Presumed Guilty

by Evelyn B. Rosenthal

hardcover dust jacket present. dust jacket is faded and discolored with limited chipping and tearing to edges. book has tight binding, limited markings or creasing- previous owner's name stamp on inside first page. limited chipping or tearing edges.

Genres: Historical Fiction

Hardcover

First published June 1, 1982

Reviews

[Pauline Calkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Richard III’s story, focusing on the fate of the princes in the Tower, is told by he Duke of Buckingham, Elizabeth of York, Frances Lovell, Margaret of Burgundy, and Cardinal Morton. Buckingham’s account begins the book and provides much background information leading up to Richard’s accession, but ends abruptly when he is executed and before he can tells us about his knowledge of the fate of the princes. The book ends with Cardinal Morton’s account, and it is fairly easy to guess whom the author believes is responsible for the princes’s fate.

I have a few stylistic problems with this books . Elizabeth of York’s narrative can be somewhat hard to follow because she relates what her husband told her, which is based on what Morton told him, who in turn says he got his information from James Tyrell or others. Got that?
Margaret of Burgundy’s part in the form of a letter to Henry VII, in which she feels obliged for some reason to recount her history to him, and the fact that she loved Edward and George, but found that Richard lacked joie de vivre. It seems somewhat awkward that her letter quotes extensive dialog she had with John de la Pole concerning the Lambert Simnel affair.

The overall tone is staunchly pro-Ricardian, contains some interesting perspectives, and along the way some of the standard myths about the mystery are ably debunked.

[Barb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Originally self-published in 1982, Evelyn B Rosenthal's 'Presumed Guilty' incorporates history and fiction, while examining the potential motivations of some of the history makers themselves. The War of the Roses, the mystery of the princes in the tower, the pretender Lambert Simnel and (the so-called pretender) Perkin Warbeck are all covered by the various narrators in her book.

We are offered varying perspectives of these events through the eyes of five important figures: Henry Stafford the Duke of Buckingham; Elizabeth of York, Richard III's niece and Henry VII's Queen; Francis Lovell, Richard III's good friend; Margaret of Burgundy, Richard's sister and Cardinal Morton, who became the Archbishop of Canterbury.

While some of the proposed motivations surrounding the disappearance of the princes might have been new in 1982 they seem to have been incorporated in many of the books recently written on the subject.

Rosenthal seems to have gotten much of the history into the recollections of these 'characters' while there is a bit of overlap of the events that are described as well as a few omissions.

I discovered the existence of this book when I went searching for more information factual or fictional on Francis Lovell. As he narrates one portion of this book I knew I wanted to read it. I searched it out and was able to find a copy through the wonderful Inter-Library Loan service.

Since I chose this book based on the fact that the author offers a portion of it narrated from Francis Lovell's perspective it's no surprise that his part was my favorite. I also liked reading Henry Stafford's perspective and I enjoyed his sense of humor. But overall I found this book to be more like a recounting of facts with a minimal development of the 'characters'.

I think that people who like historical fiction with a 'just the facts' style may like this. I would have enjoyed this more if there had been a greater depth to the 'characters'. I also found it difficult to read this after reading Sharon Kay Penman's 'The Sunne In Splendour' which covers all of the same historical facts and really brings the historical figures to life.

I thought that a lot of the dialog was unrealistic and was clearly used to offer commentary and context for the reader but was not at all authentic to what the actual people would have said. And when characters are recounting their memories of events what was said is offered in quotes and recounted as if it's happening at the present time which felt a little clumsy.

The perspective from Margaret of Burgundy is offered as a letter and it was similarly lacking a sense of authenticity, she would not have needed to recounted her own personal history to Henry Tudor, and she includes dialog in her letter, which is clearly written that way for the reader. But I think if an author chooses the epistolary style then they should maintain that style, otherwise it seems sloppy to me.

Overall this felt like the same story with very little new and exciting information. Though I did enjoy reading more about Francis Lovell. If anyone can recommend another book about him I would appreciate it.

[Susan]

A Ricardian novel told from the points of view of Buckingham, Elizabeth of York, Francis Lovell, Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy, and John Morton. One of the better pro-Richard novels I've read, and it actually gets Katherine Woodville's age right! This novel was self-published back before print-on-demand technology became available and can be hard to find, but once in a while copies show up used.