Review of Sharon Kay Penman's "The Sunne in Splendour"

This massive tome is very impressive on the most part and deserves its reputation as one of the best ever works of historical fiction.

Interested as I am by the Wars of the Roses, I found the recreation of the historic events and people engaging, especially during the first three-quarters of the novel.

The author has a talent for writing conflict between characters. Conflict is, of course, a major ingredient in creating a gripping narrative.

Ms Penman’s version of Edward IV is the best I’ve come across in historical fiction so far. The real King Edward is fascinating, and the author does a great job of bringing him to life, portraying him pretty much how I’d imagine Edward to be.

Once Edward “leaves the palace”, the story loses some of its hold on me. I’m also fascinated by Richard III, and was a little disappointed with how he was portrayed once he took the throne. This is perhaps down to the author’s transparent aim to show Richard in a good light.

This is usually the case with historical authors in general – they’re either strongly for or strongly against Richard, which undermines the believability of his character.

Early in the book, the author does a brilliant job of depicting the Battle of Towton. Because of this, I grew excited during the build-up to Bosworth, but felt ultimately let down by the results. It’s skimmed over and *told* in backstory, which is a method that can never compete with *showing* a scene it as it unfolds.

Events that follow Bosworth are slow and unengaging. You could say the story “fades out” rather than coming to a definitive “stop”.

As well as the disappointment with Bosworth and what follows to the end, my other criticisms regard various style issues. One is the absence of conjunctions in numerous sentences. I guess this was a way to reduce the word count, but the problem is, the results read awkwardly, as the two quotes below demonstrate:

>He felt better at that, swung off the window seat.<

>"Yes, I... I think so," she said, very low, moved to put space between them.<

A better way than cutting conjunctions to reduce the word count would’ve been to eliminate the unnecessary inclusion of “did/do” from countless sentences. I guess this was a way to make the language sound more authentic, but the likes of “I did choose”, as opposed to “I chose”, only succeeds in irritating this reader.

What irritated me even more was substituting “is” and “are” with “be” in dialogue. Other authors have done this, usually for the lower-class characters, but Ms Penman does it for all her characters.

To me, the likes of “Be you sure?” or “Be it true?” sound ridiculous. Whether or not people spoke like that at the time is irrelevant when presenting a work of fiction to a modern audience.

Another style criticism I have is the number of times the author starts a sentence with “But”. I noticed how repetitive this was after reading a very small amount of this huge book. Some readers may not care about this sort of thing, but those who appreciate quality writing style will get my point of view.

Another thing that annoyed me was an over-precise reference to characters’ birthdays:

>Dickon was still ten days from his nineteenth birthday.<

>She was so young, just five months beyond her second birthday<

These are two quotes of *many* birthday references. When historical authors do this type of thing, I interpret it as their way of forcing down my throat that there’s nothing they haven’t researched.

Research is of great importance, of course, but at the end of the day, this is historical *fiction*, not a history book. Facts should filter into the story, and not act as a domineering force. Don’t flaunt facts, be subtle with them, and it’ll feel more realistic.

One last complaint (promise!). A lot of people “gasp” in this book. Can’t say I’ve ever seen anyone gasp in day-to-life, but they do this often in “The Sunne in Splendour”:

>Bess saw her first, gave a gasp of dismay.<

>But then she gave a surprised gasp.<

All these gasps come across as melodramatic, and I can’t believe this was the author’s intention. People gasp if doused in freezing water, or if they’ve almost choked to death, but when does anyone ever gasp in surprise or dismay?

“She caught her breath” works, “She gasped” belongs in a cringeworthy melodrama.

Despite me having made more negative points than positive, I feel the strength of story in the book’s first three-quarters is good enough to warrant “The Sunne in Splendour” a five-star rating.