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Wars of the Roses Quartet #3
The Rose at Harvest End
London, England, 1461
The handsome young heir of the House of York has wrested power from Lancaster, and is finally crowned King Edward the Fourth. Yet, amongst this triumph, Edward secretly marries the beautiful and scheming Elizabeth an impoverished widow – and a rumoured witch. In a sea of shifting alliances, the Wars of the Roses continue, more ferocious than ever.
The Rose at Harvest End is the third book in Fairburn’s renowned Roses Quartet, and features Cecily Neville, powerful matriarch of the House of York, as she tries to settle the passionate family conflicts that will decide England’s fate.
The handsome young heir of the House of York has wrested power from Lancaster, and is finally crowned King Edward the Fourth. Yet, amongst this triumph, Edward secretly marries the beautiful and scheming Elizabeth an impoverished widow – and a rumoured witch. In a sea of shifting alliances, the Wars of the Roses continue, more ferocious than ever.
The Rose at Harvest End is the third book in Fairburn’s renowned Roses Quartet, and features Cecily Neville, powerful matriarch of the House of York, as she tries to settle the passionate family conflicts that will decide England’s fate.
276 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1974
About the author
Eleanor Fairburn
19 books7 followersAKA 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.'
'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.'
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 28, 2020
This third installment in the series covers the years from the accession of Cecily Neville's oldest son, Edward, to the throne until his death. Unlike the previous two volumes in which events are mostly seen through the eyes of Cecily, here several characters tell the tale of these years, including Elizabeth Woodville, Richard, Henry VI. and Anne Neville.
But despite Cecily's knowledge of Edward's prior marriage to Eleanor Talbot she decides not to denounce his marriage to Elizabeth for fear it would topple his throne. When Edward lies dying, she again struggles whether to proclaim the bastardy of his children. She becomes aware that the fact will come to light and fervently wishes that her youngest son hurry down from the north because he is the only one who has the courage and power to deal with the impending crisis.
This volume is pretty much true to known facts, and is well written and entertaining.
But despite Cecily's knowledge of Edward's prior marriage to Eleanor Talbot she decides not to denounce his marriage to Elizabeth for fear it would topple his throne. When Edward lies dying, she again struggles whether to proclaim the bastardy of his children. She becomes aware that the fact will come to light and fervently wishes that her youngest son hurry down from the north because he is the only one who has the courage and power to deal with the impending crisis.
This volume is pretty much true to known facts, and is well written and entertaining.
March 20, 2025
Eleanor Fairburn “The Rose at harvest end”. Book 3.
This book continues Cecily’s life story into the reign of her firstborn, Edward, the Earl of March, the Duke of York and now, the King of England.
Her children are grown up and weave their own lives, leaving Cecily only an observing role. she gradually loses her influence, though not her children’s love and respect.
Margaret leaves for Burgundy, George rebels and loses his life, Edward dies untimely.
Richard of Gloucester is the last son left...
This book continues Cecily’s life story into the reign of her firstborn, Edward, the Earl of March, the Duke of York and now, the King of England.
Her children are grown up and weave their own lives, leaving Cecily only an observing role. she gradually loses her influence, though not her children’s love and respect.
Margaret leaves for Burgundy, George rebels and loses his life, Edward dies untimely.
Richard of Gloucester is the last son left...
February 7, 2020
This is book 3 in the author’s Shadow of the Throne quartet, which tells the story of the Wars of the Roses through the main character, Cecily Neville. I read the first to volumes in this series – The Rose in Spring and White Rose, Dark Summer – many years ago. In fact, until recently I was unaware that there were two more books in the series. So I think a shout out is in order to the Richard III Society’s American Branch fiction library for loaning me a copy of this and the fourth book in the series.
