I love being given the opportunity to update our school library which is a unique space for both senior students and staff to access high quality literature. This is definitely a must-buy. It kept me absolutely gripped from cover to cover and is exactly the kind of read that just flies off the shelves. It has exactly the right combination of credible characters and a compelling plot thatI just could not put down. This is a great read that I couldn't stop thinking about and it made for a hugely satisfying read. I'm definitely going to order a copy and think it will immediately become a popular addition to our fiction shelves. 10/10 would absolutely recommend.

Cecily is a fascinating piece of historical fiction, partly because of the perspective. Cecily Neville, as with most women of the era, is shadowed in historical narratives by her husband and her sons. Yet she is very much at the centre of this novel, and whilst she very much knows her place, she is also integral to many of the decisions that changed history - for better or worse.

This is a very involved historical fiction; there are a huge amount of names and details, so much so that I found it overwhelming at points to keep track of who was who. Those coming in relatively blind to the period of history may struggle, however there was more than enough here to keep my interest. It's an intricate historical narrative, but with the view being behind the scenes rather than the people in power. Cecily is a character it's easy to empathise with, she's strong and smart as well as being politically astute - often more so than her husband.

The novel takes us through a turbulent time in English history, with a weak willed king who often listens to those whispering close to his ear at the expense of all others. There's war, heartbreak and disaster, but there's also strength, both on a personal and on a larger level. Despite my lack of knowledge for the period, and occasional confusion with the numerous characters - several of whom share names regrettably, it was a novel that wove it's way around me and I felt completely emmeshed in the events of the time. I found it interesting that Garthwaite focussed very much on Cecily's life before her sons became kings; this is the story of the making of the woman, not the making of her sons.

All in all, an excellently researched and fascinating piece of historical fiction that also reminded me that I really ought to know more about my own country's history.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC of this title.

I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

I could not get into this book, ultimately it was not form me and I could not finish it. It may be one for other readers

A fantastic historical piece of fiction, strong characters full of feminist ideals, I love the attention female historical figures are getting finally , underrepresented women for so many centuries. I highly recommend this book

This is a masterpiece in bringing 15th century England to life. A brilliantly feminist retelling of the War of the Roses that keeps you engrossed throughout. Annie is in a class of her own and I look forward to reading more of her brilliant work.

What a powerful read! I love the historical era of the wars of the roses as I studied it at college, so revisiting it in book form was an amazing experience. I loved this feminist focus on the wars and showing how much power women could have in the time. Cecily was an incredible character - strong, inspiring, but also emotional and loving. She showed the true strengths of womanhood and how women can be strong and emotional all at once.

I loved seeing her relationship with Richard - he was great! But more than this, I loved seeing how she understood how to play the game of life and was such a voice of power and policy in the era. I learned quite a lot about what happened before York split from the crown and the wars begun, which I loved learning about.

Overall, this book was great. Full of history, strong characters, feminist ideals and action. I highly recommend this book and am so glad I finally read it!

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Really loved this! Historical fiction is not normally one of my go to genres but the cover of this book is just so beautiful! Prior to reading I didn't know anything about Cecily Neville but I'm so glad I do now, I loved the focus of a strong woman in the Middle Ages!

I enjoyed this book very much. I found it well researched, and brilliantly written. And I adored Cecily.

Many thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I have been wanting to read this book for so long and I'm thrilled to have finally done so! I absolutely love historical books and this is one of the best I have read in a long time. Cecily is such a formidable person and an important historical figure. I am amazed that more has not been written about her. The cover of the book states that she was a mother, wife, politician, fighter, traitor, survivor and she was all of these things in equal measure. At a time when women were seen as secondary to men, Cecily knew her worth and was determined to get what she wanted. I was fascinated and absorbed by this brilliantly written book.

Tudor history and the War of the Roses is one of my favourite historical topics so when Annie Garthwaite released Cecily, telling the story of the War of the Roses from the point of view of one of the main women involved, I had to dive into this book. 

