's queen; Bishop Morton, the snake in the grass; sweet-natured Elizabeth of York and Richard's dignified mother Cecily. All of them are complex, and stay with the reader for a long time.

Ms. Penman does not make the mistake to present Richard. Although far from being the monster More and Shakespeare described, her Richard is shown partly responsible for his nephews' fate. In her version he does not order their killing, of course, but he does not realise that by his taking the throne the children become pawns in other people's power games and pay for his thoughtlessness with their lives. Ms. Penman's explanation of the princes' disappearance and Richard's strange silence is as good and plausible as others. Her Richard is brave and loyal, but he can also be aloof and stubborn to the point of inflexibility. He can display subtle irony, but also biting wit, and is capable of considerable aggression, yet lacks the ultimate ruthlessness to secure his power. Reflecting upon his decision makes him admit his guilt - that he yielded to the temptation the Crown of England represented - and for the last months of his life he fells bitter remorse. Ms. Penman describes his depressed state of mind with such chilling accuracy, that his mother's fear for his immortal soul is almost tangible and very painful, and the ending leaves the reader bereaved as though he had lost a loved one.

The drama that was Richard's life and the way it is elucidated here makes one wonder why it hasn't been filmed yet. There is a cinematographic quality to many of Ms. Penman's scenarios; look for instance at the council meeting leading to Lord Hasting's execution, or at solitary young Richard riding in blazing sunshine towards Warwick's army camp to win Clarence back - these just beg to be filmed! Certainly, the ending is tragic and would leave the audience aching, but a skilled screenwriter may find a solution. A similar problem has been handled very well in "Braveheart".

Wherein now lies Richard's attraction? The Tudors, commonly associated with the beginning of the Modern Age, superficially appear more interesting as opposed to the Plantagenets who seem to symbolise the superstitions-ridden, unenlightened Middle Ages. Richard was born on the brink of the Modern Age and grew up in a world that witnessed the death throes of the medieval system of values, and yet, at a time when all conventional notions of loyalty and feudal allegiance had become a sham, there survived in him a core of chivalrous conduct that is very appealing, apparent for example in his just administration of the North and his legislation as King - supporting the weak as demanded by the knightly code of conduct. He seems a man born too late, and trying to adhere to such a strict code of behaviour needs must clash with the attitudes of more opportunistic characters who felt more at ease in this era of change.

Richard's physical courage, praised even by his detractors, originates in his chivalrous ideals, and his last ferocious charge down Ambion Hill to challenge Henry Tudor to single combat evokes heroic tales of earlier centuries, and indeed his decision to die a King rather than to flee was mentioned in a contemporary ballad.

Close to the end Richard's niece and nephews mourn their uncle's death and discuss their future, still hoping for fair treatment; future judicial murders and the destruction of Richard's reputation are only mentioned in the epilogue. However, learning about their fate is chilling. On the road to glorious Elizabeth I the Plantagenet blood seeped away as Henry VII and Henry VIII got rid of all potential heirs of the old dynasty.

To a modern observer this policy of merciless extermination appears depressingly modern. For all the beauty, progress and enlightenment the Renaissance brought, the Modern Age was setting out on a road that would lead to the atrocities of the 20th century. Gradually, dynastic wars were replaced by ideological ones, with ever more terror wrought on the common, civilian people who were included in the ideological and/or religious struggles. Already the atrocities of the Thirty Years' War and Cromwell's campaigns in Ireland, not unlike today's ethnical cleansing, loom in the future, premonitory of the final triumphs of secular humanism in the 20th century.

Richard Plantagenet died at thirty-two, his promising reign cut short by rebellion and treason. Ms. Penman brings him gloriously back to life for us, to be seen in a benevolent light at last. It is painful for the reader to lose him again, but the great achievement of this book is to show that there was nobility in Richard's cause as well as in his failure.

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An intelligent page-turner

What a wonderful book! I know a book is great when I am sorry it has to end.

It is always a relief to find historical fiction that is not only historically accurate but also tells a great story. Very well written and entertaining.

Of course, Penman creates personalities and motives and conversations; that is the definition of fiction. But she does it well within the bounds of the facts. You may disagree with her, and that's okay, because she will make you think about why you disagree with her. I love fiction that makes me think and makes me want to learn more about the characters and their lives.

A notable point about Penman is that she does have historical "sense." Her characters exist in their time, not ours. That is so often not the case in historical fiction (the dreaded Philippa Gregory comes to mind!).

I highly recommend this book.

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One of my many favorites

I read this book about 25 years ago and am pleased that I am enjoying it very much again! She writes very well. In the meantime, I have becomes convinced by reading new studies of the subject, that she has the wrong guy killing the "Princes in the Tower", but she's such a good writer and builds her story and "case" very well, so I am going to enjoy it anyway!

An engrossing tragedy

Rather than a novel of Richard III, this book was the tragedy of Richard III. I thought the writing was incredible and engrossing. Part one was a little slow, but necessary to paint the whole picture of Richard. Overall it was a book that was well worth the time and attention. I absolutely loved it. The mystery of the princes in the tower combined with the circumstances surrounding Richard's death and his short reign as King, made this book one that will haunt me for a long time.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

A glorious novel of the controversial Richard III---a monarch betrayed in life by his allies and betrayed in death by history
In this beautifully rendered modern classic, Sharon Kay Penman redeems Richard III---vilified as the bitter, twisted, scheming hunchback who murdered his nephews, the princes in the Tower---from his maligned place in history with a dazzling combination of research and storytelling.

Born into the treacherous courts of fifteenth-century England, in the midst of what history has called The War of the Roses, Richard was raised in the shadow of his charismatic brother, King Edward IV. Loyal to his friends and passionately in love with the one woman who was denied him, Richard emerges as a gifted man far more sinned against than sinning.

This magnificent retelling of his life is ?lled with all of the sights and sounds of battle, the customs and lore of the ?fteenth century, the rigors of court politics, and the passions and prejudices of royalty.

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