-Grace Plantagenet, illegitimate daughter of King Edward IVSo who was Grace Plantagenet? She has only one mention in history, the fact that she rode on the funeral barge of Queen Elizabeth (Woodville). Obviously this gives an author a wide range to work with. Ms. Smith, as always, rises to the task giving a believable scenario. As a illegitimate daughter of a King, Grace, a shy, lovely young girl grows to womanhood during turbulent times. She’s lucky enough to be brought to court by her father and his wife takes Grace to be a lady-in-waiting. As life goes, Edward dies, but Grace continues to stay with Elizabeth for many years to come. During these times, she learns what it’s like to be part of the royal family, which is not as glamorous as it seems from the outside.Once again the research on everything from dresses to swords to politics is detailed and well presented. This is an easy read, not as much war and battle, but anyone with an interest in this time period will enjoy the book. Grace was a real person, but only mentioned once, in passing, in one official record. Therefore, this is not the sort of historical fiction where it's based on the template of a well known historical figure's documented life. However, i read the whole almost 600 page thing, so you know it had to be good. This book tries to tackle the mystery of the princes in the tower, through the point of view of their half (illegitimate) sister, Grace. I'm always hearing about henry viii, so it was interesting to be reading about his parents and grandparents for a change. the writing style was engaging, and well done enough so that i flipped in and out of liking the main character; she wasn't one dimensional. I'm about to tackle another super long book by Smith, hopefully it's as good. The worst thing about reading this is lugging a heavy enormous book with you everywhere. If you can get over that, and the fact that not everything happened exactly as written (but really, that's how most historical fiction is) you can learn a lot about the time period and the politics that were going on at the time.
What do You think about The King's Grace (2009)?
I normally love this kind of book but I found this one mainly boring. It seemed to drag.
—LizushaMusic98
Historical fiction... followed on with the story from "A Rose for the Crown".
—Britt
very detailed and well written, not a quick read, but very good
—Aimee
