I am switching book genres for this month and reviewing some historical novels written by Sharon Kay Penman. The four novels I have read and can therefore write about (not that having read a book was always a prerequisite for me when writing about it in college, but that’s another story…) are The Sunne in Splendour, Here Be Dragons, Falls the Shadow and Time and Chance.
First off let me say that all of Penman’s historical novels are well-researched. In the afterword in Sunne in Splendour, the author even notes: "I tried to be as accurate as possible, not placing as scene at Windsor unless my characters were known to be at Windsor that day, making sure that a Wednesday actually was a Wednesday, that details of medieval life were corroborated by more than one source." As a novel, of course, she must fill in dialogue where there would be no records of any and must sometimes create reasons for peoples’ behavior. At the end of every book she does explain which parts and people are based on fact and which she had to invent to fill in the holes left by history. Usually, there are very few things she has had to invent. Often even her dialogues are based on eyewitness accounts.
However, don’t get me wrong, these are certainly not dry as dust history books, filled with dates and facts and place names. Penman is not just a historian (and a lawyer) she is also a novelist, and a good one at that. Her writing keeps you reading these books late into the night, turning the pages to find out what happens next. She helps you identify with the characters, even those who have been vilified throughout history.
The first book, The Sunne in Splendour, covers the life of Richard III and brings up many interesting aspects of his character and experiences that are not often discussed in history books. Penman remarks upon the inconsistencies that can are found in historical texts regarding Richard III, and points out sources contemporary to Richard that dispute much of what we believe today, which is largely based on Shakespeare’s play and Tudor historians.
Anyone wishing to learn more about the Wars of the Roses without having to read a history book, this is a good place to find out more about the plots and struggles that led to this drawn-out war that shaped much of the 15th century.
The second book, Here Be Dragons, is about John, King of England, and Llewelyn, a Welsh prince, in the thirteenth century. This novel covers life, both personal and political in England, France and Wales. Once again, Penman digs beneath the history we think is true about John and the Welsh in the Middle Ages and using letters and contemporary documents, builds a wonderful book about life at that time.
Falls the Shadow is the story of Henry III, Plantagenent king of England in the 13th century and Simon de Montfort, a person from history who is considered everything from someone worthy of sainthood to a powerful, charismatic man with his finger on the pulse of politics to a supporter of the poor and powerless. Penman covers some of the more unpleasant aspects of medieval life, including rampant anti-Semitism, trying to explain life as it was and perhaps give insight into the mind and beliefs of people in the 13th century.
The last novel, Time and Chance, is the second book about the story of Henry II and Eleanor of Acquitaine. Unfortunately, I have not yet read the first one, not realizing there was a first one until after I had started in on this book. This middle part of their story covers the years when Thomas of Beckett was made Archbishop of Canterbury and then turned against the king, his former friend and ally. This is also a somewhat frustrating chapter in the lives of Henry and Eleanor, as it is the downfall of their relationship. I often found myself telling the characters to just speak with each other, but, of course, since theirs was a famous failed marriage in real life, they could do no more than fail on the pages of this book as well.
The books that round out the saga of Henry II and Eleanor of Acquitaine are When Christ and His Saints Slept and, finally, The Devil’s Brood.
I would recommend these books as a good addition to any Medieval bookshelf. These novels are an easy and entertaining way to learn more about the Middle Ages and the people who lived, loved, died and ruled then.
Back to: A Medieval Miscellany, selected and edited by Judith Herrin
Continue to: Medieval Craftsmen: Embroiderers, by Kay Staniland
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