I expected to thoroughly enjoy this book. Historical fiction? Check! The War of the Roses? Yes! Poor, misunderstood Richard III? What's not to love? Alas, I only moderately enjoyed this book, but I did become intimately familiar with the House of York and House of Lancaster family trees inside the front and back covers. Maybe if I had grown up with English history it would have been easier to keep track of the Dukes/Earls/Lords of Gloucester/Buckingham/Leicester, but my addled American brain had a hard time following the royal linneage in this detailed fictional account of the constant scheming and battling for the English throne in the 1400s.

Actually, I enjoyed the book's historical density, especially once I started keeping the "Pocket Guide to English Kings and Queens" within arm's reach while reading it. What irritated me was that Jarman tells the story of Richard III through three characters who really aren't all that interesting: the Maid, the Fool and the Man of Keen Sight. Why waste so much ink on these one-dimensional stereotypes when you've got Richard III to work with?