The Flowering of the Rose

We Speak No Treason #1

by Rosemary Hawley Jarman

Richard III lives again through the eyes of his intimates and the woman whose ill-starred love brought him brief joy, and her a bitter consummation. Against the background of lusty, fifteenth-century England, with its superstition and witchcraft, its courtly manners and cruel punishments, Rosemary Hawley Jarman presents a fascinating and faithful portrait of one of the most enigmatic figures in our history as he appeared to his contemporaries.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, 15th Century, British Literature, Medieval, Ebooks

262 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Rosemary Hawley Jarman is an English novelist and writer of short stories. She was born in Worcester April 27, 1935. She was educated first at Saint Mary's Convent and then at The Alice Ottley School, leaving at eighteen to study singing in London for the next three years, having developed a fine soprano voice.

Family circumstances prevented her from continuing in this direction and she worked for a time in local government. She was married to David Jarman in 1958 and divorced amicably in 1970. She lived most of her time in Worcestershire at Callow End, between Worcester and Upton on Severn. She began to write for pleasure, and followed a very real and valid obsession with the character of King Richard III (1452-1485 - reigned 1483-85).

With no thought of publication she completed a 228,000 word novel showing the King in his true colours, away from Tudor and Shakespearian propaganda. The book was taken up almost accidentally by an agent, and within six weeks a contract for publication and four other novels was signed with William Collins Publishers, (now Harper Collins).

The author has had short stories published in many magazines in the UK and France and has been a member of the Society of Authors since 1970. She has been dubbed "A Daughter of Mark Twain" by the Samuel Clemens Society in the U.S.A. for her services to literature.

She lived with the prize-winning author R. T. Plumb for eighteen years in a West Wales cottage. They married in September 2002, but the marriage was cut short after Roy died of cancer in October 2003. Jarman (now Mrs. Plumb) is herself recovering from lung cancer, and is writing in the Fantasy genre.

Reviews

[Vanessa · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's only March and I already feel like I've found my worst book of the year (which makes me honestly sad, because I bought this book in Venice aka I'll never give it away, cause it's part of a nice memory. At least I still adore the cover? Yay?).

Note: I've only read 3/4 of the first part "The Maiden" and after that I jumped around several pages and read some paragraphs here and there. I just couldn't do more. I tried. I really did. This book is short. I'd usually read something like this in less than a day. It took me a week to read 130 pages or so. That's how much of a drag this story was.

And don't get me wrong - I actually like the concept a lot (otherwise I wouldn't have bought it). Seeing historical figures from the point of view of ordinary people can be very interesting afterall, but there are always pitfalls and the first part of this book aka "The Maiden" fell in literally ALL OF THE PITS.
Our nameless protagonist:
- Is super beautiful, but doesn't know (people fall in love with her on the spot)
- Is ignorant about nobility, despite living and working in a royal household for years
- Falls in love with Richard III at first sight and proceeds to purple prose through her life from that exact moment on
- Doesn't care about politics/palace intrigue at all, beyond angsting about when she can see her only one true love again (There is history going on??? Who cares! Important news: Dickon is the gentlest lover of them all!)

I honestly was so annoyed by her, that I took a sneak peek at the end of her part, just to be disappointed to find out that I wouldn't see her witness ~hEr BeLoVeD marry Anne Neville. I'd have loved to see her SUFFER. Ooops?

And then we have of course our historical figure in question. Richard III.
Sometimes you can tell when an author simply adores the person they're writing about and that can work out fine (I do love Fire in Heaven by Mary Renault afterall), but it takes a certain skill. Here I sadly found none of that. Richard is simply perfect. He's (of course) beautiful, kind to everyone (even the servants - le gasp!), smart, capable and always does the right thing.
Don't get me wrong. All those things can apply to a well rounded character, but the way it was written here read honestly like fanfic. And not the good kind. For example, from the beginning (when The Maiden didn't even know him yet) there were constantly scenes were characters just out of the blue threw in some reference to an awesome thing Richard did or said. As if the author simply couldn't go three pages without someone reminding the reader about how great he is.

