*A big thank-you to Annie Garthwaite, Penguin General UK, and NetGalley for arc in exchange fo rmy honest review.*
Cecily Neville was one of the most intelligent women of her generation, driven by ambition and by the awareness of her status among the nobles. Mother to two future kings, wife to a powerful Duke of York, she had the skills to manipulate in order to survive despite being close to death, together with her children.
Ms Garthwaite offers a portrayal of a medievel woman, high-born, politically engaged, and married to a possible successor to Henry VI. This historical fiction does not dwell on romantic bits, it is about politics, battlefield, ability to evade death and rise high, if possible. I appreciated both learning about Cecily of whom I had rather general understanding, and about the English politics of the mid-15th century. The mother of one of my favourite English monarchs, Richard III, is now much more than just a name.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

The first half of this book was kinda slow and it took a while for it to pick up; it did halfway through, but that's really not enough. I liked that the author has tried to depict Cecily as this powerful, clever woman, but some part of it felt too impersonal; I didn't really mourn or celebrate with her. I was also not too invested in any of her children or Richard even though I did feel kinda bad for him.