The Traitor’s Son
Caught between a king and a kingmaker, young Richard Plantagenet knows he’ll have to choose...
1461: Richard Duke of York, King by Right, has been branded a traitor and slain by his Lancastrian foes. For his eight-year-old son—Richard Plantagenet—England has become a dangerous place.
As the boy grapples with grief and uncertainty, his elder brother, Edward, defeats the enemy and claims the throne. Dazzled by his glorious sibling, young Richard soon discovers that imperfections lurk beneath his brother's majestic façade. Enter Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick—cousin, tutor, luminary—whose life has given him everything but that which he truly craves: a son. A filial bond forms between man and boy as they fill the void in each other’s lives. Yet, when treachery tears their world asunder, Richard faces an agonizing dilemma: pledge allegiance to Edward—his blood brother and anointed king—or to Warwick, the father figure who has shaped his life and affections.
Painfully trapped between duty and devotion, Richard faces a grim reality: whatever he decides will mean a fight to the death.
In "The Traitor’s Son", Wendy Johnson weaves a tapestry of loyalty, love, and sacrifice against the backdrop of England's turbulent history. Through the eyes of a young Richard III, readers are transported into a world where every choice is fraught with peril, and the bonds of kinship are tested to their limits.
Perfect for fans of Hilary Mantel, Annie Garthwaite and Sharon K. Penman.
Richard Plantagenet
by Wendy Johnson
My debut novel, ‘The Traitor’s Son’ is set during one of the most turbulent periods of English history—the civil war known to us retrospectively as the Wars of the Roses. It centres on the royal house of York, the trials and tribulations of a family struggling to survive the perils of political intrigue, and seeks to reimagine the treachery of the times.
The protagonist is eight-year-old Richard Plantagenet: a boy who will ultimately succeed to the throne as King Richard III. Richard’s beloved father, the Duke of York—branded a traitor by his Lancastrian foes—has been slain in battle the previous December and the boy’s life has been ripped apart. Traumatised and grief stricken, he now faces the threat of a Lancastrian descent upon London, and separation from his remaining family. Briefly captured the previous year by the Lancastrian queen, Marguerite of Anjou, Richard is under no illusion. He has witnessed at first hand, the atrocities committed by her hostile forces, and knows that, this time, his very life may hang in the balance.
Following his father’s defeat, his mother, the Duchess of York, arranges to send Richard and his eleven-year-old brother, George, to the Low Countries for safety. Once on foreign shores, the boys know nothing of events at home, how their mother and sister are faring, or even whether their eldest brother, Edward—striving to save the family and avenge their father’s death—is still alive.
Basing the novel entirely on the surviving evidence, I’ve endeavoured to retain complete authenticity as I re-imagine Richard’s feelings during this baptism of fire; a harrowing time, when both boys had only each other for comfort, and which must, in reality, have bound the two together in a way that even their later quarrels and conflicts could not erase.
Research into Richard’s life sheds light on his lifelong, and often recorded, reverence for the memory of the Duke of York, and it is safe to assume that his relationship with his father had been a close one. In the novel, Richard wants nothing more than to become the man his father would have wanted him to be. This remains his ultimate goal in life, as is his filial quest to find another such figure to reassure and guide him, and whom he can look up to.
And he finds just that, in the person of his cousin and mentor, Richard Neville, earl of Warwick—known to history as the Kingmaker. Warwick, the powerful magnate, proud of his prestigious ancestry, has so far failed to produce a son of his own. Grandson of the fecund Ralph Neville, who sired over twenty children—eleven of whom were sons—Warwick’s own dearth of a male heir has proved disappointing. Consequently, a deep bond forms between Richard, the fatherless boy, and Warwick, the man whose life has provided everything but that which he so desperately craves: a son.
But despite Edward’s resounding victory over the enemy, all is not rosy in the Yorkist garden. The charismatic Edward has ascended the throne as Edward IV and, although initially guided by Warwick, his chief counsellor, the king is now chafing at the bit in a bid to rule the kingdom in his own way. The relationship between king and earl finally breaks down over Edward’s secret marriage to a Lancastrian widow, Elizabeth Grey, and the influence exerted over the king by her grasping relatives, the Woodvilles.
As Richard grows and the antagonism continues, the youth soon comes to feel as though he is the victim of a tug of war, as his loyalties and emotions are wrenched first one way and then the other. His chivalric training in Warwick’s household has been the stabilising influence he so badly needed, and yet when Warwick’s disaffection with the king spills over into rebellion, Richard is torn—does he pledge his allegiance to Edward, his blood brother and anointed king, or to Warwick, the man he has come to look upon as a second father? The inner conflict, and the heart-wrenching decision forced upon Richard, form the critical choice upon which the remainder of the book is based.
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| Richard III. Reconstruction. (c) Richard III Society. |
Loyalty is the foremost trait often associated with Richard—loyalty to the House of York, to his brother, Edward IV, and to his remaining family—and in my novel, it is this sense of loyalty to the name of York which wins out, as Richard, now aged sixteen, throws in his lot with the king. Over the following two years, the young man’s life is once again turned on its head, the initial ‘reconciliation’ between both his brother and beloved cousin, amounts to very little and soon Warwick changes allegiance altogether, seeking to restore the Lancastrian, Henry VI, to the throne. As a result, Richard must flee, taking refuge once more in the Low Countries, with his brother, the king, and for the second time in his life, faces a grim and uncertain future.
Throughout their exile, and upon their eventual return to England, Richard is desperate to act as peacemaker. His middle brother, George, has taken Warwick’s side in the argument, joining their cousin in revolt. Richard, whose closeness to George in age and the joint exile he shared with him when they were children—as well as their mutual admiration of Warwick—enters upon a desperate bid to bring George back to the fold. He knows that, unless he can successfully reconcile all members of his family, the conflict is only going to end one way: on the battlefield.
When George accepts Edward’s forgiveness and switches his allegiance back to York, both Richard and George hope—perhaps naively—that the same clemency may be shown to Warwick. Uncertain of the king’s ultimate motives, both brothers press Edward, who claims to offer the earl the opportunity to surrender.
The outcome is, as they say, history, and I have striven at all times to recreate real events as closely as I can. I’ve also tried to instil what is known of the leading figures into the characters I have created, so that what appears on the page owes less to invention and more to the known facts. Of course, we cannot truly know the thoughts of a fifteenth century person, but what we can do is study their actions, what is known of their personalities, and weave those incontrovertible facts into the characterisations.
Each of the conflicts and challenges Richard has to face in the novel, were those faced by his real-life counterpart, and I have based my character on the picture shaped by historic evidence in an attempt to bring the real Richard to the page. A young man motivated both by loyalty, and by his father’s indelible legacy, Richard must have struggled to contend with the choices thrown at him by the political situation and, again, this is something I’ve tried hard to recreate.
Plagued by the treachery of others, Richard’s life is far from easy, and yet his loyalty and noble character continually shine through. This is as true for my protagonist as it was for the real man, who sought to live up to the ideals and actions expected of a medieval prince. In the view of the present writer, he succeeded.
Thank you to all at The Coffee Pot Book Club for arranging my tour and for hosting me on their site today. I hope readers have enjoyed the post.
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