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Jean Plaidy
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Sun in Splendour Paperback – January 1, 2009

by Jean Plaidy (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 364 ratings
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Reckoned by those about him to be the most handsome man in the country, Edward the fourth has risen to the throne with the help of Warwick, the kingmaker. But even Warwick's trusted advice cannot convince the King to ignore his passion for the beautiful widow, Elizabeth Woodville - and when she refuses to become his mistress the two are married.

Beloved of the people, Edward proves himself to be a strong king, but his love of luxurious living soon begins to impact on his royal duties. Despite his mistresses, Elizabeth is loyal to the illustrious king, providing him with many children, among them Edward the fifth and Richard Duke of York. But Edward lived recklessly and on his death an incident from his past comes to light that will change the course of history ...
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  1. Book 14 of 14
    Plantagenet Saga
  2. Print length
    480 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Arrow Books
  5. Publication date
    January 1, 2009
  6. Dimensions
    5.08 x 1.1 x 7.8 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0099532980
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0099532989
  9. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Arrow Books (January 1, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0099532980
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0099532989
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.08 x 1.1 x 7.8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 364 ratings

About the author

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Jean Plaidy

Jean Plaidy

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Eleanor Hibbert (1 September 1906 – 19 January 1993) was an English author who combined imagination with facts to bring history alive through novels of fiction and romance. She was a prolific writer who published several books a year in different literary genres, each genre under a different pen name: Jean Plaidy for fictionalized history of European royalty; Victoria Holt for gothic romances, and Philippa Carr for a multi-generational family saga. A literary split personality, she also wrote light romances, crime novels, murder mysteries and thrillers under the names Eleanor Burford, Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow, Anna Percival, and Ellalice Tate.

In 1989, the Romance Writers of America gave her the Golden Treasure award in recognition of her significant contributions to the romance genre. By the time of her death, she had written more than 200 books that worldwide sold more than 100 million copies in 20 languages. She continues to be a widely borrowed author among lending libraries. Her popular works of historical fiction are appreciated by readers and critics alike for their accuracy, quality of writing, and attention to detail.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
364 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

emily kettner
5.0 out of 5 stars being ABLE to read it
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2023
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Unfortunately, I can't get it on my kindle, and I tried to order it in large print, but when I received it, it wasn't in large print, so I now have two books which I can't read. My eyes are getting bad as I get older, so luckily, I can get most on mine on my kindle.
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Alex
4.0 out of 5 stars One last brilliant burst
Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2009
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This is the last book of Jean Plaidy's Plantagenet Saga and is a very good ending for the series. This tells the story of three kings. Edward IV, Edward V and Richard III. You are also very well introduced to Elizabeth Woodville and Anne Neville.

I read most of this book during a power outage and continued to read through the night because this book told a story I didn't know and kept me wanting to know more. I've only read  The Reluctant Queen: The Story of Anne of York (A Queens of England Novel)  and that was told from Anne Neville's point of view and mostly concerned her love for Richard III. This book told that story and the stories of everyone surrounding them.

Most important to this tale, for me, was Edward IV. A supposedly handsome man he married Elizabeth Woodville without "permission" from Richard Neville, the Kingmaker, sparking all kinds of trouble. You don't really get a feel for the type of woman Elizabeth Woodville was like you do in Philippa Gregory's  The White Queen: A Novel (Cousins' War)  but you get the jist of their story. You really get to know Edward though and Jean Plaidy made me wish I could meet him just once as he seemed like a really fun person. Her writing style pulls him through.

I also really loved that she gave a lot of attention to the mystery of the Princes in the Tower. I've never read anything much on that and she does an amazing job on it. I'll also say she does a very good job and breathing life into Edward V. A king with such a short reign I nearly always forget about it.

Then there's the hated Richard III. Jean Plaidy's Richard isn't so bad. He's not 100% likable, but you don't hate him. I liked the treatment he received in  The Reluctant Queen: The Story of Anne of York (A Queens of England Novel)  but unlike that book this one goes into his reign after the death of his wife.

Overall a very good ending to a wonderful series. I was very sorry it had to end.
8 people found this helpful
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Pamela S. Cardin
5.0 out of 5 stars The sun in splendor
Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2023
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I love Jean plaidy’s books and am always pleased with them. Thriftbooks has been very good to deal with. The books are always in good shape and come promptly. I am very pleased.
One person found this helpful
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P. Pigors
5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting Read!!
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2017
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I read this book because the main characters are my ancestors and in my family tree. I have read all 16 books in the Plantagenet line which bring their stories to life so I can learn about how they lived and their ups and downs of daily life even as royalty. Jean Plaidy has always been a favorite author of mine and I have many many of her books and others under other pen names. She does her research well and brings life to the people in her books!
One person found this helpful
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Buyer
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Read
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2014
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I found this book easy to read, and very accurate about the period of time
Jean Plaidy is one of my favorite authors
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Msgey
4.0 out of 5 stars Easy Reading
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2019
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An easy read and enjoyable pseudo historical book
Not for serious study of the period but I liked the style and story
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Lauriston H. Mccagg
5.0 out of 5 stars Our History
Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2009
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This volume is but another superb educational tool for anybody who would dig into his or her's heritage. It's essential to understanding from where our Anglo/American culture has evolved.
3 people found this helpful
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summerblonde
4.0 out of 5 stars This was agood read and I like this autthor
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2014
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I'm into historic fiction and particularly Wars of Roses. This was agood read and I like this autthor.
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George Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars another first rate Plaidy historical novel
Reviewed in Canada on December 9, 2022
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This story is about King Edward IV of England, his rise to power and his fall. Wonderfully written, Plaidy sticks to facts and yet manages to bring the characters alive for us to experience flesh and blood reality behind historical accounts. Informative. Great reading.
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Monika
5.0 out of 5 stars A very good book...
Reviewed in Germany on April 9, 2018
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… and the last one in Jean Plaidy’s Plantagenet series.