The books in this series, for anyone who is interested in reading them, are:
The Rose in Spring
White Rose, Dark Summer
The Rose at Harvest End
Winter’s Rose
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Although the primary character throughout the series is Cecily Neville, the chapters often alternate between other characters’ points of view, allowing the reader to get inside the minds of more than just Cecily. For example, in the chapters featuring Henry VI, Ms. Fairburn was able to make me truly feel sorry for him.
In book 3 of this series, we follow the reign of Cecily’s oldest son, Edward IV. Through his mother’s eyes, we see him sow the seeds that will eventually lead to the fall of the House of York – his making a disastrous marriage, as well as alienating those whose power he should have continued courting. And as an ailing Edward's end draws near, Cecily knows that she should have let her youngest son, Richard, know the truth behind his brother’s marriage.
The book is well written and easy to read, and for the most part sticks pretty good to the facts, but this is, after all, a work of fiction and so the knowledgeable reader may take issue with some events that have been tweaked to create a better story line, but I found nothing outlandish or implausible.
The books in this series, for anyone who is interested in reading them, are:
The Rose in Spring
White Rose, Dark Summer
The Rose at Harvest End
Winter’s Rose
-0-0-0-
Although the primary character throughout the series is Cecily Neville, the chapters often alternate between other characters’ points of view, allowing the reader to get inside the minds of more than just Cecily. For example, in the chapters featuring Henry VI, Ms. Fairburn was able to make me truly feel sorry for him.
In book 3 of this series, we follow the reign of Cecily’s oldest son, Edward IV. Through his mother’s eyes, we see him sow the seeds that will eventually lead to the fall of the House of York – his making a disastrous marriage, as well as alienating those whose power he should have continued courting. And as an ailing Edward's end draws near, Cecily knows that she should have let her youngest son, Richard, know the truth behind his brother’s marriage.
The book is well written and easy to read, and for the most part sticks pretty good to the facts, but this is, after all, a work of fiction and so the knowledgeable reader may take issue with some events that have been tweaked to create a better story line, but I found nothing outlandish or implausible.
June 26, 2022
The Rose at Harvest End – 50th Anniversary Edition
Book 3 in the Rose Quartet
By Eleanor Fairburn
Reviewed June 26, 2022
This is my second reading of Book 3 of Eleanor Fairburn’s Rose Quartet, The Rose at Harvest End. This volume covers the years 1461-1483, and although Cecily Neville continues to be a main character, much of the story is about her oldest son who has crushed the Lancastrians at Towton and has taken the throne and rules England as King Edward IV.
By the end of the second book (White Spring, Dark Summer) 18-year-old Edward has already begun sowing the seeds that will ultimately lead to the destruction of the House of York through his cavalier handling of the relationship with a widowed noblewoman, Lady Eleanor Butler. All Edward wanted was to get in bed with her, but she wanted more, so Edward went through a sham marriage.
Once he tires of Eleanor (which happened shortly after he got what he wanted), he has already set his eyes on another Lancastrian widow, Elizabeth Woodville Grey.
Over the course of the installment, we see Edward fall in lust, I mean love, with Elizabeth Woodville and this time things are different. Unlike all the other women he’s approached, this one says no to being anyone’s mistress.
Edward sees Elizabeth as a bright, intelligent woman who appeals to his mind as well as his body, but fails to see the avaricious nature behind the lovely face and make a disastrous marriage. The old nobility is offended, not only because of her low status (this is a time when kings married for political alliances, not for love), but because of her family’s grasping greed. In supporting his wife’s family above all others, Edward alienates those whose power he should have continued courting.
Through all of this Cicely keeps quiet. She knows her son’s secret, knows that his earlier pre-contract with Eleanor Butler means his marriage to Elizabeth is bigamous, that his children are bastards. She believes that to allow any of them to inherit the throne would be a sin, but at the same time keeps quiet for fear of alienating her son. Besides, there has been too much violence, too much bloodshed over the years. The country deserves peace. She sees her oldest son as the strong, vibrant young man that he is. By all accounts, he should live a long life and Cecily will be gone before any of this might ever come to light. But Cecily is wrong.
