Sunne in Splendour

The book I have chosen to review is called the Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Penman it is a book about Richard III and was actually first published in 1984 but the discovery of Richard III's body in a car park in Leicester in 2012. The book was republished 30 years after The book begins here in Shropshire at Ludlow castle in 1459. Richard III is a boy of 6, it follows his life and the twists and turns of the battle of the roses accession of Henry V11 the first of the Tudor kings.

Sharon Penman has researched this period and stuck to historical facts for example she would not place a scene in Windsor castle if the characters had not been at Windsor castle on that date and time in history. She became fascinated with Richard III and his portrayal by historians as a hunchback cripple who murdered his brother's sons. Penman had found that this had been exaggerated, this was of course 30 years before his body was found. She has a much more sympathetic approach to Richard III, and the mystery that is central to his life his nephews in the tower, however most of the novel is set before this and portrays his relationships and his life in medieval England.

It is a very well written  book if you are interested in this period of history but some of the mysteries of this time, i.e. what really happened to the princes in the tower we may never learn.

Phoebe Thomas