Cecily Neville is married to Richard Duke of York, serving King Henry VI and navigating royal politics as England fights war in France. Garthwaite's Cecily is clever, resourceful and politically astute, looking for ways to advance her family and prospects in an ever changing political landscape. Medieval politics are ruthless, with lords falling out of favour almost as fast as they rise, and with the Duke of York's father having been executed for treason, he is reluctant to rattle the king. However, Cecily, who is perhaps more headstrong, seizes every opportunity she can. 

If you know how history plays out then you know how the story ends, but what is so fascinating is how we get there, and how Garthwaite brings the character and emotions of Cecily to life. There is no doubt that life as a woman in this time is hard - we see Cecily through numerous pregnancies, suffering the loss of children, never mind being continually misjudged and underestimated by the men around her. 

At times the tale can be tough to follow - there are lots of characters and relationships to keep track of and of course many have the same names or go by a title as well as their name. I highly recommend checking out the history of the War of the Roses first as this book will make a lot more sense if you already know the basics. However, Cecily is a wonderful exploration of a incredibly strong, interesting and often under-represented woman from one of the most fascinating episodes in English history.

Cecily Neville was an utter badass and paramount in the War of the Roses.

This is a woman who has ideas of who her husband and sons will be and this book follows them.

I love reading history novels and my knowledge of Cecily wasn't great before reading this.. I feel as though I have learned an awful lot

I can’t believe I waited so long to read Cecily!

I’ve read a lot of historical fiction around the Wars of the Roses and appreciated the focus on Cecily Neville, a largely overlooked historical figure.

The book begins with Cecily watching Joan of Arc’s death and concludes with her son being crowned Edward IV. During this time we see Cecily as a wife and mother but most interestingly as a strategist and key political player.

Cecily is far from perfect and she’s written with depth. The history of the time can be quite complex but here it’s presented clearly while remaining strongly grounded in historical fact.

I was left wanting more and really hope we get a sequel exploring the rest of Cecily’s life. I particularly enjoyed all the little hints to people and events that feature heavily in Cecily’s later life - *cough* Jacquetta Woodville *cough*!

A brilliant 5 star read.

Cecily is an engaging and immersive reading experience with sublime historical detailing.

Cecily - our protagonist - must be one of the most remarkable of history’s unseen royals:. Wife of The Duke of York and mother to two future kings. She is fierce and ambitious!

I loved the way the writers played with patriarchal traditions and the relationship between Cecily and Richard - she was wonderful! A real force to be reckoned with!

Ohhhh wow, I just LOVE Cecily.

Her strength of character, he knowledge and ability, but also her flaws.

I must admit that I knew little of the women of this time period, but reading Cecily has inspired me to dive deeper and learn more,

A triumph of a novel.

I approach historical fiction concerning the females of the Wars of the Roses with excessive caution. I've been hurt before. So many novels which appeared promising only to descend into flaxen-haired heroines gazing at their own flawless visages in the mirror. Regular readers will be aware of the author I am talking about here. But Cecily intrigued me. Like the later player Margaret Beaufort, Cecily Neville's personal and political ambition was hard to miss. Daughter of an earl, wife to the Duke of York, and mother of two kings, she was known as the Rose of Raby for her beauty and 'Proud Cis' for her temper. Perhaps because of this, most mainstream historical fiction has tended to push her to the side as problematic. For an author to recognise her as a key player within the House of York made me think that Cecily might just be something different. And I was right. In fact, this novel turned out to be something glorious.

The novel opens in 1431 with sixteen year old Cecily watching Joan of Arc burn at the stake. Married to the de facto heir to the throne, Richard of York, the two of them come under increasing pressure as monarch Henry VI's weakness causes increasing political instability. Cecily spans thirty years, concluding as Cecily witnesses her son taking the throne. (In historical fiction, I feel like spoiler warnings are unnecessary). The Wars of the Roses is pretty well-trodden ground in terms of historical fiction but Garthwaite's novel is rare in centring around one female character and emphasising her power rather than her lack of it. Cecily Neville did not wind up with the nickname 'Proud Cis' because she was a shrinking violet who always did as her husband told her and Garthwaite's depiction lives up to the legend. Where Richard of York wavers and tries to stay loyal to his king, his wife is far more clear-sighted. The King is weak. He is putting them all in danger. Something must be done.

