Dickon

by Marjorie Bowen

Richard III is England’s most controversial king. Some believe him to be a sinister murderer and others believe he is one of England’s most patriotic monarchs.

In this fantastic piece of historical fiction, Marjorie Bowen delves into the childhood of Richard Plantagenet and reveals a moving tale.

Shaken by the tragic loss of his father and his older brother at the Battle of Wakefield, Richard and his elder brother George, later Duke of Clarence, are forced to flee the House of York to the Low Countries.

Here he overhears the gory details of the murders which have dealt him such a devastating blow and is visited by strange visions of a devil.

These haunting manifestations stay with him as he returns to England following the defeat of the Lancastrians.

As his eldest brother is crowned he trains as a knight and learns skills he later puts to the test as King of England.

Despite his growing sense of foreboding, Richard becomes a powerful and honourable ruler who struggles valiantly to ensure peace in England, offering leniency and mercy to some of the traitors brought before him.

But he is shocked when Richard Warwick, his cousin, nicknamed “Kingmaker”, betrays him in his hour of need and when George Clarence, his beloved brother, is seduced into treachery by his own lust for power.

A web of dynastic plots and treason trouble him.

He learns that the women surrounding him would sooner become nuns than witness more violence in the name of war and he tries to shield Anne Neville, his devoted wife, from his vicious enemies.

But will his efforts be in vain?

This is a story of conflict, violence and heartache. From his lonely childhood, to happier moments with Anne and the glory of victory, to his fateful death on Bosworth Field, the life of Richard III is written in the blood of those he most loved.

Praise for Marjorie Bowen:

“A book remarkable alike for its vividness and for its historical perspective”
DAILY EXPRESS

“… one of the most novel features of Miss Bowen’s book is the care she takes to see the point of view of Mary’s lovers. She makes a plausible case for Bothwell and even joins the very select band of those who have something good to say for Darnley”
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

“Fresh, vivid, exciting and enthralling … This is a fine book”
THE SPHERE

“A book in every way worthwhile … as an individual contribution to the subject, Miss Bowen’s work is of the exceptional class”
THE SCOTSMAN

Born in 1885, Marjorie Bowen (pseudonym of Margaret Gabrielle Vere Campbell Long) was one of Britain’s most prolific authors of the twentieth century. Writing was more than just a hobby: her works were the primary source of financial support for her family. Between 1906 and her death in 1952, Bowen wrote over 150 books, garnering much acclaim for her popular histories and historical and gothic romances. Alongside masterful descriptions and concise, efficient prose, she deftly rendered larger-than-life subjects in the minds of her readers. To this day, aficionados of the genres covet Bowen’s work.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction

246 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1929

About the author

Marjorie Bowen (pseudonym of Mrs Gabrielle Margaret V[ere] Long née Campbell), was a British author who wrote historical romances, supernatural horror stories, popular history and biography. Her total output numbers over 150 volumes with the bulk of her work under the 'Bowen' pseudonym. She also wrote under the names Joseph Shearing, George R. Preedy, John Winch, Robert Paye, and Margaret Campbell. As Joseph Shearing, she wrote several sinister gothic romances full of terror and mystery. Many of these stories were published as Berkley Medallion Books. Several of her books were adapted as films. Her books are much sought after by aficionados of gothic horror and received praise from critics.

Bowen's alcoholic father left the family at an early age and was eventually found dead on a London street. After this, Bowen's prolific writings were the chief financial support for her family. She was married twice: first, from 1912-16, to a Sicilian named Zefferino Emilio Constanza, who died of tuberculosis, and then to one Arthur L. Long. Her first novel was The Viper of Milan (1906), after which she produced a steady stream of writings until the day of her death on 23rd December 1952. Her last, posthumous, novel was The Man with the Scales (1954).

Reviews

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a re-release of a 1929 novel, written to be sympathetic toward Richard III before it was fashionable to do so. Though it may have been popular in its time, I simply do not feel that it stands up to the variety of quality novels that are currently available on this topic.

For those who enjoy the false medieval language used by writers of earlier times, this novel may be more appealing. I found the dialogue, which was heavily sprinkled with doth, thou, and 'eth' at the end of awkward words, to be stilted and uninspiring. It reminded me of the posts that people write in the Medieval Merriment group...except they're joking...and those posts are not novel length.

