Within the Fetterlock
by Brian Wainwright
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Book Summary Information
Author: Brian WainwrightEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-03-01
ISBN: 0972209115
Number of pages: 540
Publisher: Trivium Publishing LLC
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780972209113
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Within the Fetterlock
Book Review: A "must-read" for Sharon Kay Penman fans: 4.5 stars
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm bewildered that I had to order this book online, instead of seeing it displayed along with new hardcover fiction at my local Barnes & Noble, where I can readily find other historical fiction titles, such as Penman's latest or C.W. Gortner's "Last Queen"; that's certainly where it belongs, front and center.
Reading this dramatic story of Constance of York isn't for the faint of heart. It's a weighty 500 pages or so, and each of those pages is crammed full of different characters and a mass of detail about life at the dawn of the 15th century. But Wainwright, like Penman and other historical fiction writers who have been able to weave compelling tales out of historical fact, has a knack for making both the plot and the characters jump to life vividly. Constance is an intriguing character to select as the focus of this novel; she is very little known (outside the world of dedicated medievalists), and yet she was the great-aunt to Edward IV and Richard III, who witnessed and participated in the chain of events that would bring those two monarchs to the throne more than half a century later. The heart of the story revolves around a family feud; but that feud is between the various grandsons of Edward III and what is at stake is nothing more than the future of the kingdom. When the novel begins, Richard II is on the throne and newly-married to a young French princess -- a child, too young to provide heirs to the throne. That leaves Richard's various cousins hovering in the wings, with various degrees of anxiety or hunger. There are his Mortimer cousins, distrusted by Richard, but recognized as the book opens as his official heirs; and then there are the children of John of Gaunt, who has just scandalized the court by marrying his long-time mistress, Katherine Swynford. And, hovering on the fringes, there is Constance, who watches in horror as one of those cousins deposes the king, and who is caught up in the intrigues that follow.
With all the recent emphasis on books about the Wars of the Roses and the Tudor era, this novel makes a refreshing change on many fronts, and it's a delight to find a new novelist able to master both historical detail and dialogue. I'm giving this book a solid 4.5 stars, deducting a measly half-star for the author's occasional propensity to showcase his extensive knowledge of the period with detail that bogs down an already-complex narrative. (With some tighter editing, this could be a really remarkable book.)
Highly recommended to any historical fiction reader; a general reader likely won't have the patience to work their way through the web of interrelationships, etc., and any romances take a back seat to other plot dimensions rather than driving the plot as in other historical 'entertainments'.
If you are looking for something truly off the beaten track, look for this author's other offering, The Adventures Of Alianore Audley, which is an absolutely hilarious, tongue-in-cheek spoof of historical fiction; the chronicle of an aristocratic spy for Edward IV.
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