Daughter of York re-visits many of the characters from "A Rose for the Crown," as we follow Margaret, sister of Edward IV and Richard III, from the court of England where, as a pawn in Edward's political schemes, she is kept single until she is 22, when a Burgundian alliance is forged through her marriage to Charles the Bold, the new Duke of Burgundy.
Despite fulfilling her duty to her new country with intelligence and aplomb, Margaret never forgets she is an English princess and a daughter of the House of York. Her homesickness is exacerbated by having to leave behind the love of her life. Fate brings them together rarely after she becomes duchess to a man she only met a week before her marriage, and whom she discovers suffers from such a grandiose view of his place in history that he is capable of great cruelty towards anyone who stands in his way. He also prefers spending time on a battlefield than at home with his wife. She finds solace in the bond she forges with her new young stepdaughter, her friendship with William Caxton, learning to rule her new country, and her unusual confidante, a dwarf named Fortunata. But once in a while, she breaks the rules in the arms of her one true love...
Kailana has talked before about how much she is looking forward to this book, and I am in complete agreement with her! A Rose from the Crown was one of my favourite reads from a couple of years ago, and I remember being surprised at how well written it was for a first book!
There is also quite an interesting video of Anne up on BookVideos.TV, where she talks about how she researches her characters and how she keeps her fictional and factual characters straight!
This book is released in the US and the UK on 12 February 2008. Unfortunately it's not listed on the major Australian bookstore sites yet, so I might have to wait a bit longer! Disappointing, but not all that unusual unfortunately.
Sigh! More books to be put in my TBR pile. One day they are all going to fall on me and give me a concussion.
ReplyDelete