The plot added nothing to Richard's story for most people who will be tempted to pick it up, and those who do not know his story should look elsewhere for an introduction. Maybe it is partly because I recently finished Conn Iggulden's War of the Roses: Bloodline that I didn't have patience for this boring storytelling. It simply could not compare. Pick up The Sunne in Splendour, Loyalty, The Stolen Crown: The Secret Marriage that Forever Changed the Fate of England, Loyalty Bound, Treason, The Seventh Son, or countless others that have told Richard's story instead.

I thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing this novel in return for an honest review.

[Sarah (Presto agitato) · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a fictionalized account of the life of Richard III. It is long and drawn-out, the language is full of faux-medieval thous and thines, and the protagonist is a bit of a Richard Sue. There are many better books out there on this topic.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marjorie Bowen (1885-1952) was a very prolific author of historical fiction, romance, crime and horror, producing over one hundred and fifty books during her lifetime. Endeavour Press have gradually been making some of them available to modern readers and there are several that I’m interested in reading, but I decided to start with this one, Dickon, as it is set during one of my favourite historical periods: the Wars of the Roses.

The title refers to Richard III (Dickon, of course, is a nickname for Richard) and the novel follows Richard throughout his entire life, beginning with the moment when, as a child, he learns that his father, the Duke of York, and elder brother, Edmund, have been killed at the Battle of Wakefield. The book is divided into three sections; the first is called The Three Suns, which refers to the parhelion which appeared in the sky at the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross, but could also be a pun on the three remaining 'sons' of the Duke of York – and covers Richard’s childhood up to the point where his brother wins the throne for York, becoming King Edward IV.

The middle section, The Bear and Ragged Staff (a reference to the emblem of the Earl of Warwick) concentrates on 1470-1472, the period of the rebellion of Warwick and George, Duke of Clarence. Finally, The White Boar takes us through Edward’s death and the period immediately afterwards – Richard’s own brief reign and his tragic end at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. There is no doubt that Richard suffered a lot of misfortune and tragedy and this is symbolised in the novel in the form of Jon Fogge, a man-at-arms whom Richard believes has been haunting him throughout his life, bringing bad news and bad luck to the Plantagenets.

Dickon was published in 1929 and I think it’s fair to say that it’s quite different from the majority of historical fiction that is being published today. The dialogue has a very old-fashioned feel, being sprinkled with words like ‘thou’, ‘thee’, ‘doth’ and ‘hath’, something that seems to have been dropped by most modern historical novelists, and the whole novel also has an air of innocence, with sex scenes only hinted at rather than explicitly described. I do like 'older' historical fiction but I suspect some readers will find this book too archaic and romanticised.

In her preface to the novel, Marjorie Bowen says that she has studied all of the known sources and "has violated no known fact, nor presented any character or action in any light that is not probable, as well as possible". I did notice a few historical inaccuracies, but as I’m not completely sure how much material was available in 1929 and how much has only come to light in more recent years, I’m not going to be too critical. There are also a lot of controversies surrounding Richard III and his reign – there is no one version of events that has been accepted by everybody – so different authors and historians do have different theories and different interpretations. I was particularly curious to see how Bowen was going to approach the mystery of the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower, so I was disappointed to find that her solution was simply to ignore the whole episode!

Richard himself is portrayed as sensitive, loyal and trusting, a brave warrior and a devoted brother, father and husband. His character lacks the depth and complexity I would have liked and sometimes seems too good to be true, although I can appreciate that this is one of the earliest pro-Ricardian novels, written decades before books like The Daughter of Time or The Sunne in Splendour, and that the author was trying to provide an alternative to the usual view of Richard as the hunchbacked villain of Shakespeare’s play.

If you’re completely new to this period of history and the life of Richard III, this book is maybe not the best place to start, but I did find it quite enjoyable and a good addition to my collection of Wars of the Roses fiction. I will be reading more by Marjorie Bowen.

[Pauline Calkin · Rating 2 out of 5]

First published in 1929, this is one of the earliest fictionalized and favorable accounts of the life of Richard III. Even the dust jacket notes that the author is “one of the pro-Richard contingent and she presents him in the somewhat unfamiliar guise of a noble and chivalrous hero.” (Read: she’s a Ricardian loon?) As a Ricardian myself, the book is entitled to some credit for the author's approach alone.

