The King's Niece

by Liz Orwin

Elizabeth is the daughter of a king. She should also be the sister of a king, perhaps even the wife of a foreign king, but events beyond her control changed everything. After the untimely death of her father, King Edward IV, and the disappearance of her brothers, Elizabeth, her sisters and mother flee into sanctuary at Westminster Abbey. After months of confinement Elizabeth is invited to return to court by her uncle, the mercurial King Richard III. Spies and schemers lurk in every corner, no one knows the truth of a great many things and Elizabeth must decide who she can trust and who she cannot. Summoned to attend Queen Anne, Elizabeth must also face her uncle, a man she has been taught to fear. As Christmas approaches and generous gifts are presented, the gossipmongers find much to fuel their sport. Elizabeth's search for the truth is intertwined with the enduring medieval romance of Tristan and Iseult, a tale she soon discovers King Richard is also familiar with.

Genres: Historical

278 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 2013

About the author

As a young girl I loved the comfort of being immersed in a good book. I wanted very much to write and though I began to do so, life often 'got in the way'. Only after a life-changing move did I put pen to paper and note down the scenes running through my head as I went about my day.

One of my deepest interests lies in the later Fifteenth Century, especially King Richard iii and anything connected with The House of York.
I am also fascinated with the Dark Ages and the early Saxon Kingdoms of England.

I especially enjoy musing about the impossible becoming the possible, where incredible events happen to ordinary people. History often encompasses both these aspects.

Reviews

[Elena]

No, no and again no. The incest thing is not romantic, but just gross. I'm speaking of course of Richard III and his niece, Elizabeth of York. It simply didn't happen. When rumors arose that Richard poisoned his wife because he intended to marry Elizabeth, he himself publicly denied it. He was in fact about to marry Joana of Portugal and marry off Elizabeth to the Duke of Beja. Besides the logic used here to explain how such a marriage would be an "excellent match" for Richard is non existant. Why on Earth it would be excellent, or even in the least advantageous to him? She was illegitimate, and that's why Richard was on the throne. Kings didn't marry bastards, not to mention she was his niece, again. We are just told she would be an "excellent match", that's all. And to quote a friend... to hell the Titulus Regius. The writing is not terrible, but the book is painfully slow, dull, practically nothing happens except for Elizabeth wandering the palace of Westminster (the only setting of the book), speaking to an invented page boy, going to attend her aunt the Queen, and then again wandering the palace, speaking to the page boy, returning to Anne. With some intrusions by Margaret Beaufort who litterally stalks her, ever asking where did she go? With who? Why? Maybe is just none of your business, Maggie dear? Everyone in the Palace do nothing, except following Elizabeth, speaking to Elizabeth, asking every second of every minute of every hour... where is Elizabeth? What she's doing? And I wanted to cry... I DON'T CARE! STOP IT! MAKE SOMETHING REALLY INTERESTING HAPPEN!
I don't even want to comment on Anne Neville suggesting to Elizabeth she should bed her husband now that she's ill and uncapable of fulfilling her marital duties. I seriously don't have the strenght to say this is gross and ridiculous, and why they always portray Anne as a doormat?

[Christine Cazeneuve]

I enjoyed the story but at times I found it dragging. I will go on and read the sequel. This book takes on the scenario of Richard III and his niece Elizabeth having a relationship and Richard's plan on marrying her after his wife's death. Of course, all York fans know that this is all speculation but the books are written as if it was true. I do think the author handled such a sensitive subject very well and I would overall rate it a 3.5.

[Kara]

This book expects the reader to have some background on the War of the Roses and Richard III, as it tosses you into the reign of Richard III already a year in, with no big info dumps or even organic explanations of what has happened to the characters up to this point.

I liked how it showed Elizabeth being a stranger in her own home as she struggles to navigate her way through her uncle's court, oh so very different in many ways from her father's, despite being in the same palaces she grew up in.

The emotions of teenaged Elizabeth are well handled, showing realistically the king of up and down uncertainty anyone at that age can go through, made worse by how much scrutiny she was under.

Interesting theory of what happened to the Princes here - Prince Edward dies of an illness his Woodville guardians were tryin to keep quiet until they were in power as his regents and Prince Richard is smuggled away to obscurity to keep him from being a political pawn - and hence plausible that how convoluted it was makes sense her uncle would hush it up.

The book ends just after that controversial Christmas when Elizabeth and Queen Anne wore the same outfits, and we see how both now and then the public loves nothing more than to speculate about every move of a royal family.

[Joanne]

I read this because I love books about Richard III and the author's portrayal of him in this book is sympathetic. He is seen from the viewpoint of Elizabeth, his niece, who is at first suspicious of his actions and motives, but finds herself drawn to him more and more. This is a forbidden love that might seem shocking but the author deals with it in a very sympathetic way. Elizabeth is young and emotional - she is a teenager after all - and Richard is proper and kind. My only complaint would be that it was too short, but I know the author has put the three separate parts of it together in one volume and followed it up with a sequel, The King's Wife. It is emotional and atmospheric and I especially liked the way the surroundings are portrayed so that you really feel like you are there.