Anne Easter Smith

[Kailana]

I don't think she had a spot over on the other forums, but since I am reading her right now I thought I would bring her up. Her first book, A Rose for the Crown, was one of my favourite books of the year when I read it two years ago. It imagines the woman that could've been Richard III's mistress (it's three, right? It's late and I am not totally awake, but I am at work so I have to stay awake somehow!) He did have illegitimate children, so there was a woman around somewhere. Smith leaves everything else as it should be, for the most part, but adds in this whole secret life that was not known about before. It was very well-written! The book I am reading by her now, Daughter of York, is about Richard's sister, Margaret. It is not bad so far, but I sort of don't think I am going to like it as much as her first book. In March of next year she has a new book coming out which is about Grace Plantagenet, illegitimate daughter of Edward IV. The woman cannot seem to write a book that doesn't count as a chunkster, but she does have wonderful covers.... The reason I read A Rose for the Crown was because the cover caught my eye, actually!

Any thoughts? Please be careful about spoilers!

[nona]

I just recieved my copy of Rose for the Crown, can't wait to read it, based on what I've heard it was worth the wait (ordered it from UK).

[Margaret]

Carla has just posted an excellent review of Anne Easter Smith's Daughter of York on her blog: here (http://www.carlanayland.blogspot.com/).

[diamondlil]

Also posted in the review section on this forum here (http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=549).

[amyb]

I LOVED A Rose for the Crown - such an awesome story. Daughter of York wasn't quite so good, but it was still worth reading. I'm looking forward to reading more of her and the new book sounds good! And yes, the covers are beautiful!

[nona]

hpw many other books has she written, I know I saw a few suh as Daughter of York the othe day.

[diamondlil]

She only has the two out at this stage as far as I know. There is due to be a third next year some time I think.

[michellemoran]

I was just sent an ARC for her novel The King's Grace and really enjoyed it! It's about Grace Plantagenet, the half-sister to the princes in the Tower. Really well researched and very interesting.

[Vanessa]

I have both books on my Mt TBR pile and I believe I have the third one on order with Amazon. I can't remember!:o

[diamondlil]

I really should hurry up and read the second book!

[diamondlil]

Still haven't read the second book, but have just read an interview (http://historicalfictionauthorinterviews.blogspot.com/2009/03/q-with-historical-fiction-author-anne.html) that Michelle Moran did with this author, and I am very excited at the prospect of her next book being about Cecilly Neville!

[Susan]

Still haven't read the second book, but have just read an interview (http://historicalfictionauthorinterviews.blogspot.com/2009/03/q-with-historical-fiction-author-anne.html) that Michelle Moran did with this author, and I am very excited at the prospect of her next book being about Cecilly Neville!

Ooooh, I love that idea too!

[Vanessa]

I've never read any of this author's books, but I do love the covers! I'm attracted to them by that alone, hence a couple being on my TBR pile.:o:D

[zsigandr]

I too was drawn to the covers of her books. I picked up A Rose for the Crown about 2 years ago at a book clearance centre and it was the best $4.95 I have spent!:D

I have since read Daughter of York and tend to agree with some of the others that it was not quite as good as A Rose for the Crown. I am now half way through The King's Grace and am loving it.

I look forward to her book on Cecily Neville as well!
Andrea

[Juniper]

I too was drawn to the covers of her books. I picked up A Rose for the Crown about 2 years ago at a book clearance centre and it was the best $4.95 I have spent!:D

I have since read Daughter of York and tend to agree with some of the others that it was not quite as good as A Rose for the Crown. I am now half way through The King's Grace and am loving it.

I look forward to her book on Cecily Neville as well!
Andrea

I loved A Rose for the Crown, but have not read Daughter of York as so many people told me that they were disappointed with it.

I have just finished reading The King's Grace, and I thought it was very well-written and had some interesting takes on the Warbeck episode. In truth I prefered A Rose for the Crown, but I think that is because I prefered the protagonist in that book.

I too am looking forward to her book about Proud Cis!

[zsigandr]

Juniper - I have read Daughter of York and while I did not like it as much as A Rose for the Crown (loved Katherine Haute) it was interesting to learn about Edward and Richard's sister Margaret, whose character appears again in The King's Grace. The Margaret in Daughter of York is much more sympathetic though, as in The King's Grace she is older and seems much more calculating and manipulative.

[Margaret]

I'm reading The King's Grace right now. It's the first of her novels I've read, and it hasn't really grabbed me yet - a lot of backstory in the early chapters. But my husband saw it lying around and read the first 40 pages and said he really likes it - this is a man who mostly reads novels about submarine warfare! So I am adjusting my attitude. I'm interested in the whole Perkin Warbeck episode, and she hasn't really gotten around to that yet, so that's probably why I'm feeling impatient. Hopefully, the story will pick up for me once Perkin comes into the story more actively.

