SONG FOR A LUTE

Against the background of the War of the Roses, Marguerite Vance reexamines that much maligned King of England, Richard III, Duke of Gloucester. Told ostensibly as the story of his beautiful Queen, Ann Nevil, who in a previous politically expedient marriage was daughter-in-law to Marguerite of Anjou, the focus subtly changes to Richard, who according to the author, was steadfast, both in his love of the Yorkist Queen, and in his determination to rule justly. Intrigue, international maneuvering in which lives were expendable pawns, and romance are skillfully woven together in this interesting reconstruction of King Richard, so different in complexion from the devastating portrait of the ruthless despot of Shakespeare's Richard III.