I am delighted to return to The Last Plantagenet? by Jennifer C Wilson today. You may remember that Jennifer wrote a great author post for us about how she set about researching this time-slip novella which you can read here.
As a reminder, here's a little about the story:
The fireplace hadn't looked like a time-portal.
All Kate had wanted was a fun, relaxing day out, watching
the knights jousting at Nottingham Castle. What she ended up with was something
quite different.
Transported in a heartbeat from 2011 to 1485, how will Kate
handle life at the Ricardian court? Even more importantly, how will she cope
when she catches the eye of the king himself?
My Thoughts
For anyone interested in re-creations of history, this novella poses the ultimate question. What must it be like to be truly there in the past and if it were possible, would you try to change the future? Both of these aspects of 'time travel' strike Kate pretty forcibly and she has to decide from an early stage what her actions are going to be. I thoroughly enjoyed all the references to Richard's court and the imagining of him as someone completely unlike the version handed down to us by the Tudors. The recent find of his remains in Leicester has meant that there has been a re-evaluation and it was so interesting to read this one. For indeed, anyone who became King in those times must have had a strong character and sharp brain to keep hold of their position.
It is always hard in a novella to capture all the detail that you would like to see in terms of characterisation but there is enough in this story to keep your interest and to make you wonder what happens to Kate in the end. I also enjoyed the portrayal of the other women in the court and their reactions and preoccupations. You realise what a dangerous predicament they were in and that they had to make a choice as to who they supported, with potentially disastrous results, should it turn out that they had backed the loser. A woman's place it seems, was to watch and pray.
In short: a time-slip romantic journey into the Yorkist court of Richard III.
About the Author
Jennifer is a marine biologist by training, who developed an
equal passion for history whilst stalking Mary, Queen of Scots of childhood
holidays (she since moved on to Richard III). She completed her BSc and MSc at
the University of Hull, and has worked as a marine environmental consultant
since graduating.
Enrolling on an adult education workshop on her return to
the north-east reignited Jennifer’s pastime of creative writing, and she has
been filling notebooks ever since. In 2014, Jennifer won the Story Tyne short
story competition, and also continues to work on developing her poetic voice,
reading at a number of events, and with several pieces available online. Her
Kindred Spirits novels are published by Crooked Cat Books and available via
Amazon.
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