Naturally that also meant that everyone who opposed him in some way had to be evil. Which lead to Elizabeth Woodville and her mother literally being witches (guess Philippa Gregory wasn't the first one to take that accusation seriously in a story), who ensnared Edward IV. They also somehow saw Richard as their enemy from the get go, cause the king of course loved him and they were afraid of his influence, I guess? At least Elizabeth got to keep her beauty - her mother on the other hand was basically an ugly witch from a fairytale. With a black cat and everything.

After suffering through all that, I had no patience to read the second part ("The Fool") in which apparently a secondary character from the first part takes over and falls in love with Anne Neville (I read the scene in which Richard begs her to become his wife and I guess he didn't love The Maiden afterall? Who knows. Who cares.)
From what I've seen it might have been more interesting to read than the first part, but like I said, at this point the book had already used up all the goodwill I had towards it.

Kind of glad I'm missing the third story in my edition and not the least bit curious about it.

It's such a shame.

[Marquise · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have a few things to say on this one, but as I understand this was originally one single book that got split in two, I'll wait till I finish the second book to speak with the full picture in mind. Review is Coming!

[Linda Reynertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book changed my life. I read the original published edition from 1971. The edition shown is book 1 of 2 books that complete the entire book. Make sure to also read book 2 - The White Rose turns to Blood. This author is the most brilliant I have ever read. The story line will make you live in 15th century England and laugh and cry and love with the characters. You will never be the same again. AND you will learn the truth about the glorious English King Richard III.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every bit as good as I remembered it to be.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read so many different opinions from people I value about this book, that I really didn't know what to expect. In the end I must say... I liked it, that's it. Yes, there were some things I would have done differently, for example the witchcraft theme, but all in all a very enjoyable book. I liked the writing style, and the choice to have fictional charachters telling the story. Especially the second narrator, Patch the Fool, was a very likable charachter, with his flaws, but genuine and well built... and funny.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apologist fiction? Definitely. Romanticism? Beyond a doubt. But that's what I loved about it! This book was written in a time where poetic prose was celebrated. The author portrays the controversial King Richard through the eyes of three fictitious characters who all love and serve him in various means. It's a human portrayal as well as a romantic one, filled with broken chivalry and tragic choices. I liked the style of writing. I liked that the other key players in this period of history (The Woodvilles, Warwick, King Edward) were all background figures; mentioned only in how the affected Richard and the three narrators. I loved this book. I like my historical fiction. I love how each author can paint a very different portrayal of the same figure. This one was extremely well done.

[Hanna (lapetiteboleyn) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually have a soft-spot for vintage historical romances, but this was particularly dull. Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Wars of the Roses and the reign of Edward IV, it attempts to paint an intimate portrait of Richard III, and falls short.

[Barbara · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was just okay. I really didn't like the author's style of writing. I like the subject of Richard III, but this was just not to my liking.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

We Speak No Treason is a two-part book about the life of Richard III, told from the perspective of three individuals who are witnesses to his glory as well as his downfall as the last Plantagenet king. It is a refreshing narrative of a bygone history by people we only get to see on the sidelines—often mute observers to the comings and goings of royal politics—this time being afforded center stage attention. The first volume, The Flowering of the Rose, tells the personal account of the Maiden, a girl in service of the queen’s mother whose innocent candor and kindness has won Richard’s love when they were young; and the Fool, a sentimental court jester who has fallen out of favor with King Edward IV and is sent North to serve his enigmatic younger brother. Both of them narrate their memories of Richard in their old age, having outlasted him and now living within the realm of a new king, Henry Tudor.

I liked how the characters’ recollection of events has given a poignant ambience to their storytelling and solidly reinforced the love they bear for the fallen king. It is quite tragic when you read them recalling their fleeting encounter with Richard and yet remembering each moment with bittersweet fondness. The Maiden’s tale specifically stuck with me because she is realistic enough not to dwell on a love that was born out of their youth and misery, and is content to cherish the time she had with her one true love, however briefly.

I thought the author’s writing was a bit flowery to my liking, but as I got deeply immersed in the story, I also found appreciation for her song-like glossaries and figures of speech. The historical context is not descriptive by itself, but as this isn’t the novel’s focal point, we only get a glimpse of Richard’s life and the events leading to the Wars of the Roses in the eyes of our fictional storytellers. And it actually helped that I’ve read Sharon Kay Penman’s sweeping portrayal of Richard III (The Sunne in Splendour) beforehand because it became easier for me to follow the historical side of this period through Miss Jarman's narrative.

[Geoff Boxell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book many years ago in hard back and as a single novel & it is one I have re-read and suggested others read. The idea of shewing a man through the eyes of three different people is an unusual concept. I have another book done in the same style, but where as this book pulls it off, the other "Cry God for Harry", though a decent enough read, doesn't quite click.
Jarman's next two novels, "The King's Grey Mare" and "The Courts of Illusion" are good reads, but are written in the conventional manner and thus lack the edge "We Speak No Treason" has.

[BookAddict · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular. Even if you don't agree with Richard's innocence in all things Plantagenet this is still an amazing book. Written well with wonderful dialogue and great history. A little more descriptive and less dialogue than I typically like but as each telling is in the first person it does make for an easier read.

[Lady B of house Sefer · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author is completely in love with Richard the III, which means he can do no wrong, which makes him a very flat, one demensional, boring AF character. All the other characters suffer a similar fate, they are singularly obsessed, Richard is God's gift to mankind. Fangirl fiction run amok.

[Marilyn Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and will read it again.

[Joy H.]

Added 10/27/11.

[AnaMarija · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came to this book recently after a 20+ year love affair with Sharon Kay Penman's The Sunne in Splendour, essentially the same story from the perspective of the princely caste, and a book that turned me into a die-hard Ricardian and lover of all things medieval. I'm about to dive into the second part as the only edition I was able to find was the one split in two.

While the Maiden's story admittedly was more simplistic than I would have liked, with Richard too perfect and wonderful for words, Jarman more than made up for it through foreshadowing and throwaway lines that the unsuspecting won't pick up on until the end but had me tearing through the story.

The Fool is much more nuanced in his retelling, though there I felt he spent too much time agonizing over his secret and taking no action. Some plot points I was able to predict as soon as they popped up, others were more obscure and took some time to resolve. Reading about life in London and the "smallfolk" at the time was also fascinating, and I feel the author did her research well.

All in all, I like what I've read so far and it complements my previous reading and especially Sunne (though as that was published in the 80s it's really the other way round) in a way other authors writing on the same subject haven't. I'm happy I've found it, and if ever I find a single edition, it will make a nice addition to my shelf of historical novels.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author Rosemary Hawley Jarman was born in Worcester, at Callow End. She died in 2015, just three years after the discovery of the body of King Richard III at Greyfriars, he being the subject and hero of these novels. She must have been jubilant to know that he lies, honoured, in Leicester Cathedral.
Her tale is told through the eyes of a young and beautiful girl ,who falls in love with the young Richard in the first book, and in the second book, of an archer ,gifted with extraordinary sight who fights with and for Richard and who worships him. King Edward1V and Elizabeth Woodville are major players in the story of course, but it is the sympathetic treatment of Richard that is so beguiling. It is written beautifully, taking its time to tell the story and it was this quality, as much as the incredible story of the war of the roses, that captured my interest, and gave me such pleasure to read it.
As a Ricardian ,the author writes a different story to the one we have grown up with, one in which Richard is gentle, brave, loyal to his brother ,the King, and also to his nephews ,whom he is said to have murdered. Not a bit of it! Richard spirited them away and protected them from harm. The depiction of the battle at Bosworth, so accurate, and so poignant, I could not bear to read all the details, so involving was the story!
All I can say is that this was indeed a masterclass of historical events, and a masterclass of a story."

[Norah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book but that being said Being a fan I’d Richard Iii I was expecting a lot more of him then the ones telling the tale. I found the writing a little flowery in describing things too. It still was entertaining but I found my mind wandering a little totally my fault so,don’t be put off my recommendation,, just wasn’t what I was expecting. I have the second part of this book to read but I might hold back a while reading it and then might find myself more accepting of the style of writing.

[Ursula · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story lines from the two main characters, however found the writing style laborious

[charlotte, · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5)

[Barb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I recently read 'The Courts of Illusion' by Rosemary Harley Jarman and I loved it and that's a big deal for me. It seems that so much of what I've read lately just hasn't thrilled me, and I read a lot.

I wanted to read this book because it was somewhat removed from Richard III. This is the story of the War of the Roses and Richard III but it's told from the perspective of 'the Maiden' and 'the Fool'. They fill us in on the events that unfold between the Houses of Lancaster and York but they are not involved directly with the events themselves.

Jarman has a way of creating characters who sort of steal the show. You pick up one of her books and you think that you want to hear the story of the war of the roses, but then she starts weaving in a story that's completely separate from the one you thought you wanted to hear and that's what you want more of. At least that how it was for me.

Patch, the king's fool, is a character who appears in 'The Courts of Illusion' as well as in this book. I really enjoyed reading about him and his history, so much so that I lost interest in the War of the Roses. If the second part of the book had focused more on his life story I would have enjoyed it more. The same thing happened to me when I read 'The Courts of Illusion'.

Jarman's writing is pretty and I think she's a good story teller but this one just didn't capture my interest like 'The Courts of Illusion' did. I think that 'Courts of Illusion' seemed a bit more refined than this story. I believe that 'Courts' was her fourth book so it make sense that it would be a stronger piece of work. And this book was written "with no thought of publication" so that would certainly give it a different 'flavor' so to speak.

All in all I would say try this if you like reading fiction set in the fifteenth century. But I recommend 'The Courts of Illusion' by this author. I found a copy through the inter-library loan system at my local library. I'm going to try her other books and see if I can find some more of Patch. If you have found him in her other work will you let me know?
Thanks.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first half of the book, but halfway through it changed to a different narrator, which I found a bit disconcerting.
It was interesting reading about the court from a different perspective as most of what I thought about Richard before, came from Shakespeare, and this succeeded in removing from my mind the 'fact' that Richard was an irremediable villain, so I can hopefully be more open-minded when reading about him in the future! I always worry when reading historical novels about how accurate they are - I'm likely to remember fragments of the book in the future yet not remember where they're from, and so might think they're the truth - but I think I'll be fine with this book as we didn't really learn all that much about the major historical figures.
I got quite bored halfway through the book and stopped reading for a while - I put this down to the change in narrator as it became like reading a totally different book and broke the flow. The second half wasn't any less good than the first half, but I got jolted out of the story.
I may read the sequel eventually, I like this period, and would be interested to read about Richard as King, but I'm not going to rush to get hold of it, the story didn't hold my attention as much as I would have liked.

[MAP · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is, for lack of a better description, apologist fiction for Richard III. It sounds very strange indeed, but apparently this is a popular genre of historical fiction.

The writing is superb, with a midieval flair but not incomprehensible. It's obvious a lot of research was done. The story (this is the first book of 2) is told by two narrators: The Maiden, and the Fool. There are certainly parts that do seem....a little overromanticized as to Richard's intentions and reactions, but so far (so far!) she hasn't strayed too far from generally accepted historical accuracy.

Who the historical characters are is hard to grasp at first; I eventually had to (horror of horrors!) wikipedia some of them to figure who was who and related to whom, etc. But once I understand the relationships between them, the story flowed smoothly, and kept me completely unable to put the book down for two days. Considering I had a final the day after I finished this book, that's saying a lot.

I'm looking forward to reading the second half of this series; we'll see if it sticks relatively close to historical accuracy of she goes off half-cocked about the Princes in the Tower.

[Rachel Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

purchased this used on the basis of a recommendation and am very glad that I did. It took me a while to get into the Maiden's story, but once I did I was completely hooked. The switch to the Fool's story was a bit disconcerting (and disappointing because I was at that point captivated by the Maiden), but within a few pages I was hooked by him as well.

My only other complain is that I had a really hard time keeping the minor characters straight in my head. Every other character is named Richard or Ann or Elizabeth or Henry. I had to look at the pedigree chart every few pages to figure out who was who. If I hadn't just read a book about John of Gaunt and had a basic idea of the preceding family situation, I think it would have been much, much harder.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been re-reading this after many, many years, in it's original single volume form.

In my opinion it's a parson's egg. Disjointed in terms of chronology and at times rather tedious - but, oh, what marvellous descriptions there are to counterbalance this. At times it's almost lyrical. Generally a good evocation of the period, though there were just a few things that hit the pedant button and made me say - eh?

For example, was Richard Duke of Gloucester ever Earl of Cambridge? I'm pretty sure not. But he is repeatedly referred to as such.

I would not honestly recommend this book as an introduction to Richard III - however, if you enjoy a good wallow in the 15th century, this is an excellent choice.

Oh, if you are an Elizabeth Woodville fan, definitely not the book for you.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one! It had a ton of good qualities. The detail was rich beyond measure, so rich that it made my heart flutter!

I felt that the story didn't really hold up to the beautiful feel of Jarman's medieval England. It's a classic story of burning, star-crossed love, and of course the historical events of this period stand on their own. However, I felt not much happened character-wise in Jarman's story. The Maiden was kind of a flat damsel in distress.

Read this if you're looking to be immersed into the gutter of a candle in a feast hall, the sound of the lute at a dance, the rustle of fabric as lovers kiss. The story itself wasn't much, but these notes alone made this book wonderful for me.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's clear this was a pet project, an idiosyncratic labour of love - even taking into account that older historical novels were happier to view events at more of a remove, whereas the modern kind bring you right into the room where it happens, it's strange to see a novel about the Wars of the Roses with so little of the Wars of the Roses in it. And where the famous figures do appear, they're generally portrayed in shallow and clichéd terms.

But what it does astonishingly well is its recreation of the texture and detail of life in 15th-century England, from the royal court down to the ordinary people. If you're a reader for prose and atmosphere as much as (if not more than) plot and characterisation, you'll get a lot from this.

[Katja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm.

I wasn't so keen on the first part, "The Maiden", because I don't really like, let's put it in fanfiction terms: original female character/Richard trope. The second part, "The Fool" was much more to my liking.
The book has very flowery language and old-fashioned words and speech patterns which was actually quite fun after getting used to it.

The main characters orbit around Richard III but he's not that much in the book. It takes 70 pages before he even appears (save one flashback-y moment). I knew this before starting this book but I still wish he'd feature a bit more.

More thoughts when I read the second part. After all, We Speak No Treason was meant as one book.

[Jacinta Hoare · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book compelling but difficult to follow from time to time. The author's choice of language is beautiful but the narrative style used to tell the Maiden's and the Fool's tales makes following the story or Richard III a little difficult.

I was pre-warned that this book is only the first part of the whole but I am still frustrated that the publishers have seen a need to split the entire story into two books.

I think that someone who is not familiar with the life and times of Richard III would find this book to be highly confusing.

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not impressed with this novel at all. I was interested in the characters, especially the Fool's tale, and found them enjoyable enough. However, considering this novel is supposed to be about Richard III, I felt he didn't feature in the story enough and was sidelined in favour of the fictional characters. I didn't really see the point of RHJ doing this. A book about RIII in which he hardly appears. I might try again with part 2.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first I've read of Jarman and wow! what a beautiful writer. I definitely will be reading more of her work.