Son of York

‘'We fight our own battles.''

One of the most well-known and fascinating monarchs in English History is Edward IV, brother to Richard III. In a land where most monarchs have made their mark- in a positive or negative way- his popularity certainly speaks for itself. His life, marriage and political acuteness have made him a figure that inspired some of the finest lines by Shakespeare in Richard III and became the focus of many books in the Historical fiction genre. Amy Licence's Son of York is one more example.

Edward's significance becomes more important when we consider that he was actually the first king of England to come from the York family. He married Elizabeth Woodville, causing a great scandal and produced many children who became notable figures in English History. He was believed to be an expert in strategic matters and he brought order to the realms after the long feud between the Houses of York and Lancaster. He was a lover of the Arts and acquired a significant collection manuscripts. Now, this very important man surely provides the material for a good Historical novel, doesn't he? Well, the answer is yes. Almost.

We find ourselves in 1455, when Edward is a boy of thirteen. He is the fearless, fiery, abrupt son of Richard Plantagenet and Cecily, while his favourite brother, Edmund, is the dreamer, the sensible one, the voice of reason. The focus of the story is the way this young man became a king and I found that very clever. The young boy who became king shows all the signs of his future self and Licence creates a very believable,well-composed Edward. All the characters that are in the centre of the narration are interesting and realistically portrayed and the historical events are depicted extremely accurately. This was a very welcome change from what usually happens in books, films and TV series that decide to butcher well-established historical characters just for the sake of viewership and readership. The fact that Licence is a historian certainly helped in retaining a level of historical accuracy that is respectable.The battles and tournament scenes are impactful and well-written and I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of Loveday, an event that has always intrigued me. The romance element is not overwhelming, but it is there and it isn't successful, in my opinion.The women Edward is interested in are not interesting or memorable at all.On the contrary, a relationship that is well-structured and consistent is the one between Richard and Cecily who was my favourite character in the novel.

So, why 3 stars? If you follow my reviews, you'll have noticed by now that a feature that can make or break a book for me is dialogue. Now, with Historical Fiction, language is a difficult thing to master. It may appear pompous or inappropriately modern. Here, it was a mediocre combination of the two. I had many problems with it, to be honest. From the early stages of the story,the dialogue seems wooden and uninspired, as if the writer took pieces of sentences from The Tudors -or any other pseudo-historical TV shows and films with dubious historical accuracy- and created this. In addition, she attempts to remind the readers of past events by including them in the dialogue only a few pages after said events have taken place right before our eyes. I mean, we don't forget THAT easily (I hope...) This results in interactions that are awkward, unnatural and, frankly, almost cringeworthy. The constant bickering between York and Edward over matters that have been discussed again and again was too tiring and the frequent use of the phrase ‘‘she-devil'' to refer to Margaret of Anjou was extremely bothersome. It was a pity, really, because the descriptive passages were well-composed, presenting facts naturally and not as a History lesson and the pace was consistent throughout. Perhaps, dialogue isn't the writer's strong point.

This was an interesting novel, quite enjoyable and faithful to the people and the events depicted, but it was nothing that we haven't seen before. When one has much experience by being an avid reader of Historical Fiction, the standards are too high, the expectations too many and Son of York didn't meet them to the fullest.

Many thanks to Endeavour Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.