Cecily - Annie Garthwaite

Cecily

Review by Andrea

Rating 6/10

I was recommended this book by Dan Jones, during one of his Friday Live sessions a few years ago. I was a bit sceptical about reading it, but decided to bite the bullet and give it ago. It took me a while to read as I couldn't really get into the story line, I don't know if this was down to the way it was written, the story-line or me not really knowing the history as much as I should do.

The book follows Cecily Neville as she navigated her life as a wife and mother as well as playing a part to help her husband stay on the good side of the King. Even though this book is written in diary form, I felt that it was written in the wrong person and should have been first person and not third. The book was somewhat easy to follow and the story flowed rather well, there was the odd moment when I had to re-read a bit because it didn't make sense due to missing punctuation or the story not flowing properly.

The story starts not long after Cecily's marriage to Richard 3rd Duke of York. It follows the early years of her marriage, along with her life and what was happening at court, through all the children the couple had and then the issues that her husband had when it came to King Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou. The story ends with the death of Richard and her son Edmund, which was at the time of the downfall of Henry VI and the rise of her eldest son Edward to King. It would have been nice for the book to have carried on into the first few years of her son's reign. Just to see what she was like and thought as all we ever really see is the story from Elizabeth Woodville.

I know a little bit of the history that happens within this book and as far as I can tell it has stuck close to what really happened. But with most books there will always be a little bit of historic licencing to make it more dramatic. Since reading this book it has made me want to look more in to the life of Cecily as from what I can see she was a strong willed woman and this book certainly shows that.  I have looked at some of the other women that were around at the same time as Cecily but never the woman herself. It doesn't help that Elizabeth Woodville, who I like, made her out to be her enemy at times.

This book is ideal for those that know about medieval history and the people that played a part at the start of the Wars of the Roses. It is also ideal for those that want to know more about the women that were around at the same time. Or if you are like me and a massive history nerd this is a good book to read as not only does it follow the history taking place it also tells the story of one woman that played a massive part in it. I might have to give this another read at some point in the future in the hope of understanding it a bit more and getting a better knowledge on the history that surrounds it.