This is a Romance Novel with a thin backdrop of a very diluted 15th century England where Edward the IV is king.

Anne, a young peasant girl, comes to London where she is able to...
leap tall buildings in a single bound
...not exactly but pretty close.

Anne is amazingly skilled with herbs and is able to apply her skills where no one else can. She assists in the healing of her employer and then goes on to offer her aid to the queen.

There are so many logic defying turns in this story that by the e More...

I was so horribly disappointed in this book. Its more fiction than history, and uses the historical figures as a pale background to a Mary Sue character. Anne is just too perfect, I didn't get the chemistry between her and Edward, and everything from the point where Anne (view spoiler)[discovers her ancestry (hide spoiler)] made me want to give up on the book.

There was a good way to create this character: this (view spoiler)[illegitimate princess (hide spoiler)] who falls for the King, but The Innocent did not live up to the expectations or the hype. The b More...

I am enjoying this, though it is a little melodramatic at times. I'd give it 3.5 stars. The heroine is a little *too* perfect, but she's about to get less so -- we'll see. I think my problem with most historical fiction is that most books will never be as good as Dorothy Dunnett's. On top of that, this book takes place during the reign of Edward IV, and no one's Edward will measure up to Sharon Kaye Penman's Edward.

Will paste my review of the whole series (or as much of it as I was able to read) from Amazon here. This is the only book I've read that's moved me sufficiently to write an Amazon review.


I was very pleased to finally acquire this book, having heard of it several years ago. Although I'm not an expert in history, I have read a lot of books concerning this period, and always look forward to reading more. My pleasure soon turned to dismay as I started reading. Through the first few chapters I had a More...

Where do I start with this book? Well, recently I've had a problem with not finding a book that can hold my interest. I think I went through about four or five books before I found this little gem. It not only held my interest, but I was so hooked that I read it in two days. I even put down the other book that I was reading to read Posie Graeme-Evans' The Innocent. I wouldn't say the book is amazing, but it definitely caught my attention.

The Innocent follows the life of the mysterious Anne. She More...

The Innocent. Posie Graeme-Evans. 2002. Atria Books. 406 pages. ISBN 0743272226.

The Innocent is the first novel in a trilogy featuring our heroine Anne, and taking place in medieval Britain 1450 during the reign of King Henry VI and soon, King Edward IV.

This novel of historical fiction takes place during the War of the Roses and combines adventure, romance, and intrigue into a work of art. The Innocent is one of the best novels I have read so far in 2010.

Anne is beautiful, intelligent, and modes More...

This book is the first in a trilogy about Anne, the illegitimate daughter of King Henry VI. I was intrigued to learn more about her, because while I’ve read several historical fiction novels about her lover King Edward and his wife Elizabeth Woodville, I had never heard anything about Anne. I enjoyed Anne’s story, especially her skills with healing and the fact that she grew up simply, not knowing she was the daughter of a king. However, I found the narration of this rather stilted. Additionally More...

Despite having a rather 'romantic' feel to this book, I really enjoyed this novel (not an avid fan of the romance genre). Ms. Graeme-Evans did a fantastic job in giving vivid details to describe the visual environment from the scenery to the smell. Costumes were also described with amazing accuracy (I studied costuming for a while). However, if you are someone who is looking a book that is true to history (in terms of events and people, and what have you), then this isn't the book for you. But i More...

First and foremost, don’t read this book expecting historical accuracy, for if you do, you’ll be sorely disappointed. That being said, THE INNOCENT is a twisting, bosom-heaving, emotional, gasping historical fiction read! The author gorgeously places us into the heads of all the characters, however minor, so that we are able to get a sense of their thoughts and feelings, their conflicts and uncertainties. I don’t know much at all about Medieval England, but I am far from disappointed here: our c More...

This is a romance novel with an historical setting. Personally I enjoyed the descriptive sex scenes and the romantic twists. If you don't like bodice rippers, you won't like this.

This *is not* Philippa Gregory. PG is very historically accurate and tries to present her characters in a very realistic way. You won't find that here.

All of that being said, Graeme-Evans does a great job of describing what medieval England might have looked and sounded like. And she gives you a sense of what it might More...

Before I even start I will say that this is heavy on the fiction side. You read minimal about the big events that happened and mainly about the love story of Edward and Anne. That is okay, it was a decent story. A little tough to get into it but after the first few chapters the story unraveled rather well.

Anne's knowledge of healing herbs brings her to the attention of Queen Elizabeth. Dame Jehanne is in charge of the queen's body servants. Jehanne does not know at this time that Anne is the chi More...

This book is literally cheap! No Constructive Dialogue and a goody-goody 2 shoes as a misstress of Edward IV. Edward IV was a clever guy he would never fall for a dummy like Anne! And of Course Anne is such a big threat to Edward that she is indomitable! Seriously! An illegitimate daughter of Henry VI! Yeah, Henry VI that prayed 1/2 his life a away and was mad the other half! Elizabeth Woodville was a much better Wife to Edward IV and Stupid Anne should stop wishing that her son will be queen! S More...

Set in medieval Britain, the story of a baby born deep in the forest. There is a plot to kill both mother and baby, but miraculously the baby survives. Years later Anne joins the household of a merchant in London, her special qualities cause jealousy and intrigue but it's her gift of healing herbs that brings her to the attention of the ailing queen. The greatest love of her life becomes the king himself, King Edward IV.