When Edward unexpectedly falls ill before his 41st birthday, his mother realizes she should have confided in her youngest son, Richard, long before this. Now, everyone is going to have to pay the piper for Edward’s indiscretions.
Ms. Fairburn has given us a book that is well written and easy to read, as are all the books in this series. She has a way of bringing the characters to life, and in a story that focuses less on Cecily and more on others, we get a closer look at Edward IV, his brothers Richard and George, and Henry VI. In fact, her portrayal of Henry actually had me feeling truly sorry for a man who should never have been king, or at least should have had better advisors.
As this is a work of fiction, some events have been tweaked in order to create a better story line, but I found nothing outlandish or implausible. Knowledgeable readers may take issue with some of this, but as a writer, Ms. Fairburn was simply exercising her artistic license.
Book 3 in the Rose Quartet
By Eleanor Fairburn
Reviewed June 26, 2022
This is my second reading of Book 3 of Eleanor Fairburn’s Rose Quartet, The Rose at Harvest End. This volume covers the years 1461-1483, and although Cecily Neville continues to be a main character, much of the story is about her oldest son who has crushed the Lancastrians at Towton and has taken the throne and rules England as King Edward IV.
By the end of the second book (White Spring, Dark Summer) 18-year-old Edward has already begun sowing the seeds that will ultimately lead to the destruction of the House of York through his cavalier handling of the relationship with a widowed noblewoman, Lady Eleanor Butler. All Edward wanted was to get in bed with her, but she wanted more, so Edward went through a sham marriage.
Once he tires of Eleanor (which happened shortly after he got what he wanted), he has already set his eyes on another Lancastrian widow, Elizabeth Woodville Grey.
Over the course of the installment, we see Edward fall in lust, I mean love, with Elizabeth Woodville and this time things are different. Unlike all the other women he’s approached, this one says no to being anyone’s mistress.
Edward sees Elizabeth as a bright, intelligent woman who appeals to his mind as well as his body, but fails to see the avaricious nature behind the lovely face and make a disastrous marriage. The old nobility is offended, not only because of her low status (this is a time when kings married for political alliances, not for love), but because of her family’s grasping greed. In supporting his wife’s family above all others, Edward alienates those whose power he should have continued courting.
Through all of this Cicely keeps quiet. She knows her son’s secret, knows that his earlier pre-contract with Eleanor Butler means his marriage to Elizabeth is bigamous, that his children are bastards. She believes that to allow any of them to inherit the throne would be a sin, but at the same time keeps quiet for fear of alienating her son. Besides, there has been too much violence, too much bloodshed over the years. The country deserves peace. She sees her oldest son as the strong, vibrant young man that he is. By all accounts, he should live a long life and Cecily will be gone before any of this might ever come to light. But Cecily is wrong.
When Edward unexpectedly falls ill before his 41st birthday, his mother realizes she should have confided in her youngest son, Richard, long before this. Now, everyone is going to have to pay the piper for Edward’s indiscretions.
Ms. Fairburn has given us a book that is well written and easy to read, as are all the books in this series. She has a way of bringing the characters to life, and in a story that focuses less on Cecily and more on others, we get a closer look at Edward IV, his brothers Richard and George, and Henry VI. In fact, her portrayal of Henry actually had me feeling truly sorry for a man who should never have been king, or at least should have had better advisors.
As this is a work of fiction, some events have been tweaked in order to create a better story line, but I found nothing outlandish or implausible. Knowledgeable readers may take issue with some of this, but as a writer, Ms. Fairburn was simply exercising her artistic license.
June 6, 2023
I liked the third book in the Cecily Neville's series way more than the previous one, but not as much as the first one. Here Cecily is not the main narrator, because most of the events of this period don't see her involved. That was a good choice. Insisting in sticking with a single pov would have been limiting.