The story begins as eight-year old Dickon and his brother George are sent into exile in Burgundy after after the defeat of the Yorkists at Wakefield. One of the men-at-arms who accompanies them on this journey is one Jon Fogge. Little Dickon is horrified by Fogge, believing him to be some kind of devil. Throughout his life Richard has visions of Fogge, who becomes a symbol of the evil stalking the House of York. In this respect, the tale takes on the aspect of an allegory. This struck me when Richard is sent by his mother to talk George out of his treasonous alliance with the Earl of Warwick. Richard is wandering lost in the countryside, visions of his loves, Anne and Alys dancing in his head. He comes across a peasant who misdirects him. This leads to his first romantic encounter when he falls asleep in a wood , only to be awakened by the seductive Rosamund. Later, and somewhat remorseful, Richard thinks, "ok., that peasant must have been that darn Fogge." Fogge real or imagined also appears at other critical points: when Richard rescues Anne from the cookshop; when Fogge (at the behest of the Woodville) leads him to the chamber in the Tower to see brother George’s corpse; when Fogge is executed along with Buckingham. Of course, even after Fogge is executed he appears to take part in the battle of Bosworth. This was all a bit much for me.

There are some interesting tidbits, such as George’s suggestion that brother Edward IV was a magician who conjured up the vision of the three suns before the battle of Towton (wrong battle, but that is just nitpicking, right?) Oh, and the two princes? Last seen here, they were just romping around Richard's court with their sisters and cousins. However, the language is very formal and the book is studded with stilted dialog. It also belabors certain points. For example, Richard’s mother, Cecily Neville, is never mentioned without noting that she retired from the world and lived the life of a nun after her husband and son were slain at Wakefield. Although I wanted to like it, I found it slow-moving and not to my personal taste. 2.5 stars

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come, very interesting writing style.

[Phil Syphe · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Dickon' is a retelling of The War of the Roses, blending fact with fiction, and seen from the perspective of Richard Plantagenet, later the Duke of Glouster, and finally King Richard III of England.

The novel was written in 1929 by an author who believed, like Ricardians of today beleive, that the last Yorkist king was not the evil monster as the Richard portrayed by Shakespeare.

'Dickon' was Richard's nickname during his boyhood.

The story is divided into thirds, opening when Richard was seven or eight years old. He and his brother George - later the Duke of Clarence - flee to Burgundy when their father and older brother, Edmund, are killed by their Lancastrian foes. Only when their surviving brother - later Edward IV - is victorious, can the young York princes return to England.

At the beginning of the second section Richard is eighteen. Events take place during the period of 1470-1472. Here the reader sees how Richard - now Duke of Glouster - develops as a man, a prince, and a warrior.

The third part covers the period 1482-1485, detailing the latter days of Edward IV, leading into Richard's two-year stint as King of England, climaxing with the famous Battle of Bosworth Field.

I really liked this book and would have awarded it five stars, only I felt the narrative often lacked sparkle. This is well worth reading if, like me, you are interested in The War of the Roses and Richard III.

