The end of Richard III came at the hands of his enemies on 22nd August 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. The novel ‘Renaissance’ starts there so, as a result, you’d expect a short book about King Richard. The clue is in the subtitle, ‘The Fall and Rise of a King.’ Marla Skidmore weaves a tale that starts with the death of the monarch and the revelation that he’s been sent to Purgatory and has been assigned a celestial mentor in the guise of a Franciscan Monk, Father Gilbert. There he must face his ghosts and the Richard that emerges contrasts sharply with that portrayed by Shakespeare and the history books.
Although a novel, the historical facts are will researched and the book has been chosen as a ‘Discovering Diamonds’ recommendation by author Helen Hollick and her team of authors and Readers. A review was published on their blog on 24th May. The book’s cover was also selected as winner of May’s Cover Design of the month and will go forward for Cover of the Year in December 2018. (see the
blog) An online interview will appear in June’s edition of The Chronicle, the twice yearly Newsletter of the USA branch of the Richard III Society. (see the
newsletter) ‘Renaissance’ is one of the winners in the fiction category of the ‘Words for the Wounded’ Georgina Hawtrey-Woore National Literary Award; (see the
web site) linked to this award a ‘Day in the Life of’ article about the author is scheduled to appear online in ‘Frost Magazine’ later this Summer. (see the Frost Magazine
web site) and the global Richard III Society have reviewed the book in the September issue of their quarterly magazine, The Bulletin.
