Daughter of York
A Novel
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4.2 • 37 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
History tells us that the intelligent, wealthy, and powerful Margaret of York had everything any woman could want, except for love. The acclaimed author of A Rose for the Crown takes us between the lines of history and into her heart.
It is 1461: Edward, son of Richard of York, ascends to the throne, and his willful sister, Margaret, immediately becomes a pawn in European politics as Edward negotiates her marriage. The young Margaret falls deeply in love with Anthony Woodville, the married brother of Edward's queen, Elizabeth. But Edward has arranged for his sister to wed Charles, son of the Duke of Burgundy, and soon Margaret is setting sail for her new life. Her official escort: Anthony Woodville. Margaret of York eventually commanded the respect and admiration of much of Europe, but it appears to history that she had no emotional intimate. Anne Easter Smith's rare gift for storytelling and her extensive research reveal the love that burned at the center of Margaret's life, adding a new dimension to the story of one of the fifteenth century's most powerful women.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Smith's plodding second historical novel (after A Rose for the Crown) opens in 1461 with 15-year-old Margaret of York mourning the deaths of her father, Richard, duke of York, and brother Edmund, recently slain in battle against the Lancastrians. Eldest brother Edward raises an army of his own, routs King Henry and Queen Margaret and marches into London, where he's crowned king. The novel's heroine falls in love with the married Sir Anthony Woodville, and their romance evolves slowly and passionately, though she is later married off to Charles, duke of Burgundy. Margaret's new husband takes no pains to please her in bed or out of it, and she never bears any children. She keeps busy with court intrigue, though, as it falls to her to maintain the alliance between her husband and brother Edward. Smith's sincere attempt to breathe life into two-dimensional historical personages is bogged down by superfluous detail and stilted dialogue.