[Sassenach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Une nuit de janvier 1460, Richard et son frère George sont témoins de l’arrivée d’un chevalier ensanglanté dans le grand hall de Baynard Castle, qui annonce à la famille que le père et l’un des frères ainés des deux enfants ont été tués dans le Yorkshire où ils se sont opposés à l’armée de la maison de Lancastre. Richard et George sont alors envoyés aux Pays-Bas sous la protection du Duc de Bourgogne. Mais après plusieurs semaines d’inquiétude sans nouvelles de leur famille, ils apprennent enfin qu’Edward, le frère ainé restant de Richard et George, a gagné une bataille décise contre Henry VI et son épouse Marguerite d’Anjou et qu’il va être couronné roi d’Angleterre, permettant ainsi le retour au pays des deux enfants. Si George est ravi de cette victoire car il va pouvoir avoir un titre élevé, Richard ne pense qu’à soutenir Edward et à devenir un bon chevalier pour le servir au mieux …
Je suis une pro-Richard III et j’étais curieuse de découvrir ce roman vraiment pas récent (il date de 1929) mais qui était parmi les premiers à affirmer que Richard III n’était pas le monstre décrit dans les pièces de Shakespeare. Bien sûr, après avoir lu l’excellent The sunne in splendour de Sharon Pay Penman, je me doutais que ça allait être difficile de l’égaler. Et effectivement, ce fut malheureusement le cas ! L’auteure raconte la vie de Richard, commençant par son enfance quand il apprend la mort de son père jusqu’à sa propre mort à Bosworth. Mais si elle suit à peu près la chronologie, elle saute parfois d’une période à l’autre sans explication, ne signale pas certains moments qui me paraissaient importants pour comprendre l’état d’esprit de Richard et le contexte historique. Tous les personnages apparaissent sans trop de présentation et il est très facile de s’y perdre, surtout qu’ils ne sont pas toujours bien représentés car trop superficiels (il y a bien un petit appendice récapitulatif des personnages, leur rang, leur rôle en fin de livre mais dans mon exemplaire, rien n’est signalé à ce sujet et je l’ai donc découvert, ainsi que mon chéri, quand on a eu fini le roman ... cela ne m’a pas vraiment dérangé vu que je connaissais assez bien la période et mon chéri me posait des questions qu’il avait besoin de savoir mais c’est dommage pour les autres lecteurs). En plus, l’auteure a voulu insérer un petit côté « fantastique/ésotérique » avec le personnage de John Fogge, que Richard voit partout et qu’il prend pour le diable en personne mais, même si j’adore le fantastique, j’ai trouvé ici le procédé inutile et peu réussi. Franchement, en lisant ce livre, si je ne connaissais pas déjà la vie de Richard III, j’aurais trouvé l’ensemble plat et ennuyeux, les protagonistes ayant peu de dimension humaine et je ne suis pas sûre que ce roi tant décrié ait été vraiment bien réhabilité par cette maladroite tentative. Sans oublier l’excès de langage d’époque qui alourdit la lecture et qui apparait un peu ridicule à la force. Tout n’est pas à jeter, loin de là, mais ce n’est sûrement pas ce titre que je conseillerais à quelqu’un qui veut découvrir cette période historique !

[Exasperated Iberomesornis Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

While being ahead of its time (1929) in presenting a positive (euphemism) image of Richard III, this novel has aged badly because of the use and abuse of archaisms (the superabundance of "thous" and -eths, among other things). They aren't bothersome enough to prevent me from enjoying the book, but at the same time, they feel unnecessary. Also, the author decided that the most controversial thing in Richard's life was a bit in contradiction with the hypersupergood character she had written, so she decided to ignore it.
Not bad, but there are better examples of the same genre around.

[Aileen]

Excellent book. Great story. Would give it 5 stars but this app won't let me.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marjorie Bowen wrote a lot of novels, (and I mean a lot – check her bibliography) and was very popular in her day. Endeavour Press are re-issuing some of them and I thank them for that because if this one is anything to go by, they are still worth reading. Dickon was published in 1929 and to a certain extent shows its age. We are used to a different sort of historical novel these days, one that is full of psychological insight and a real effort to go behind the scenes of the historical record. Dickon is rather a bland retelling, but as far as I can tell a reasonably accurate one, and is clearly and simply written. I found it an enjoyable and readable account of the life of Richard III, which rattles along at a good pace, and covers all the important events. There’s a helpful section at the end, too, with biographical and historical information. Worth trying, though I accept it will feel too old-fashioned for some readers.

[Nicki Markus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a riveting fictional account of the life of Richard III. Far from the black portrayal of Shakespeare, Dickon, offers a far more balanced view of Richard, showing him as a strong knight, a builder of churches, and a competent administrator. Bowen's writing and characterisation held my interest right from the start and the book was a great page-turner. I highly recommend this title for lovers of historical fiction you'd like to see Richard III in a different light.

I received this book as a free eBook arc via NetGalley.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is historical fiction based on the Life Of Richard the third. I became extremely interested in Richard from other historical novels and went on to ready many non fiction books about him. This book was written in the 1920s so the language is quite different and the story glosses over some of the more gruesome details. Nonetheless it is a very enjoyable novel about King Richard. This author and many others do not believe in hunch backed villain of Shakespeare. So if you are interested in Richard you will be pleased with this novel

[thebookiereviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've read. I totally recommend this book. Divided into three parts this book this books tells us the story of King Richard III beginning with his childhood. It was a refreshing reading from another point of view of this King, as I have previously read Shakespeare’s play.

disclaimer: I got a copy for my honest review

[Maxime · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book via net galley in exchange for an honest review.

It took me a while to get into the narrative of this book however i did enjoy it and as a fan of historical fiction would recommend it.

[Geoff Boxell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book some years back. It was one of the first to rehabilitate Richard III. Not a bad read. For an interesting variation on the Richard III theme try "We Speak No Treason" - which tells his story from 3 different people's perspective.