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Set amidst the unrest and political powerplay of fifteenth-century England, Garthwaite’s vivid, breath-taking novel reimagines the life of Cecily, Duchess of York – a mother, wife and shrewd political player in the Wars of the Roses.
'Rebellion?'
The word is a spark. They can start a fire with it, or smother it in their fingertips.
She chooses to start a fire.
You are born high, but marry a traitor's son. You bear him twelve children, carry his cause and bury his past. You play the game, against enemies who wish you ashes. Slowly, you rise.
You are Cecily.
But when the king who governs you proves unfit, what then? Loyalty or treason - death may follow both. The board is set. Time to make your first move.
Told through the eyes of its greatest unknown protagonist, this astonishing debut plunges you into the closed bedchambers and bloody battlefields of the first days of the Wars of the Roses, a war as women fight it.
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780241476871
Number of pages: 384
Weight: 611 g
Dimensions: 240 x 162 x 35 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'A startling heroine' - Sarah Moss
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“An engrossing, unflinching, and compelling portrait”
The Wars of the Roses, remembered for the battles and the fairly rapid turn-around of monarchs, and, eventually, the start of the Tutor age. But what about the women? Or rather, what about one woman in particular?... More
“A Formidable figure in history.”
Cecily Neville was an English noblewoman, the wife of Richard, Duke of York, and the mother of two kings of England, Edward IV and Richard III.
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“A tale of Kings and battles fought with swords, but at its heart the story of a passionate, ambitious woman.”
Feminist retellings of history and myth seem to have flourished in the last few years. It is something I've thoroughly enjoyed, but none quite so much as Cecily.
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