Pale Rose of England by Sandra Worth

February 1st 2011 by Berkley Publishing

Paperback, 450 Pages

Review Copy

It is 1497. The news of the survival of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, has set royal houses ablaze with intrigue and rocked the fledgling Tudor dynasty. With the support of Scotland's King James IV, Richard-known to most of England as Perkin Warbeck-has come to reclaim his rightful crown from Henry Tudor. Stepping finally onto English soil, Lady Catherine Gordon has no doubt that her husband will succeed in his quest. 

But rather than assuming the throne, Catherine would soon be prisoner of King Henry VII, and her beloved husband would be stamped as an impostor. With Richard facing execution for treason, Catherine, alone in the glittering but deadly Tudor Court, must find the courage to spurn a cruel monarch, shape her own destiny, and win the admiration of a nation.

Review

Pale Rose of England surrounds the rumors, legends and facts of the Tower of London and the life of Richard Plantagenet (Perkin Warbeck) and his wife Catherine Gordon, a Scottish princess. Richard’s claim to be the lost prince of England in 1495 caused a huge stir within the royal family and remains today a big controversy that seems to be unable to prove or disprove. Although Worth’s claims in the novel make it very easy to see the links that would actually prove Richard to be Perkin.

The novel takes off with Richard and a pregnant Catherine returning to England to reclaim his crown from Henry Tudor, with the support of his family Richard is hopeful that the people will empower him and help his cause. Catherine rallies with her husband but has no idea that pursing this will destroy everything about her life and bring horrid consequences. The people seeing Richard as inexperienced and kind of wimpy like, are not eager to help and find the situation lobbying against Henry Tudor to freighting. Eventually the couple are captured by Tudors men and held prisoner. Henry with the reputation he had of course subjects the two to humiliation, torture and heartbreak. I was devastated for Catherine and truly felt swept up by emotion when I read what they went through. Catherine fairs much better than Richard and gets taken into Queen Elizabeth’s home, but then has to fight off the advances of Henry Tudor, who has become taken with her.

After the devastation at Court, the latter part of the book reflects on Catherine’s life and here the reader gets some quiet time to reflect and get away from the politics of the book, she spends time in the country and while her heart is broken with the loss of her husband and son, Catherine has incredible strength to move on and move forward.

I love historical fiction (mostly American) and the Tudors have always fascinated me, but Ive always been intimidated to read a historical fiction novel based on that era. I dove into Worth’s novel not knowing what to expect and what I found was brilliant. Worth’s writing and presentation were superb and I truly loved getting to know and experience Catherine. I’m a very fast reader so usually a day is all I need to finish a book, it took me a week to get through Pale Rose of England, just because of the sheer amount of information and details going on. It was almost like an adventure for me and I greatly enjoyed, cried, gasped and marveled at the lives of Catherine and Richard.

Rating

Pale Rose of England is recommended to adult readers and for fans of historical fiction, Contains: Violence, death, murder, sexuality, language, torture, politics, romance and childbirth in the 1400's.

4/5- Historical Fiction

Thanks to Publisher and HFHistoricalbooktours