THE GOLDSMITH'S WIFE

The high tradition of royal romance for the life of Jane Shore, who, sold to the goldsmith, William Shore, renounced her marriage for the love of Edward IV. Here is her progress, as King's favorite, Queen's confidante, and champion of the oppressed, her increasing awareness of the dangers of such a position, and in her compassion, in her foolishness and her inability to learn, the threat of things to come. For with Edward, sick, gross and helpless, there was her lustful passion for Thomas Grey, marquess of Dorset, which her lover used to ensnare Hastings, whom she had always hated for his attempts to seduce her; with the knowledge of her love for Hastings, there is the remorse that always followed her for being the cause of his murder by Richard. And it was Richard, usurper of the throne, and his threat to the little princes, who was more than once the cause of her demeanment in forcing her to acknowledge herself a harlot, in imprisoning her in Ludgate. Thomas Lynton, the King's solicitor, rescued her from that, and, in her new freedom, Jane saw the threat of Tudor Henry and the culmination of the tragedy in the murder of the little princes in the Tower. This is the desperate game of kingship, the profligacy of the 15th century, the ruthlessness of court and popular opinion which embraces both the pattern and fabric of history and the story-teller's art. Historical fictionisation of assuredly wide market, not limited to readers of her previous books.