The focus here lies on the turbulent times during the Wars of the Roses and the reigns of the York Kings Edward IV, Edward V and Richard III.

For me this is one of the best books in the series, although admittedly that might be due to my penchant for the Wars of the Roses and especially Richard III.

Undoubtedly though, Jean Plaidy was a great historical novelist and a wonderful storyteller who managed to tell the stories of those long ago times simply by sticking to known facts and general beliefs, but without sounding like a boring research study and - which I appreciate even more - without trying to fill in the gaps which unfortunately now and then occur in history and to which the answers we most likely never will know. Therefore she avoided to blame a specific person for the death of Henry VI or the disappearance of the princes in the Tower.

A very recommended book for readers who are interested in English history but don’t want to be overwhelmed with facts and details, or for those who already have some foreknowledge and want to enjoy a well-known story again.

5 stars for this book as well as for the whole series!

For readers who like me have now acquired a taste for Jean Plaidy: There’s much more reading material available, among it also her Tudor series which follows the events after the Wars of the Roses, starting with a novel about Henry VII.
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Christine Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars Splendour indeed!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 6, 2014
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(may contain 'spoilers') r. 1461 - 1483 for those who like to see dates ...

Again, a huge amount of research as Jean Plaidy seems to relish this period of the Wars of the Roses and the story (previously told in The Red Rose of Anjou) - this time from the point of view of the Yorks. It is good that she took two books over this period as there would be so much to tell. I learned a great deal about the mighty Warwick family and had not fully got to grips with the fact that they were first cousins to the York brothers and explains a good deal about the marriages of both Clarence and Gloucester (they married the Warwick sisters and had been brought up together).

Plaidy plays safe with the character of Elizabeth Woodville and portrays her both as a silent, complaint wife with a knack of getting her own way and a ruthless, heartless woman capable of great cruelty but certainly she had a strong mother instinct for protecting her children and that is sad given what we later know happened to her two sons. It really makes it clear just why the Woodville marriage was such a disaster for the stability of the country and throws some light on the next royal-commoner marriage - Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn. Maybe the world still wasn't ready for this type of marriage for a royal? (possibly it has taken until now with Prince William marrying a commoner, Catherine Middleton. It had never really worked before except (very) arguably when Henry VIII married Catherine Parr, but that is very debateable.

Had Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville truly not been legal due to the alleged pre contract to Eleanor Butler - then surely the mighty Warwick would have found this impediment? Warwick's hatred of the Woodvilles took him to war and cost him his life so it seems incredibly unbelievable that this wasn't discovered by him. The fact it only 'came out' after Edward was dead gave no chance for another wedding to be arranged and the children to be legitimised - so clearly it had to wait until one of the two was dead and it could not be rectified. How very convenient! And if it was true that Edward was not legally married to Elizabeth (although they had lived as man and wife and their son groomed for high office) then Richard Duke of Gloucester was not the heir as often assumed. The heir would have been the Duke of Clarence's son, Edward. Clarence had been older than Richard so his son was next in line after King Edward V and his brother Richard. Young Edward spent most of his life in the Tower of London - put there by Henry VII and later executed on a pretext after a Pretender came forward claiming to be him. But ...!?

The question of Edward's legitimacy and the rumour that his mother had had an affair with an archer is nicely dealt with. It is pointed out that Edward had the Plantagenet looks (and that Cecily Neville would never had had an affair with a mere archer) and that put pay to that. Time Team did a very sketchy 'exclusive' on this subject recently but it's quite old hat and as a rumour had been around for a while

Having more material, Plaidy uses more dialogue and this perhaps is not her strongest point as she is more of a historian but nevertheless she does bring the period to life and weaves a fascinating life that portrays Edward IV as great at love and war but too complacent to be good at decision making.

I am not quite finished the book yet and am savouring it as it is such an enjoyable period of history so I may well come back to this review when I'm done.
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Wendy Aggett
5.0 out of 5 stars The Sun in Splendour
Reviewed in Australia on May 21, 2014
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The sun in Splendour was a great book by one of my favorite authoress's A beautifull told story of King Edward IV
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PAULA MCDONALD
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on July 8, 2017
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you cant beat plaidy
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