Penman, Sharon Kay. The Sunne in Splendour. St. Martin’s Press, 1982.
Reason read: King Richard III died in August. Read in his memory.
Fabulous. Glorious. Beautiful. Absorbing. Exceptional. Painstaking. Immersive. Captivating. These are the words critics used to describe Sunne in Splendour when it was first published. The only word I focused on the most? Painstaking. I was intimidated by all 900+ pages. I will be the first to admit that historical fiction is not my thing so I thought this would be a slog. And yet. Sunne in Splendour is a best seller. And. And! And I admit, very entertaining.
This is a time in history when boys of ten wed for political positioning. Brothers killed brothers for the throne. Beheadings were the entertainment of the hour. Backstabbing and betrayals of all kinds ruled the day. Christmas truces could be broken without warning. Penman delivers a glorious fifteenth century England that is bloody and brutal. Richard III is right smack in the middle of it; becoming king on a technicality of legitimacy.
Everything about Sunne in Splendour is detailed perfection. Everything from the food people ate, their choice of drink (spiced hippocras), where they lived and the clothes they wore.
Author fact: Penman died in 2021.
Book trivia: Sunne in Splendour contradicts the well known view of Shakespeare’s Richard III.
BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Digging Up the Past Through Fiction” (p 80).
~*LunaSea*~ 