gilda_elise

England, 1471.

In a kingdom rent by civil strife Richard, Duke of Gloucester, is determined to keep the Royal House of York on the throne and bring peace to England.

His unswerving support of his brother, Edward IV, against the conspiracies of both their turncoat brother George, Duke of Clarence, and the powerful Lancastrian claimants, wins him many enemies.

And when fate destines him to take the throne, he is forced to quell the rebellions of Lord Rivers and the Duke of Buckingham before marching to meet Henry Tudor on the battlefield.

I was unpleasantly surprised by this book, having read glowing reports over the years. Though published in 1938, the writing is almost archaic. Perhaps this was done on purpose, but it moves the reader too far away from the story. I felt no connection to any of the characters, and that includes Richard.

There are several areas where Carleton seems to be trying to be amusing, but it falls flat. A conversation between Elizabeth Woodville and Jane Shore comes across as almost a farce. And even if the author thought that Richard was a small man (there are accounts from contemporaries that he was slender,) that doesn’t excuse how many times he describes Richard as being tiny, practically child-size.

The book move along at a decent clip most of the time, though there are a few places where suddenly a year a two will pass, years where much is going on. Especially near the end, when the story jumps from Richard making a horrible confession to Anne to the battle at Bosworth. It’s almost as if Carleton got tired of writing the story.

And I’m not sure why this particular title was chosen, as most of the book takes place before Richard becomes king, so obviously England wasn’t being ruled “under the hog.”