A thirty-year international business career made me even more interested in women’s relationship with power. You can imagine. Let’s just say, I frequently found myself the only woman at the big table.

A first time author has had her debut novel CECILY published after a successful launch on Tuesday at Ludlow Castle. Cecily: Of course I was instantly obsessed with Cecily. I loved how Garthwaite chose to portray her. I loved the role she was afforded - not only in her own story but in the history of the Wars of the Roses and the eventual victory of her son. Garthwaite gave Cecily such autonomy, strength of character, tenacity and willpower it was a pleasure to read this version of her. I would never myself have imagined Cecily as this type of woman, but after reading this, I think it was mainly because no one else has ever given Cecily any sort of character as all. This version was both refreshing and necessary. Or this, on the way she wants to engage with viewers. “It sounds like I’m a sadist, but I want that feeling of never quite knowing. The danger is that it ends up being a frustrating game. What I want is to find that moment where you’ve said it, although not completely, but you’ve said enough that you are rewarded for looking.” Garthwaite has this incredible skill for being able to draw these incredibly detailed, memorable character sketches with only a few words or lines. I found myself constantly amazed by the sheer scope of the novel, the epic cast and how much Garthwaite was able to make me feel for them especially when some only appear sporadically. Although I might wish that my (relatively) obscure favourite of the 15th century appeared a little more in Garthwaite’s novel, I also have to say Garthwaite has written by far the best depiction of Eleanor Cobham’s penance walk I’ve ever read. Annie Garthwaite from Shropshire had never written a book before but after being obsessed with Cecily since childhood, she decided if she did not write the novel at age 55 she never would and so she spent the next three years pouring her soul into a childhood dream.

This cookie is used to recognize the visitor upon re-entry. This cookie allows to collect information on user behaviour and allows sharing function provided by Addthis.com Sorry, this is an absolute disaster. A rambling mess from an incredibly anxious woman who can't seem to put cohesive thoughts together. I was looking forward to funny insights into the star, never expecting it to be this bad, but it's almost unreadable. I hope you enjoy getting to know the seven sisters in this series, each of them different and remarkable in their own way. Just like in life, you're bound to identify with a particular sister more than the others, but that's the part of the fun. And some sisters might even surprise you . . . Before reading this book, I must admit, I had no clue who Cecily Neville was. As someone who is not particularly interested in England’s royal lines, I was drawn to this book by its focus on an influential female who is severely underrated and left out of books/teaching. While I knew that the core of the book was about the author dealing with her cousin's death, I did not think that the entire book would be quite so melancholy since it is written by a comedian. It is a book primarily about grief.

For me, the stand out character of the 15th century has always been Cecily Neville. She experienced power in both directions: wielding it and having it wielded against her. She survived eighty years of tumultuous history, mothered kings, created a dynasty and brought her family through civil war. She met victory and defeat in equal measure and, in face of all, lived on. Last woman standing, you might say.”

Our vital new book is the first to truly chart the rise of one of the most influential painters of our time Wow. Wowowowow. It's rare that historical fiction gets me this excited any more - especially historical fiction about the women of the Wars of the Roses, who I find fascinating and have read about endlessly. (I wrote my masters' thesis on two of them, although sadly didn't examine Cecily herself.) And yet. Here we are!

Cecily is a brilliant character. She's pragmatic, ruthless, loving, brave, and intelligent. The author did a great job of taking some aspects of her character that would be fairly unusual these days (her fervent religious beliefs) and make them seem authentic, and also take concepts that we're more familiar with talking about now (like post natal depression) and explore them in a historical context. Many of the other characters felt well rounded as well. Or this, on the freedom she found after crossing the Atlantic. “The big change for me was that in America, people seemed a lot more relaxed about what you could and couldn’t do. Yes. As an artist. In America they’d already moved on. People had figured out that you could still paint. The conversation just felt totally different when I first came here.” As she learns about her heritage in Kenya, she is inspired by the life of Cecily Huntley-Morgan, a New York socialite who finds herself thrown into Kenya's decadent ‘Happy Valley' set during the Second World War. At a crossroads in her life, Electra knows she must face up to her addictions. It is only when she opens her heart to people who truly care about her that she discovers where her Befitting the time-warped year of 2020, the diary-like approach deftly weaves together the present and the past. Strong chronicles the challenges of beginning a relationship during the pandemic and the fear when her new boyfriend contracts COVID. She describes the pain of losing her friend and longtime Saturday Night Live staff member Hal Willner to the virus. She reflects on formative events from her life, including how her high school expulsion led to her pursuing a career in theater and, years later, landing at SNL . More contemplative passages immerse the reader in the hardships, and sometimes joyful simplicities, of the period.As with York, I kept thinking there was something missing with him. He was too passive, too noble, too good, too unambitious. There is a common trope to view York as the man driven by nobility and what is “right” who can’t survive in a court of snakes (similar to “Good Duke Humphrey” in Shakespeare’s King Henry VI, Part 2 or Ned Stark in A Game of Thrones), but I have never been convinced by it and Garthwaite doesn’t sell it here either.