She also received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Rutgers University School of Law, and worked as a tax lawyer before becoming a writer. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where she majored in history. Career īorn in New York City, Penman grew up in New Jersey. Penman died from pneumonia on January 22, 2021, at the age of 75. Critics have praised her meticulous research of settings and events presented in her fiction, as well as the characterizations.

Her work was generally well received, with the more recent novels reaching the New York Times Bestseller List. When the manuscript was stolen she started again and rewrote the book.

The Sunne in Splendour, her first book, is a stand-alone novel about King Richard III of England and the Wars of the Roses. Her novels and mysteries are set in England, France, and Wales, and are about English and Welsh royalty during the Middle Ages. In addition, she wrote four medieval mysteries, the first of which, The Queen's Man, was a finalist in 1996 for the Best First Mystery Edgar Award. She was best known for the Welsh Princes trilogy and the Plantagenet series. Thus was born the myth of King Richard III, the man who would stop at nothing to gain the throne.įilled with the sights and sounds of battle, the customs and love of daily life, the rigours and dangers of Court politics and the touching concerns of very real men and women, The Sunne in Splendour is a richly coloured tapestry of medieval England.Sharon Kay Penman (Aug– January 22, 2021) was an American historical novelist, published in the UK as Sharon Penman. Leaving no heir, his reputation was at the mercy of his successor, and Henry Tudor had too much at stake to risk mercy. The very codes Richard lived by ultimately betrayed him.īut he was betrayed by history too. Above all, he was a man of fierce loyalties, great courage and firm principles, who was ill at ease among the intrigues of Edward's court. He was also a devoted brother, an ardent suitor, a patron of the arts, an indulgent father, a generous friend. Richard, last-born son of the Duke of York, was seven months short of his nineteenth birthday when he bloodied himself at the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, earning his legendary reputation as a battle commander in the Wars of the Roses, and ending the Lancastrian line of succession.īut Richard was far more than a warrior schooled in combat. This special thirtieth anniversary edition of the bestselling The Sunne in Splendour, features an author's note from Sharon Penman.

The sunne in splendour review