Book Review – A Tapestry of Treason by Anne O’Brien

About the Book

Her actions could make history – but at what price?

1399: Constance of York, Lady Despenser, proves herself more than a mere observer in the devious intrigues of her magnificently dysfunctional family, The House of York.

Surrounded by power-hungry men, including her aggressively self-centred husband Thomas and ruthless siblings Edward and Richard, Constance places herself at the heart of two treasonous plots against King Henry IV.  Will it be possible for this Plantagenet family to safeguard its own political power by restoring either King Richard II to the throne, or the precarious Mortimer claimant?

Although the execution of these conspiracies will place them all in jeopardy, Constance is not deterred, even when the cost of her ambition threatens to overwhelm her.  Even when it endangers her new-found happiness.

With treason, tragedy, heartbreak and betrayal, this is the story of a woman ahead of her time, fighting for herself and what she believes to be right in a world of men.

Format: ebook (509 pages) Publisher: HQ
Publication date: 22nd August 2019 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

One of my missions this year is to read the oldest titles on my NetGalley shelf with a view to getting the position where I can smugly say I’m reading and reviewing every book I’m approved for in advance of publication. A Tapestry of Treason has been on my NetGalley shelf since June 2019 and until today was my oldest approval.

Unusually for me, as a history lover, I found the first half of the book which focuses on the detail of the various plots to overthrow Henry IV rather a slog. I actually toyed with giving up on the book at one point, a rarity for me. However, once the author started to give us Constance the woman rather than the political machinator, it grabbed my interest.

That’s not to say I didn’t find Constance infuriating at times. Her pride, ambition and desire to be at the heart of things caused her to make many rash decisions, placing herself at risk of execution for treason. As she admits, ‘Had I not, for much of my adult life, been at the centre of a tapestry of treason, drenched in blood and death? I had stitched with my own hands and intellect to undermine and destroy.’ And the author’s description of her family as ‘magnificently dysfunctional’ is spot on. As Constance says, ‘in this household we talked politics and power’. But she was also the subject of betrayal herself, more than once, including at the hands of someone she should have been able to rely on.

For much of the book Constance comes across as stony-hearted, ferociously ambitious and desperate to be at the heart of events. That is until her icy heart is unexpectedly melted. Historical romance isn’t a genre I’m attracted to but even I found myself more and more invested in Constance’s affair with a member of the Royal Court, an affair which had to remain secret.

The book is packed with detail, not just about historical personages and events, but about clothing (where a glossary would have been useful), food, social customs and royal palaces. It has to be said the lives of ordinary people are consigned to the background; they’re largely unnamed figures at the beck and call of their masters.

If you like your historical fiction packed with history, have the stamina for a chunky read, and are not averse to a romantic element to a storyline, then I think you will enjoy A Tapestry of Treason.

As a side note, there is a local link to Constance’s story, as she was buried in Reading Abbey, Reading being my hometown. Also the burial place of Henry I, Reading Abbey was largely destroyed in the 16th century during the dissolution of the monasteries but you can still explore the Abbey Ruins.

Anne’s latest novel, A Court of Betrayal, was published on 29th February 2024.

I received a digital review copy courtesy of HQ via NetGalley.

In three words: Absorbing, detailed, well-researched
Try something similar: Cecily by Annie Garthwaite

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About the Author

Anne was born in the West Riding of Yorkshire. After gaining a B.A. Honours degree in History at Manchester University, a PGCE at Leeds University and a Masters degree in education at Hull University, she lived in the East Riding as a teacher of history. Always a prolific reader, she enjoyed historical fiction and was encouraged to try her hand at writing. Success in short story competitions spurred her on.

Leaving teaching – but not her love of history – she wrote her first historical romance, a Regency, which was published in 2005. This was followed by nine historical romances and a novella, ranging from medieval, through the Civil War and Restoration and back to Regency, all of which have been published internationally.

Since then Anne has sidestepped historical romances to write about the silent women of medieval history.  As Virginia Woole once said: ‘For most of History, Anonymous was a Woman.’  For this reason, she decided to shake the cobwebs from some of these medieval women of interest and allow them to take the stage, three-dimensional and with much to say.

Anne now lives with her husband in an eighteenth century timber-framed cottage in the depths of the Welsh Marches in Herefordshire, a wild, beautiful place on the borders between England and Wales, renowned for its black and white timbered houses, ruined castles and priories and magnificent churches. Steeped in history, famous people and bloody deeds as well as ghosts and folk lore, it has given her inspiration for her writing. Since living there she has become hooked on medieval history. (Photo/bio: Author website)

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