Great story of love and destiny - hard to put down and I couldn't wait to re More...

Caveat: I'm not well versed in Medieval English history, & I refuse to spend hours trolling for factoids and/or critiquing any tweaks of what really happened. Quite honestly, I don't care. As far as I'm concerned, historical fiction has the freedom to play with facts. I don't demand perfect homages to history; I merely demand an engaging story, decent-or-better writing, & characters that capture my attention.

...Which is what the author provided. I make no excuses. I have no shame. :P

Tha More...

I have recently become addicted to the Australian television drama McLeod's Daughters created by Posie Graeme-Evans, so when I discovered she is also an author I had to check it out. The Innocent is the first of a trilogy about a romance between Edward IV and a fictional illegitimate daughter of the ousted Henry VI, Anne de Bohun. It isn't a bad book, but it isn't particularly good either. It is a light sort of romance with a historical setting and lots of period atmosphere (if not always accura More...

15 year old Anne is being taken by her foster mother to work as a servant in merchant's house. She has good knowledge of herbs and after Anne saves the merchant’s wife, her knowledge brings her to the attention of the court's doctor.The doctor brings Anne to court to help the queen giving birth to their first child. While being there she attracts the king’s eye and discovers the truth about her parents.

Oh boy, where am I gonna start? First of all, if you’re gonna read this for historical accuran More...

This book took me by surprise. I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I did. The back cover description screams "Mary Sue" and the heroine was indeed quite Mary Sueish. She can sense if she will have a bond with someone, people see halos of light around her, and she charms males left and right into lust or genuine caring. By all rights she should have been thoroughly obnoxious, and while she did irritate here and there, the story was told in an ingratiating way so that the occasional eyeroll did More...

The Innocent has been in my TBR pile for quite some time. It is set during the period of the War of The Roses and I've read quite a few books with the same setting so, while I am often curious about that period, I also fear that my expectations will be too high and I tend to postpone picking them up unless they are recommended by friends.


The story starts in 1450 with a birth, the baby lives but the mother dies in labour. We find out that she was being protected by Royal Guards till they were am More...

I really liked this book a lot. This is the first book in a trilogy - books 2 and 3 are coming to me from Amazon soon. The book opens with a rather scary scene where an obviously important party of travelers is attacked in the middle of a forest around 1450. The target of the attack is a pregnant girl named Alyce who is in heavy labor. Alyce dies after giving birth to a baby, who is left in the care of a woman named Deborah, deep in the forest. The book picks up about 15 years later and is the s More...

Read 7/3-7/5/07
The Innocent is the first book in a trilogy set in England during Edward IV's reign. Anne, a young girl raised by a wise woman in a small village, comes to London to make her way in the world. Anne's skill with herbs and healing
eventually brings her into the glittering, dangerous world of Edward IV's court and her mysterious past begins to unfold and influence her future.

This is an interesting book, filled with the sort of detail about daily life and historical personages that mak More...

I really liked 'The Innocent'. It was a light read but enjoyable with just enough intrigue and romance to keep it moving and I wanted to keep turning pages to see what would happen next. I really liked Anne too but at times I feel she was just a little bit too 'nice'. There's nothing wrong with being nice, but at times I wished she had a little bit more dimension to her.

Sometimes I felt that her beauty was overplayed though. Everyone she meets, and I mean EVERYONE, is struck dumb by her beauty a More...

For all the praise this book has received from various readers, it's a bit stilted for my tastes. I'll plow on a bit more, but it it doesn't grab me, out it goes, into the wild. There are only so many virgins with healing skills, evil sons, capricious maids and such one can read about without becoming entirely too jaded.

Edited to add I've abandoned Anne and her cohorts. Since there are two more books in the series, which I will also abandon, I know that the story of Anne, her love for Edward, th More...

This is the first book written by Posie Graeme-Evans.
Although the writing flows as smoothly as a river in summer, I liked her latest book, The Dress Maker better.
Innocent is the first in a trilogy about the same heroine, Anne DeBohun who falls in love with Edward IV but then finds out her secret heritage and seeks to escape from him. I have to read the next book to find out what happens next.

I've had the privilege of reading this Trilogy and thoroughly enjoyed it. I've read some other reviews that express the dismay of the reader because the timeline and events don't match up with what happened in history during that time but this is why it's called fiction. I have recommended this book/Trilogy in the past and will continue to in the future.

I really enjoyed this Historical Fiction. It did seem a little slow in some sections but only very slightly and not enough to want to stop. I thought that there was a lot of detail and to some that can be irritating but to me its part of a good historical fiction! Its the first of a three part series and I can't wait to get the others.

I like my historical fiction more on the historical side than the fiction side. And this book doesn't stick with known historical facts. In spite of that, the author is a great story-teller and I enjoyed the book immensely. So, if you're not really familiar with Edward IV's reign, this book will suck you in, especially if you like historical romance.

I was absolutely hooked when I first started reading. I was really intrigued by the story. I really like the twists and turns that this book has. You feel like you never know what will happen. After reading this book I knew I had to continue the trilogy, so I went and bought the last two books.