Queen By Right Review and GIVEAWAY!

From Anne Easter Smith's website... "In Cecily Neville, duchess of York and ancestor of every English monarch to the present day, Anne has found her most engrossing character yet. Cecily earned two monikers from her contemporaries: Rose of Raby for her fair-haired beauty and Proud Cis for her fierce loyalty and courage in the face of the many history-making events she experienced in her eighty years. This was a woman who could have been queen had her husband lived to win the day over Henry VI and his queen, Margaret of Anjou, in the winter of 1461.
History remembers Cecily of York standing on the steps of Ludlow Castle, facing an attacking army while holding the hands of her two young sons. Queen by Right reveals how she came to step into her destiny, beginning with her marriage to Richard, Duke of York who she meets when she is nine and he is thirteen. Raised together in her father’s household, they become a true love match, and together they face personal tragedies, pivotal events of history, and deadly political intrigue.
All of England knows that Richard has a clear claim to the throne, and when King Henry VI becomes unfit to rule, Cecily must put aside her own hopes and fears and help her husband decide what is right for their family and the kingdom. As civil war escalates between the cousins of Lancaster and York, Cecily will lose her love, her favorite brother and her dearest child. But in the end, she will watch proudly as her oldest son takes his father’s place at the head of a victorious army and is crowned at Westminster Abbey as King Edward IV."

My thoughts... I am always a little surprised at how little of the English Monarchy I know about. So, I love to read well-written fiction that not only gives me a great story but teaches a bit in the process. Anne Easter Smith has delivered with Queen By Right! Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, is someone I had only heard about as a peripheral character in other novels. She is the mother of two kings and an ancestor to the British Royal Family that captures our attention even today.

I was pleasantly surprised to read the first page and see the setting... Baynard's Castle February 8, 1461". Why is that so surprising? Well, February 8th is my birthday! So, I knew that I would have a "kinship" with Cecily... which by the way is such a great name!

Having never read a novel by Ms. Smith, I have to say that her writing style is perfect for a historical novel. She adds the perfect amount of research so that I'm not completely lost. I love dialogue in novels but found that I actually enjoyed the narrative passages more in this novel. Ms. Smith writes so eloquently and uses dialogue to enhance the story. I honestly think she could write nonfiction that is interesting and "fall asleep" boring. I also enjoyed how she used flashbacks to show Cecily's thoughts about events in her life. I honestly think she could write nonfiction that is interesting and "fall asleep" boring.

Like I said, I don't know that much about her so having the maps, the family tree and the Dramatis Personae (cast of characters) and glossary to refer to was so helpful. This is why I will never give up "real" books. It's just easier to flip to the front (or back) as opposed to trying to navigate on an ereader. Ms. Smith wrote not an interesting Author's Note but there is included a book club guide and an interview. These are really helpful tools that increased my enjoyment of this novel.

** Thanks to Anne Easter Smith, the publisher and Amy from Historical Fiction Book Tours for providing Queen By Right, in exchange for my honest and thoughtful review.


***GIVEAWAY***

Anne Easter Smith has graciously offered a copy of Queen By Right to a reader of Bags, Books & Bon Jovi.

I'm keeping this simple... just leave comment about this novel or Ms. Smith's guest post and you'll be entered to receive this book. You can also enter Tuesday when I post my review... you'll just need to comment on my review or tell me what other Queen By Right blog review you read. So... maximum... two entries!

The contest (open to US readers only) will start when this post is published and I will choose a winner at 11:59pm Tuesday June 21, 2011.