Falls the Shadow: A Novel (Welsh Princes Trilogy Book 2)

“A marvelous literary and historical achievement…. Impossible to put down.” --- Boston Herald “Absorbing. . . . [Penman] manages to illuminate the alien shadowland of the Middle Ages and populate it with vital characters whose politics and passions are as vivid as our own.” --- San Francisco Chronicle “A remarkably detailed look at how people lived in medieval England and Wales. . . .Worth reading.” --- The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) “A vivid portrait of a lost time . . . full of fascinating personality studies . . . Once you enter her world you’re hooked.” --- Seattle Post-Intelligencer From Publishers Weekly It is a mystery why Simon de Montfort's name is not as instantly recognizable as those of Charlemagne and Richard the Lionhearted. The histories of France and England were significantly shaped by the causes he espoused and the battles he fought. Penman, a writer whose fidelity to historical detail is matched by her gift for narrative, makes Simon, Earl of Leicester, one of her central characters in this sweeping, dramatic saga set in the 13th century. The novel initially suffers from a dual focus, however, since Penman is equally concerned with the descendants of Llewelyn Farr of The Sunne in Splendour, who united the Welsh lords in an uneasy peace. The lives of highborn English, Welsh and French families intersect and painfully collide through complex ties of royal kinship: Montfort's wife, Nell is sister to King Henry III, one of England's most incompetent monarchs. Hot-tempered, high principled and "the most celebrated soldier in Christendom," Montfort enters into bitter conflict with his brother-in-law, becoming leader of the barons who oppose Henry's irresponsible leadership. Henry is forced to accept the Oxford Provisions that limit his power and affirm the rights of English citizens, but after two decades of intrigue, internecine conflict, shifting alliances and full-fledged civil war, Henry's son Edward Plantagenet prevails in the bloody battle of Evesham. Penman brilliantly evokes the medieval world with its deeply ingrained religious convictions that made men believe themselves directly favored or abandoned by God, a mental construct hard to reconcile with "the seductive allure of a chivalric brotherhood based on the sword." As usual, she illuminates the events of individual lives as well as the political and cultural forces that characterized this tumultuous era, in a thoroughly engrossing book. 75,000 first printing; $100,000 ad/promo. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From Library Journal For her third historical novel, Penman focuses on the mid-13th-century reign of England's Henry III and stories of those who opposed that inept king. A main detractor is French-born Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, who leads the fight for parliamentary restrictions on the monarch, and later becomes Henry's brother-in-law through marriage to Eleanor, Countess of Pembroke. She emerges as a major figure, as does a distant relative by marriage, Llewelyn ap Gruffydd, who fights for supremacy in Wales. A promised genealogy should sort out the family relationships as well as the Welsh names. Penman's authentic historical treatment and characterizations capture the imagination and leave the characters well poised for an intended sequel. Recommended. Ellen Kaye Stoppel, Drake Univ. Law Lib., Des MoinesCopyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. “A marvelous literary and historical achievement…. Impossible to put down.” --- Boston Herald “Absorbing. . . . [Penman] manages to illuminate the alien shadowland of the Middle Ages and populate it with vital characters whose politics and passions are as vivid as our own.” --- San Francisco Chronicle “A remarkably detailed look at how people lived in medieval England and Wales. . . .Worth reading.” --- The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) “A vivid portrait of a lost time . . . full of fascinating personality studies . . . Once you enter her world you’re hooked.” --- Seattle Post-Intelligencer --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From the Inside Flap "A marvelous literary and historical achievement...Impossible to put down."THE BOSTON HERALDThis is Simon de Montfort's story--and the story of King Henry III, as weak and changeable as Montfort was brash and unbending. It is a saga of two opposing wills that would later clash in a storm of violence and betrayal, a story straight from the pages of history that brings the world of the thirteenth century comletely, provocatively, and magnificently alive. Above all, this is a story of conflict and treachery, of human frailty and broken legends, a tale of pageantry and grandeur that is as unforgettable as it is real.... --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From the Publisher As a publisher I have been lucky to be able to visit bookstores all over the country, independent and chain alike. What interests me first about these stores is what titles are being displayed in the 'Staff Recommends' section of the store. It is here that you can find treasured, beloved books quite dear to someone who works in the stores, someone waiting quite eagerly for the chance to hand sell their recommended titles. It is in these Staff Recommend sections that I kept on seeing our Penman's titles, HERE BE DRAGONS, FALLS THE SHADOW, THE RECKONING and also SUNNE IN SPLENDOUR and WHEN CHRIST AND HIS SAINTS SLEPT.It's funny, you can sell something for years before you notice that the author has been quietly making a powerful impact on people everywhere. I started with HERE BE DRAGONS and I have never looked back. Her trilogy of the decline of the Welsh kings ( DRAGON, FALLS THE SHADOW and THE RECKONING)is a holiday gift I give year after year, and I'm happy to say they have always been embraced and loved. From my 15 year old niece to my 70 year old mother and many ages in between, all readers are enchanted and transported to a land and an age gone forever. But Penman makes them live forever in our minds and hearts with fantastic, unforgettable characters and wonderful history. HERE BE DRAGONS is such a great title--medieval mapmakes would write those words across any part of the map that was unknown.. a wonderful metaphor for how little the Welsh and English knew of each other. SUNNE IN SPLENDOUR--Warning: This is not Shakespeare's Richard III. In this novel, Richard is a victim of circumstance and man vilified by the Tudors, but here presented as a decent and normal man, a man of conscience.AND he is not a murderer. Yes, those princes did die, but not by Richard's hand. WHEN CHRIST AND HIS SAINTS SLEPT Another wonderful title, for it refers to the 15 years of England's darkest time-the civil war between the cousins Queen Maud and King Steven. England was deserted, for Christ and his saints were sleeping. I had never even heard of these royals. Queen Maud was the legitimate heir to the throne, but a woman, and there fore not fit to rule. She is also the mother of Henry, who later married Eleanor of Aquitaine . Pretty heady stuff, more incredible men and women, another book to get totally lost in. Although it has been years since all these books were first published, I can name 5 stores I have been in in the past 3 months that have one of these titles in the Staff Recommends section.-Alice Kesterson, Ballantine Regional Sales Manger --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Sharon Kay Penman is the author of six critically acclaimed historical novels and four medieval mysteries, one of which was a finalist for an Edgar Award for Best First Mystery from the Mystery Writers of America. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Read more