Review: Pale Rose of England

Pale Rose of England

by Sandra Worth

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Berkley

Cost: $9.04

What I Liked:

Finishing this book put me in the same frame of mind I was in when I finished The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. It was a historical whirlwind that, once it sets you down, you think, yes, it was exactly like that, whether it really was or not. And quite literally, this book was a whirlwind. It picked me up from the opening and when I finally landed, I felt like I'd been to Oz and back. Only, of course, I don't live in Kansas.

The story of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, is one that I'm familiar with as a historian. But I've never seen it painted in quite this way before. With the proliferation of historical fiction written about England at the turn of the 16th century, I expected that I would have seen it all, but I was wrong. The story of Lady Catherine Gordon took me quite by surprise, and opened up the world of the Tudor Court in a way I'd never really considered before.

Fans of The Tudors will appreciate the lavish historical setting and the unique perspective on Henry VII's court. Fans of The Other Boleyn Girl and other Philippa Gregory books will appreciate the attention to detail, the intense love story, and the heartbreaking saga of Lady Catherine. Fans of historical romance will find their assumptions challenged and ultimately rewarded. Fans of historical fiction will love the great care with which Sandra Worth treats real events of history, and yet the startling beauty with which she illustrates one of history's mysterious figures.

All in all, I think there is something to please all readers. I know this particular reader puts the book down with relish, feeling satisfied with the literary meal provided. I hope you can say the same. Sandra Worth is quite the jewel. I know I'll be eagerly consuming Worth's other Tudor novels in the near future.

Book Blurb:
It is 1497. The news of the survival of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, has set royal houses ablaze with intrigue and rocked the fledgling Tudor dynasty. With the support of Scotland's King James IV, Richard-known to most of England as Perkin Warbeck-has come to reclaim his rightful crown from Henry Tudor. Stepping finally onto English soil, Lady Catherine Gordon has no doubt that her husband will succeed in his quest.

But rather than assuming the throne, Catherine would soon be prisoner of King Henry VII, and her beloved husband would be stamped as an imposter. With Richard facing execution for treason, Catherine, alone in the glittering but deadly Tudor Court, must find the courage to spurn a cruel monarch, shape her own destiny, and win the admiration of a nation.

~ Rebecca Lynn