[Chatterbox]

I enjoyed her first book, quite liked the Margaret of York book (despite the romantic plot being a bit too much of a stretch) and ended up thinking it wasn't nearly good. The third book? I struggled to finish it. It felt... perfunctory? I never really got caught up in the story in any way. Grace just wasn't a convincing character, and her quest for identity was implausible for the time & place, IMO. I suppose my essential problem was combination of one-dimensional characterizations with plots stretched to fit around known facts. If I read the Cecily Neville novel, it will only be because I'm curious about the subject, not because I'm interested in reading more by the author. Which is a bit sad, as typically these are books I would gravitate to.

[Misfit]

The King's Grace did wall damage around page 100. I won't go spoiling it for those who haven't read it but there was a scene between Henry VII and Elizabeth that well......I guess I was not quite expecting that. We discussed this over at the R3 group at Good Reads and from what I gathered on the way things ended up and being told from Grace's POV I decided it wasn't worth the effort to continue. Too many books, too little time.

[Margaret]

I finally finished The King's Grace, and I don't think it's a spoiler (perhaps rather the opposite) to point out that this novel is really about Grace Plantagenet and Elizabeth Woodville. It's being promoted as a novel about Grace and Perkin Warbeck, but Perkin Warbeck has a very subsidiary role in the novel and doesn't become important until somewhere around page 400. If I had known that when I started reading, I might have felt less impatient and annoyed with the pace of the novel, although it's not one that will go on my "Best of 2009" list.

[Chatterbox]

ROTFL, Misfit -- yes, Elizabeth of York and Henry Tudor as HR characters, anyone?

Grace just irritated me, while Perkin bored me.

Am I becoming harsh in my old age??

[boswellbaxter]

I just didn't find Grace interesting enough to carry this novel. To me it would have been a lot better novel if more time had been given to Margaret of Burgundy, Perkin Warbeck, and Katherine Gordon.

[Misfit]

ROTFL, Misfit -- yes, Elizabeth of York and Henry Tudor as HR characters, anyone?

Grace just irritated me, while Perkin bored me.

Am I becoming harsh in my old age??

Hee, between that bit and all the "tis" intermixed with some more modern language use, i.e. sibling rivalry I just couldn't take it. If I'd had word of a strong finish I could have carried on, but I had little hope for one. Harsh in one's old age? Hell no, just less years left to get all the good books read.

[EC2]

I DNF the first one, so I probably won't get around to any more by the author at the moment.

[Margaret]

I've posted my review of The King's Grace at http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/Kings-Grace.html. In line with my general policy to describe novels rather than, in most cases, give them a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, I haven't panned it. But it wasn't to my taste. Many of the characters were well-drawn, I thought, but they just didn't do enough to carry a novel that long. And Grace sometimes suffered from the historical fiction version of please-don't-go-down-into-that-dark-basement syndrome. She just seemed a little too plucky and outspoken sometimes - especially for a very young woman characterized as being rather shy and timid.

[MedievalBookworm]

I read both A Rose for the Crown and Daughter of York. I vastly preferred the first one and was somewhat disappointed in the second. I had a hard time believing in the romance and it felt too long at times, whereas I really liked Kate Haute in the first one. I haven't picked up The King's Grace yet and I'm not sure I will, especially not since no one in this thread seems to be a big fan.

[Susan]

I visited Bruges, Belgium on July 4 and went to the Church of Our Lady where Charles the Bold (the husband of Margaret of York in Daughter of York) and his daughter Mary are buried. Both were characters in Daughter of York.

Approaching the Church of Our Lady, as you can see the church was under some kind of construction
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t81/sef127/2009_Europe185.jpg

Tomb of Charles of Burgundy
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t81/sef127/2009_Europe190.jpg

Tomb of Mary of Burgundy (the Rich)
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t81/sef127/2009_Europe188.jpg

[Chatterbox]

Cool, Susan! I don't remember ever having seen them.

I do remember driving through Damme, long before I knew the story of the house of York's connection with the house of Burgundy, and my father telling us about the marriages there, and about Mary of Burgundy. How he learned that, I don't know! We were living in Brussels at the time.

I remember Damme as a very peaceful Flemish town; outside, the landscape looks like those Flemish paintings, with long lines of tall narrow trees flanking roads or narrow canals.

[diamondlil]

Great photos Susan! Thanks for sharing.

[love_uk]

I was just sent an ARC for her novel The King's Grace and really enjoyed it! It's about Grace Plantagenet, the half-sister to the princes in the Tower. Really well researched and very interesting.

Just read this one last month & really liked it!

[Nefret]

Very nice pictures. Just ordered all her books yesterday. Decided it was about time I've read them.