The Wars of the Roses Omnibus
By Rhoda Edwards
The Wars of the Roses and their Tudor legacy spring vividly to life in these three classic novels by expert author Rhoda Edwards.
The omnibus opens with Some Touch of Pity (published in the US as The Broken Sword), winner of the Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award. In 1483, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, returns home a hero after a triumphant victory over the invading Scots. His adoring family awaits him, but their happiness is soon shattered by the death of Richard’s brother, King Edward IV. With his young son as his only heir, Edward makes Richard Protector of England on his deathbed, entrusting him to guide and rule until the child king is old enough to take the throne.
Fortune’s Wheel takes us back to 1469, where the Wars of the Roses are still raging. Young Richard Gloucester waits in the wings, witnessing the formidable struggle for power between his brother Edward IV and the magnificent Richard Neville – the infamous Warwick the Kingmaker. But Richard’s own life is in turmoil; he has fallen in love with Warwick’s daughter, Anne. Now he is torn by a bitter conflict: his loyalties divided between the passion he feels for his enemy’s child and a fierce loyalty to his brother.
The final novel is None But Elizabeth. “I shall never marry!” the young Elizabeth declared, a vow she kept throughout her life, in the frightening and brutal world of shifting fortunes that was Henry VIII’s heritage. The daughter of six-times-wed Henry VIII, she had already decided that marriage was a sham. Only the handsome Robert ‘Sweet Robin’ Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, has ever weakened her resolve, for he loves her as no other man could. But the frightened child grew into a powerful monarch who knows all too well the deadly trap of marriage – and Elizabeth cannot yield to her greatest desire.
Rhoda Edwards is among the most acclaimed of historical novelists, and this omnibus is perfect fare for anyone who enjoys the work of Philippa Gregory, Jean Plaidy et al. For those with an interest in Britain’s Renaissance/Tudor history, the accuracy and vivid detail of these works – along with the fact that Edwards has published academic works on this subject – make the omnibus a ‘must read’.
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