One of the most persistent myths around Cecily Neville is that she had an affair with an archer named Blayborne while her husband was fighting in the wars and that said dalliance resulted in the birth of Edward IV. Pretty much every female noblewoman of the period was attached to some kind of scandal, usually with the purpose of muddying the reputation of their husbands and sons. Elizabeth Woodville was accused of witchcraft, Margaret of Anjou was supposed to have had relations with the Duke of Somerset in order to conceive, Elizabeth of York was alleged to have had an affair with her uncle Richard III. It was a pattern. But the Blayborne rumour has lingered. I admired how Garthwaite dealt with the question mark - she did not give it the time of day. The main point of 'evidence' was the quick and quiet baptism ordered for Edward IV but then Cecily has recently lost a son and so her primal concern for her new boy's soul is natural. And as for Blayborne? He never makes an appearance and Garthwaite makes clear that Proud Cis has too much pride in her bloodline to sully it for anything so ridiculous.

It was so refreshing to see a woman of history being treated as a political animal rather than a romantic heroine. She is the Lady M of the story, encouraging her husband every time he starts to weaken. Garthwaite makes no attempt to soften her protagonist. After enduring years of miscarriages and infertility, Cecily finally gives birth to a living child - a girl. Garthwaite summons up vividly the intensity of the final stages of labour. Cecily embraces the child, thanks is given, but then the infant is handed off speedily to a wet nurse. Reading Cecily while feeding my own daughter, her detachment felt utterly alien. Each living child she bears is a personal triumph for Cecily but her offspring are moving pieces on a political chessboard, just as she was to her own mother. The reader observes the quiet unhappiness of Cecily's eldest daughter who is manoeuvred into a union which is politically advantageous but physically abusive. Cecily regrets her daughter's suffering but does not regret the marriage.

The notion of the Strong Female Character has become fashionable but so often the leads in question still fall into cliche. The female character in historical fiction may protest against the status quo, usually leading to obvious anachronisms. Garthwaite manages her narrative far more deftly. The reader is allowed to feel uncomfortable about Cecily's ruthless ambition, which even appears to supersede her love for her husband and children. She is not an easy woman to like. She is not warm. She does not affectionate. But yet her steel is compelling. The men may be the ones who ride to battle but Cecily is entirely their equal in bravery. Yet there are consequences to all of this. Her second son Edmund's death can be traced back to her decisions. There is such an agony to how Cecily asks if the boy died bravely, only to be told brusquely that Edmund was a green boy - of course he was terrified. Cecily asks for the details, literally holds her fingers to the flame so that she feels the pain more keenly - but she keeps her composure. She keeps fighting. And as Edward's victory becomes assured, she tells him to go and get the bitch who killed his father and brother. She is a warrior and a merciless one at that.

It always fascinated me to realise how the men of the House of York died so young but yet the women lived on. Richard Duke of York was not even fifty when he died, his son Edward IV only forty. Richard III, that legendary evil figure, was only thirty-two when he died, younger than I am now. And they all seemed to die as a result of betraying each other. George dead at Edward's hand, then Edward's sons dead by Richard's plotting. Cecily survived them all. The novel closes as Fortune's wheel spins them to the very top but I did wonder how she reacted as she witnessed the failure of her line. Or perhaps she still counted it as a success with her granddaughter Elizabeth on the throne alongside Henry Tudor. It is hard to believe that but harder yet to imagine Cecily Neville just giving up.

