Brian Wainwright

This was a fun romp. It helps to know a thing or two about the Wars of the Roses. The author clearly knows a thing or forty five. While this is clearly not a serious historical novel so much as a lovely bit of fun, its a lovely bit of fun that has its basic facts right. I laughed a lot with Alianore, her irrepressible career through the violent landscape of late fifteenth century Endland and her thoroughly irreverent take on the vagaries of her lecherous cousin Edward IV, his sadly humor impaired brother Richard III and their unfortunate successor, The Tudor Slimeball. I really had fun with this and recommend it highly.… (meer)

If you're looking for a little levity, you can't go wrong in spending an afternoon with Alianore, who is not your typical 15th century waiting woman - she's a saucy, savvy, sexy little spy for her cousin, King Edward IV, employed in the household of her other cousin, Richard, Duke of Gloucester. At times she is biased and unreliable - she's got some fanciful stories about certain events that take place during Richard's reign - but she's always entertaining.

Alianore finds herself in one jam after another as she contrives to balance the demands of political intrigue with her life's ambition to be an ordinary knight's lady. This is a quick read and great fun, particularly if, like me, you've read more than your fair share of medieval novels!

Witness this recent entry from the Court Circular, in the Alliances Sought section:

"Damosel, XXI years. Warranted chaste and obedient. No visible blemishes. Offers to John Audley, at Eltham. Woodvilles, Hautes, etc. need not apply."

Or Paragraph Eighteen from the Knightly Code: "No knight, esquire, or armiger shall carry off, ravish or imprison any lady, damosel or gentlewoman (except for the purpose of taking her in canonical marriage against her will) under pain of six months banishment from all tournaments in Western Europe and a fine of twenty-four shillings."

Or the sign on the wall of a favorite London cook-shop: "Anne Neville, Duchess of Gloucester, worked here, 1471."

The author explains that he rattled off this little romp as a break to get his creative juices flowing again while writing his more serious work, Within the Fetterlock. I highly recommend this little tart of a book!… (meer)