Winter's Rose

Wars of the Roses Quartet #4

by Eleanor Fairburn

London, England, 1483

King Edward IV is dead, plunging England into chaos. His brother Richard rides from the cold North in an attempt to take the reins of government and restore order, only to be crowned King Richard III…

Cecily of Neville, famed matriarch of the House of York, is powerless to prevent the rapid turn of events – the inevitable battles, betrayals and murders that haunt her son Richard in his short-lived reign. And at the heart of it all are two young princes confined in the Tower of London, their fates a mystery to this day…

Winter’s Rose is the final novel in Eleanor Fairburn’s famed quartet on the Wars of the Roses, and a touching end to her masterful representation of Cecily Neville, the Rose of Raby.

Genres: Historical Fiction, 15th Century

190 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

AKA Catherine Carfax and Emma Gayle.

'Eleanor Fairburn was born in the west of Ireland. She was educated at St Louis Convent and studied Art in Dublin. After a period of time spent near the Welsh Marches, reading Welsh literature and meeting Welsh people, she settled in Yorkshire, where she lives with her husband, Brian, and her daughter, Anne.'

Reviews

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is by far my favorite book of the whole series. Brilliant, and with a superbe writing. Also the plot was convincing, apart from some little improbabilities like Henry Tudor in disguise visiting Cecily on her deathbed . I appreciated the author chose not to continue along the line of a love between Richard and Elizabeth of York, and in general the plot was very convincing. Beautiful, simply beautiful.

[Pauline Calkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the concluding volume of the author's In the shadow of the Throne series. It begins with the death of Edward IV and a plot by the Queen and her Woodville kin to seize power from Richard of Gloucester, whom Edward named as lord protector. After this initial attempt fails, other conspiracies follow. During the succession crisis, Edward's prior marriage to Eleanor Talbot is made public and on the petition of the lords religious and secular and the commons, Richard succeeds to the throne.
The events are scene through the eyes of various participants, including briefly William Catesby. The account of events is pro-Ricardian. There is nothing novel about this version of the fate of the princes, but the details about Edward's mindset and his growing closeness to Lord Hastings are very believable.

The narrative concludes with the end of the Buckingham rebellion. It is poignant that at this point Richard reflects that he knew he can go forward with faith and courage to whatever the future might hold as long as he had his family to strive for.
In an epilogue, the book and the series ends with Cecily Neville and her thoughts 10 years after Bosworth on the death of her youngest son and the desecration of his body. During this period, agents of the new king have made futile attempt to gain knowledge of the fate of the princes from Cecily. While on her deathbed, she receives a visit from a mysterious stranger. Is this yet another attempts to find out about the princes?
This series held my interest throughout.

[Kimberly Ottinger-Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Twist

Another side to the War of Roses and Princes in the Tower. Engrossing, could not put down. A new favorite historical fiction author

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Winter’s Rose is the fourth and final book in Eleanor Fairburn’s Shadow of the Throne quartet, and like the first three, is well worth reading – bringing to life the people involved with the House of York and the Wars of the Roses.

The final installment in this series begins with the death of King Edward IV and the succession crisis caused when certain secrets, long thought forgotten, are brought to light. Conspiracies abound, as the widowed queen, Elizabeth Woodville, plots with her family to keep the king’s brother, Richard of Gloucester, from assuming the office of Lord Protector – preferably by killing him.

The plots fail, but a crisis of succession erupts when it’s learned that the late king’s marriage was never valid. With Parliament declaring the marriage invalid and Edward's children bastards, Richard reluctantly accepts the throne.

The story continues with the events that follow, concluding with the Buckingham Rebellion and the answer to that ever-present question, what happened to Richard’s nephews.

The series ends as it began, with Cecily Neville. This time, it’s ten years after Bosworth and the death of her last and youngest son. An aged Cecily, living in austerity in a Tudor world, receives an unexpected visitor as her life draws to a close.

Many thanks to the fiction library of the Richard III Society, American Branch for making a copy of this book available to me.

[Empressa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly a masterpiece

This series has been, in my opinion and with 20+ years of studying Tudor/York/Lancaster history, the fairest account in both fiction and nonfiction of what could've happened post-Edward IV's reign. While the portrayal of the Woodvilles may be a bit harsh throughout, the lack of pointing fingers at Margaret Beaufort or Henry Tudor makes me think of how damaging it has been for Philippa Gregory to act/write as if it were a given that they are responsible for the princes deaths. Not only that but through all my years of reading, I had never known (or at least it was mentioned so briefly that I've forgotten) about the jaw condition and possible cancer of Edward V.
Anyway, this series is wonderful and I breezed through all 4 books in a week. Anyone interested in "The Cousins War/War of the Roses" should enjoy this quartet!

[jeannette Dooley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jean38no

I’ve read many books on the war of the roses. On the York’s and the battle at Bosworth when Henry the Seventh won his crown. This author really brings to life the Yorks Story. You are immediately transported to the 13th. and 14th century with all its sights and smell. She almost made me like Richard the Third . She made him so human! You felt like you knew these people. It was such a page Turner I read all four books in three days. Loved it

[Maya Ch · Rating 5 out of 5]

very well written the last scene

In this final book of a quartet , Cecily lives through her last son Richard’s reign and well into Henry Tudor’s. She does not appear much in the story, though the epilogue is entirely hers.
The story is very well written, gripping, entertaining, though heavily biased for Richard III.

[Rosie Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

And here is the last book in the series a brilliant author I have truly loved all four books if you love the War oF The Roses and the Yorkist cause then you love this series

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent historical fiction book about Richard III’s rise to power. However, it moves even further away from Cecily then the third one did. Worse, while it made sense to move the focus in the third book, here, there were several points in 1483 where Cecily could have been front and center, but we don’t see it. I felt as though there was a chapter or two missing. Where on earth was the long-coming showdown scene between Cecily and her son Richard after he found out what she had been concealing? Argh.

Meanwhile, the rest of the book is a wonderful read, and very much #TeamRichard. This Richard is the height of the romanticized Richard. This version of Richard just wants to rule the north country with a just hand, looking after his wife and child and subjects. He desperately wants to keep the kingdom stable while Edward V is a minor, with plans to rush home the minute the kid is an adult, and is very much forced to become king himself. Meanwhile, the initial conflict here is shown as all Elizabeth Woodville’s fault, flat out ordering Richard’s death so she can be solely in charge of the child king, and then, once she fails, Buckingham sweeps in to try and take the crown, again forcing Richard to act defensively.

As for the Princes in the Tower, in this version, a chain of dominos, some set up by Richard himself, fall and contribute to his own downfall. Edward V, under immense physical suffering from a bone infection and royally pissed off not to be king anymore, commits a murder/suicide, killing himself and his boy-servant, whom Buckingham mistakes for the younger prince when he is the first one to find the bodies, sparing him the trouble of killing them himself. The elder prince is secretly buried due to the Catholic church forbidding funerals and proper burials to those who commit suicide. Meanwhile, Richard had already sent the younger prince away north for safety while the elder prince was too sick to be moved. He then sends the young prince overseas for further safety. All the safety precautions come back to haunt Richard, since all the secrecy to protect the princes then makes it impossible to a) show what happened and b) not be personally blamed.

Fair warning about the end of the book, the story centers just on events of 1483, and the story ends with the execution of the Duke of Buckingham, with a brief epilogue 10 years later of Duchess Cecily reviewing her memories of the end of Richard’s reign and the beginning of the Tudor reign, and tying everything back to the beginning of book one.

Loved the book and loved the series! So happy to see them getting new editions!