Cecily fascinated me, not just for the light it shone on a forgotten figure of history but also for how it put the Plantagenet family dynamics in context. I have always been a royal history geek, with the Tudors and John of Gaunt being among my key areas of interest. Cecily Neville's generation sits squarely between the two dynasties. Cecily's mother was Joan Beaufort, Gaunt's daughter, only made legitimate when Gaunt married her mother Katherine Swynford. Cecily's uncle was Cardinal Beaufort who had a thumb in so many pies but we see how his loyalty to one branch of the Beaufort family led him into conflict with Cecily. The Wars of the Roses truly were a family affair. I can imagine how someone less obsessed with medieval history might find the various strands of kinship difficult to untangle, but I found it utterly brilliant and it is hard to think of any history nerd who would feel differently.

It is so easy to dismiss medieval women as being without influence but Cecily shows how the females of the age were equally critical to the course of events. Women were able to plead a case where a man would appear weak. Women's talk could turn opinion where a man would not be as persuasive. The battles were fought in different ways but the stakes remained the same. This is one of those rare but wonderful pieces of historical fiction which makes the figure at its heart feel almost at reach. I could imagine Proud Cis in a way that I never had before. Garthwaite has an incredible ability to breathe life into these long faded figures of history means I will be looking forward to her next novel with great interest; Cecily is already one of my favourites.

Cecily- Annie Garthwaite

Not so good. I’m sorry it just wasn’t for me. I didn’t enjoy it and I could not finish it.

DNF at 50%.

The story of Cecily and her husband Richard Duke of York as they struggle to do right by KIng Henry VI, a religious man who was easily swayed by whoever was speaking at the time. Richard and Cecily do all that they can to hold English lands in France, brokering deals with the Dukes of Burgundy and Orleans, committing their own funds to pay the soldiers and compensate the townsfolk. But when the King is beset by Gloucester on the one hand promoting all-out war against France and her uncle Cardinal Beaufort arguing for peace, whilst also promoting the interests of his brother's sons over Cecily (his sister's daughter), Richard and Cecily are always going to be on the losing side.

I have always found this era of English history difficult to follow, not least because every other person seems to be called Henry, Edward, Edmund or Margaret so I was really hoping for an engaging historical novel to bring history to life. Sadly I didn't get that. I can only describe this book as akin to someone describing a film to someone who can't see the action, there's a lot of Cecily touching Richard's arm, looking into his eyes, watching other people but all described in such an incredibly lifeless way that it feels like a history book. The book has covered 20 years in such a matter-of-fact way that Cecily seems no older than she did at the start of the book. Indeed, the start of the book opens with Richard and Cecily watching Joan of Arc put to death - that was a harrowing read and it feels like that was the only emotive thing I've read. Wives come and go, dying in childbirth, divorced for witchcraft and it's just mentioned in passing. Cecily's life seems curiously empty, she apparently has no friends or confidants, she is ambivalent about her children, while she and Richard discuss politics and court matters he plays his cards close to his chest - what exactly does she do all day?

Overall, I was hoping that as I got further into the book Cecily would start to become a real character but sadly the novel remains like a patchwork of recorded historical events with no insights/imagination as to how Cecily felt. Accordingly, after reading half the book I don't feel inclined to continue.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book so much that I arranged for Annie to come and give a talk at the end of last month at our bookshop in celebration of Women's History Month!
From the off I loved Cecily. Her strength of character, her role as a strategist and also as a wife and mother. She was written so well. Brilliantly flawed, she felt real. A woman for the here and now, whilst also being very much of her time.
This was a period of time I knew only the basics about. I have a degree in History, but my studies have focused on the Tudor period onwards and this was fantastically balanced. Historically well researched, but it never lost its heart amongst a sea of facts.
The relationship between Richard and Cecily was an unexpected joy and this novel has given a voice to a woman whom history had all but forgotten. I cannot wait for the next!

Cecily was the mother of Richard 111 in a very turbulent period in was British History.. She was a formidable character and very ambitious and the story clearly demonstrates this.. If you enjoy Historical Fiction then this is for you. The author brings the period to life.