The writing style is good as ever, but there were few lines of dialogue compared to the huge amount of telling. The author takes some liberties with History, but sometimes she comes up with strange subplots, like she did in the previous book. Above all, Cecily who takes custody of almost all of her grandchildren - royal ones included - and looks after them for a whole year. As I noticed in the other books, the quality tends to get lower as we reach the ending. Luckily there's not much foreboding as before, but also here we get our fair share: George who apparently had known his whole life how he would end, or Margaret of York already aware, with her brother still on the throne, that she will have to use "Perkin Warbeck" for the sake of her House. Some mistakes I'm not sure were deliberate changing, like Rob Percy presented as Richard's cousin, or Coldharbour mistaken for the Neville's London residence The Herber; some were obvious mistakes such as the Duke of Suffolk dying at sea during the voyage from France to England; some were deliberate, but too unlikely (such as Cecily's escape in the previous book), for instance the fact that the York children's stay at Falstoff Place in 1460 was set in winter instead of summer/early autumn just to have them freezing and starving like little abandoned orphans from some Dicken's book. And above all, Cecily's foresight... I won't lie to you, that's the thing I hated more in the previous book, because it spoiled the events in advance. Here Cecily predicts, well before Edward's death, exactly what the Woodvilles will do. Also for the whole book, we are presented Richard and Anne's relationship as one of love. Then, suddenly, as I said towards the very end, Richard is revealed to love Elizabeth of York because she so resembles his dead mistress, the one who in teenage years bore him Katherine and John. Excuse me, what?? We don't have reasons to expect or believe this out of nowhere, since you told us otherwise since now, mrs. Fairburn! Again, I see is a flaw of her to insert random charachters or storyline just to simplify the plot for her. She knows from History a charachter would become important later, she forces it into the plot. She knows a rumor will arose about Elizabeth of York and Richard, in litterally two lines we are told that Richard loves her out of nowhere! I don't know, but for me it was so frustrating because I got what the author's little trick was.
On a positive note, Margaret of York charachterization improved much since the previous book. The other two daughter were just mentioned a couple of times, so we can't really tell.
The writing style is good as ever, but there were few lines of dialogue compared to the huge amount of telling. The author takes some liberties with History, but sometimes she comes up with strange subplots, like she did in the previous book. Above all, Cecily who takes custody of almost all of her grandchildren - royal ones included - and looks after them for a whole year. As I noticed in the other books, the quality tends to get lower as we reach the ending. Luckily there's not much foreboding as before, but also here we get our fair share: George who apparently had known his whole life how he would end, or Margaret of York already aware, with her brother still on the throne, that she will have to use "Perkin Warbeck" for the sake of her House. Some mistakes I'm not sure were deliberate changing, like Rob Percy presented as Richard's cousin, or Coldharbour mistaken for the Neville's London residence The Herber; some were obvious mistakes such as the Duke of Suffolk dying at sea during the voyage from France to England; some were deliberate, but too unlikely (such as Cecily's escape in the previous book), for instance the fact that the York children's stay at Falstoff Place in 1460 was set in winter instead of summer/early autumn just to have them freezing and starving like little abandoned orphans from some Dicken's book. And above all, Cecily's foresight... I won't lie to you, that's the thing I hated more in the previous book, because it spoiled the events in advance. Here Cecily predicts, well before Edward's death, exactly what the Woodvilles will do. Also for the whole book, we are presented Richard and Anne's relationship as one of love. Then, suddenly, as I said towards the very end, Richard is revealed to love Elizabeth of York because she so resembles his dead mistress, the one who in teenage years bore him Katherine and John. Excuse me, what?? We don't have reasons to expect or believe this out of nowhere, since you told us otherwise since now, mrs. Fairburn! Again, I see is a flaw of her to insert random charachters or storyline just to simplify the plot for her. She knows from History a charachter would become important later, she forces it into the plot. She knows a rumor will arose about Elizabeth of York and Richard, in litterally two lines we are told that Richard loves her out of nowhere! I don't know, but for me it was so frustrating because I got what the author's little trick was.
