The Uncrowned Queen
Posie Graeme-Evans
Atria, Jun 2006, $14.00
ISBN: 0743443748

The thirty years of War of the Roses between the Houses of York and Lancaster continue seemingly unabated; no one in England can elude its reach even those who are hidden from the two camps claiming the crown like Anne de Bohun who has feet on both sides of the conflict as the mistress of married King Edward IV and mother of his wrong side of the sheets son while also being the biological daughter of King Henry VI.

With her lover in exile in France, Anne has not seen or heard from her Edward in eighteen months as she lives with her son successfully working the merchant trade in Brugge, Belgium until he orders her to come to him on the eve of his crossing the Channel to bring the war back to Henry. If she heeds his message, Anne risks all that she has achieved by diligent hard work to overcome her impoverished servant childhood to have something better for her child, but rationalizes that Edward, the only man she has ever loved, would never harm his offspring even an illegitimate one in his ambition to take the throne.

The finish to Posie Graeme-Evans's strong collateral look at the impact of the War of the Roses through a heroine who has close ties to the rivals is a fine historical tale that nicely wraps up a solid trilogy (see THE INNOCENCE and THE EXILED). The storyline enables the audience to see deep into the social and political happenings of late fifteenth century England, France, and Belgium. Especially fascinating is the attitude of the followers of the adversaries are identically self-aggrandizing and dissolute as each believes they are the deserving ruling class. Not for everyone as the tale lacks action for long stretches, fans of fifteenth century dramas will enjoy Anne's story amidst the finale to the War of the Roses.

Harriet Klausner