Read letters from Sandra
Fall 2009 Newsletter
The King's Daughter  ·  The Rose of York Trilogy

Sandra’s Fall 2009 Newsletter

A Bouquet of Awards and
A Smile for Pale Rose of England

THANKS TO READERS & REVIEWERS

Having been gone three months this year finalizing the research on my work in progress, Pale Rose of England, I thought I'd grab this chance to write you before leaving again in September to research my next book. But first—thank you so much for helping to make The King's Daughter on Elizabeth of York a resounding success! I couldn't have done it without you, my dear readers and reviewers. Many of you have been with me since my very first novel, lighting up my writing career with your emails and lovely praise.

THE AWARDS
My reviewers have been especially generous this year in presenting me with a beautiful bouquet of three awards: BEST HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY from RT Book Reviews for The King's Daughter; BEST HISTORICAL OF THE YEAR from Romance Reviews Today and BEST SINGLE TITLE OF THE YEAR from the CataNetwork of Romance Novels for Lady of the Roses. I am truly humbled by the great honor you have done me, especially since so many illustrious names were nominated. (Finalists for the RT Award were Philippa Gregory, Susan Halloway Scott and Jane Candia Coleman).

PALE ROSE OF ENGLAND
Other developments I'd like to share with you concern my work in progress. As some of you know, Pale Rose of England on the Scottish princess, Lady Catherine Gordon, the beautiful wife of the Pretender to the English throne, will close out my series on the Wars of the Roses that began with Richard III as a young boy in The Rose of York: Love & War. With four marriages made for love in an era when men controlled the destiny of women, Catherine is an irrepressible heroine who defied the tyranny of two kings, Henry VII and Henry VIII, and in the process proved herself a rose for all seasons.

THE MYSTERY
The Pretender - was he, or wasn't he the real prince? No one really knows. I, along with some historians, believe that the younger prince in the Tower did survive and that the so-called Perkin Warbeck was the son of King Edward IV (see The King’s Daughter and The Rose of York: Fall from Grace ). And Philippa Gregory agrees. Here, I would like to quote from the queen of historical fiction herself:

“Then there is the historical evidence. A very interesting book by Ann Wroe, Perkin, suggested to me that the so-called pretender Perkin Warbeck might well have been the surviving prince, Richard. Her case for it is very compelling, as others have suggested too. There is other persuasive evidence that both boys were not killed as the traditional history (and Shakespeare) suggests. Even the traditional history--of them being suffocated in their beds in the Tower and buried beneath a stair—is filled with contradictions. If Perkin was Richard--and this is speculative history, as indeed all history around this genuine mystery must be—then Richard must have somehow survived.“

THE YOUNGER PRINCE IN THE TOWER
Those who have read my novel The Rose of York: Fall from Grace know that Prince Richard survived the Tower when he was smuggled out by Richard III and replaced by a pageboy. In Pale Rose of England, Prince Richard, now grown to manhood, returns to challenge Henry VII for the throne. I am delighted that the queen of historical fiction has joined those of us on this side of the great historical debate.

A Letter from Sandra about
“The King’s Daughter”

Greed. Lust. Ambition. Betrayal. Blood.
The dramatic life of Elizabeth of York.
New research has raised many questions.

Beautiful Elizabeth of York lived at the epicenter of momentous events during the reigns of four kings and is the only English Queen to have been a wife, daughter, sister, niece and mother to English Kings. So why does she hover invisible and barely noted at the edge of history? In fact, so little was known about her that her biographer, by her own admission, had to resort to novelistic techniques in order to fill in the gaps of Elizabeth’s life.

Tudor propaganda has always claimed that Richard III murdered her brothers, the Princes in the Tower—but did he? And why is Elizabeth a mysterious figure virtually lost to history when so much is known about her husband, Henry VII, her son Henry VIII, and even her mother-in-law, Margaret Beaufort? Did the Tudors keep her captive, and why should she be a threat to them? Did she believe the Pretender, Perkin Warbeck, was really her lost brother, Richard, Duke of York?

New research has raised many questions. In my novel, The King’s Daughter, which was crafted in long discussions with Ph.D. medievalist Jean Truax, and based in part on Anne Wroe’s The Perfect Prince, new details emerge as Elizabeth reveals her shocking story, from her turbulent childhood during the Wars of the Roses to her reluctant, but courageous, marriage to Henry Tudor that made the Tudor dynasty.

And as I wrote this book, I have to tell you-- Elizabeth won my heart, too. Now I turn her over to you, with affection, admiration, and deep respect for her great courage, compassion, faith and sacrifice.

I hope you'll find it happy reading!

  ~  Sandra

A Letter from Sandra about
the Rose of York Trilogy

Dear Readers,


     Most of you know my protagonist, Richard III, as Shakespeare's villain, the wicked uncle who murdered his little nephews, the Princes in the Tower. But that is his “Tudor” face, given him by propaganda. It's not the one depicted in The Rose of York. While the fictitious villain of the Tudors makes great reading, my readers have found the truth even more fascinating. From the mystery of the Princes in the Tower, to Richard III's Romeo and Juliet love story with Anne Neville (which may have inspired Shakespeare's play a hundred years later), to the Cain and Abel aspect of his relationship with his brother George, his story is imbued with myth. Here is a true-life knightly hero battling injustice in Malory's England.

     I first became interested in this king when I saw his portrait at the National Portrait Gallery, London. That portrait gave the lie to Shakespeare's depiction of him as an ugly hunchback and the more I read, the more difficult it became to reconcile his actions with his reputation in history as an evil villain. To the contrary, his life brimmed with honorable deeds that spoke of idealism and faith in God. His passion for justice changed our lives in the modern world, but like his great love story with his beloved Anne, it seems to have become history's secret.

     Just so you know, all the books in the Rose of York series stand alone and can be read in or out of sequence, and each has won its own awards without the judges being aware the book they were judging was part of a larger series. That's the beauty of the grand epic saga known as the Wars of the Roses! It's so immense it can be taken apart nicely. I think you'll find that, even after nearly six hundred years, Richard's story speaks to us today.   In my article  “Richard III: A Thoroughly Modern Man” you can see what I mean.

     To those who have written me, I wish to express my deep appreciation for your kind praise and encouragement, especially the honor of comparison to Plaidy and Seton, my two favorite authors. I love hearing from you, so please do continue to contact me with any questions, suggestions, or comments you might have. I can be reached via email, snail mail, message board and guestbook (on the contact page).

     Let me hear from you. And “Happy Reading”!

  ~  Sandra