On a positive note, Margaret of York charachterization improved much since the previous book. The other two daughter were just mentioned a couple of times, so we can't really tell.
April 30, 2023
Another entertaining entry in Eleanor Fairburn's series on The Wars of the Roses.
As compared to the earlier entries, this book does stray further and further from being from Cecily's point of view. That said, it also feels appropriate that it does so, as the character herself recognizes that her role in the happenings of her time has diminished with her age as her children and other relations become the primary movers and shakers.
Although fiction, I do think this book does a good job of illustrating what might have been and the travesty that a lack of communication and respect, as well as unchecked ambition did amongst the various family members and subsequently to England as a whole. How different history might have been had relations not deteriorated between Edward IV and Warwick, between Edward IV and George, Duke of Clarence, or the Woodville greed been kept in better check by Edward IV.
My only gripe with the book is that it increasingly becomes obvious that it is written with the benefit of hindsight to the point I feel it takes a reader with knowledge of what is to come out of the story. I could have done without the need to explain Perkin Warbeque, and I think the thoughts that the author assigns to Cecily, such as knowing Stillington has chosen to reveal the alleged secret marriage between Edward IV and Eleanor Butler (thereby explaining Richard III's ascension to the throne) or her thoughts on Richard III relating to Elizabeth of York or the foreshadowing of his taking the throne feel out of place. It's suspect that such thoughts ever crossed her mind, particularly at that juncture in time. I've yet to read the final book in the series, so it's possible that she's setting some of these things up for that novel. Even so, it feels forced to prepare to tie up every loose end, especially when there remains much debate today surrounding the people and events involved.
That gripe aside, I still found this an enjoyable entry in Fairburn's series that as always, does a wonderful job of bringing these historical figures to life.
As compared to the earlier entries, this book does stray further and further from being from Cecily's point of view. That said, it also feels appropriate that it does so, as the character herself recognizes that her role in the happenings of her time has diminished with her age as her children and other relations become the primary movers and shakers.
Although fiction, I do think this book does a good job of illustrating what might have been and the travesty that a lack of communication and respect, as well as unchecked ambition did amongst the various family members and subsequently to England as a whole. How different history might have been had relations not deteriorated between Edward IV and Warwick, between Edward IV and George, Duke of Clarence, or the Woodville greed been kept in better check by Edward IV.
My only gripe with the book is that it increasingly becomes obvious that it is written with the benefit of hindsight to the point I feel it takes a reader with knowledge of what is to come out of the story. I could have done without the need to explain Perkin Warbeque, and I think the thoughts that the author assigns to Cecily, such as knowing Stillington has chosen to reveal the alleged secret marriage between Edward IV and Eleanor Butler (thereby explaining Richard III's ascension to the throne) or her thoughts on Richard III relating to Elizabeth of York or the foreshadowing of his taking the throne feel out of place. It's suspect that such thoughts ever crossed her mind, particularly at that juncture in time. I've yet to read the final book in the series, so it's possible that she's setting some of these things up for that novel. Even so, it feels forced to prepare to tie up every loose end, especially when there remains much debate today surrounding the people and events involved.
That gripe aside, I still found this an enjoyable entry in Fairburn's series that as always, does a wonderful job of bringing these historical figures to life.
May 14, 2023
If your obsessed with The War of The Roses like me then you will love these of books by the late Eleanor Fairburn 50th anniversary edition a must read
September 10, 2020
Cecily Neville, after being the main star of the first two books, takes a back seat for the majority of the middle of the third book, as her children each take center stage during the dramatic events of the 1460's and 1470's. Still, she has a hand in things, even if she sadly reflects towards the end that so much of her life ends up becoming waiting to hear birth and death announcements - sometimes at the same time as she loses various nieces and daughters-in-law to childbirth.
Things end on a very tense note as Edward IV is dying and Cecily realizes some explosives secrets she's guarded for years are about to come out...
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews