England has been fighting France for 100 years. At home, power-hungry men within a corrupt government manipulate a weak king - and name Cecily's husband, York's loyal duke, an enemy. As the king's grasp on sanity weakens, plots to destroy York take root... The first parts of this book follow her and Richard as they gain and fall out of favour with the current King, and the repercussions of this. I loved reading that Richard and Cecily actually seemingly loved each other, which was rare during those times when daughters and sons were married for alliances and heirs. This cookie is used to a profile based on user's interest and display personalized ads to the users. The will of God… that any man - or woman indeed - may, according to their courage, shape His will to their purpose.” Cecily isn’t necessarily a likeable character- she’s ruthless brutal, callous and extremely ambitious. It was interesting to see her influence and manipulation on all aspects of her life: including the children, her husband and her household.

I knew that my ‘gift' of beauty had helped to bring about the most painful moment of my life, simply because I was too naive at the time to understand the power it wielded. So now, I hid it away, which meant hiding myself.' I have always had a fondness for English history, the Tudors and the Wars of the Roses. And I have long felt that Cecily Neville was a sort of shadowy figure, a woman always on the fringes of the story but never at the center. I longed for her to have her voice, to hear her story. To have her be the center of attention. Garthwaite did her proud.The cookie is set by rlcdn.com. The cookie is used to serve relevant ads to the visitor as well as limit the time the visitor sees an and also measure the effectiveness of the campaign.

A thirty-year international business career made me even more interested in women’s relationship with power. You can imagine. Let’s just say, I frequently found myself the only woman at the big table. What can I say? I love 15th century history. No apologies, no excuses. The 100 Years War. The Wars of the Roses. All of that. Cecily Strong had a special bond with her cousin Owen. And so she was devastated when, in early 2020, he passed away at age thirty from the brain cancer glioblastoma. Before Strong could attempt to process her grief, another tragedy the coronavirus pandemic. Following a few harrowing weeks in the virus epicenter of New York City, Strong relocated to an isolated house in the woods upstate. Here, trying to make sense of Owen’s death and the upended world, she spent much of the ensuing months writing. The result is This Will All Be Over Soon —a raw, unflinching memoir about loss, love, laughter, and hope. Consider these thoughts, on the artistic debt she owes to her novelist mother. “My painting is really close to my mum’s writing. The very visual nature of her writing, its surreal nature, had a big influence on me.”

Before reading this book, I must admit, I had no clue who Cecily Neville was. As someone who is not particularly interested in England’s royal lines, I was drawn to this book by its focus on an influential female who is severely underrated and left out of books/teaching.

Cecily Strong is probably most notably persistent in our lives as she goes viral on a weekly basis after a sensational, hilarious performance on Saturday Night Live. This book, while it has its humorous moments, is definitely sensational, but more heart-wrenching than hilarious. CECILY tells the story of Cecily Neville, an English noblewoman, who lived from 1415 to 1495, the wife of Richard, Duke of York, and the mother of two kings of England, Edward IV and Richard III.This cookie is set by Addthis.com. This cookie is used for sharing of links on social media platforms. The novel takes the reader into the world of Cecily plunging them into the closed bedchambers and bloody battlefields of the first days of the Wars of the Roses, a war as women fight it. Overall, this is a good, well written, meticulously researched and enjoyable read. I admire this strong wise woman who as the author points out in the really good epilogue that Cecily gives a good lesson in how to operate as a woman in a man’s world! I’m hoping there will be a second book as her story is not yet over ....... One of my favourite elements of the book was the evolving relationship between Cecily and her husband, Richard. It was fascinating to read about two extremely different people trying to strive and survive together.

This cookie is set by the provider mookie1.com. This cookie is used for serving the user with relevant content and advertisement. This cookie is used to recognize the visitor upon re-entry. This cookie allows to collect information on user behaviour and allows sharing function provided by Addthis.com This was a time when the sons and daughters of noble houses were married in childhood in pursuit of dynastic alliances, although such marriages may not be consummated until some years later. Indeed, Cecily was only nine years old herself when she was joined in marriage with Richard Plantagenet. The Cecily of the book is intelligent, perceptive, ruthless when needed but, most importantly, pragmatic. As she says at one point, ‘When it’s impossible to do a thing, you must simply find a way to make it happen’. Unfortunately that advice, given in a generous spirit, is ultimately turned against her. It’s the same unflinching pragmatism that sees her marry off her six-year-old daughter, Anne, to Henry Holland. ‘She will do it for a dukedom and for ever closer ties to the old royal house, for the network of affinity that will keep York strong.’And then there’s the characterisations. They’re complex, they’re nuanced, the characters are allowed to be grey rather than rigidly good or bad – a common problem in a lot of woman-centric historical fiction set in this era. Cecily herself is massively flawed, snobby, a bit nasty and judgemental. This is “Proud Cis” alright. Judging by the actual technical skill of the writing, it’s awesome. The prose is gorgeous. It does something sound more “modern” than I’d expect a historical novel to but those moments are relatively few. Garthwaite’s writing is evocative and illuminative. But it’s also matched by a tight, tense plot that verges into a political thriller. It’s a compelling, taut read. I took it more slowly than I could have because I wanted to savour the book but I could’ve read this book within a day or two. There are genuinely harrowing, emotional moments – I was moved to tears, I had a pit in my stomach. I took photos of some passages so I could keep rereading them.