Readers: Sharon Kay Penman has died

So sorry to hear this news. I think she was the first historical fiction author I fell in love with, and the two you mentioned were my two favorites, especially Here be Dragons. I first read it in high school and have read my copy to tatters.

So sorry to hear this. She was one of my all-time favorite authors. Memory eternal.

Both Dh and I have read her books and enjoyed them and although it's been many years since we read them DH immediately knew who I meant when I said she had died. Given the volume of books he reads, she stood out.

He looked up her wiki entry and read this out to me
Wiki
While a student, Penman researched and wrote The Sunne in Splendour that chronicled the life of Richard III. When the 400-page manuscript was stolen from her car, Penman found herself unable to write for the next five years.[4] She eventually rewrote the book and by the time the 936-page book was published in 1982 she had spent 12 years writing it, while practicing law at the same time.[5] Of practicing law, she admits she "considered it penance."[6] Penman lived in New Jersey,[7] and in the early 1980s moved to Wales to research her second book, Here Be Dragons. She had a second home in the Welsh mountains where, she said, the history inspired her and provided material for her novels.[8]


Finding out she lived in Wales adds to the reason her books seemed to work on all levels, she wasn't writing from afar, she knew the places. I was thrilled when reading one of her books that I was suddenly reading about a neighbouring village.

She has left behind a wonderful set of books. If you haven't read anything by her and love history, you are missing out.

I’m equally sad 😪 I recently downloaded ‘ the sunne’ on my kindle as my original copy is falling to bits - I’ve lent it to countless friends and family and read it three times. A wonderful story-teller.

Have you read Daughter of Time by Joesphine Tey?  One of my favorite Richard books.

I hadn’t heard. This makes me really sad. I love her writing so much, she really carved out a place of her own. I recommend her to all the historical fiction lovers and wannabes.

DH is very into genealogy and frequently when he tells me about a new ancestor he has tracked down, I am able to pull out a book about that person. He is descended from Llywelyn's daughter Gwladys and has ties to many of the significant figures of the time.

I haven't actually heard of her, or the books you mentioned. The books sound like something my aunt or my MIL might read. I will check to see if MIL has any of her books in our Kindle library.

I understand this sentiment completely. I was so sad when one of my favourite authors, Bryce Courtenay, died. It had been a long standing tradition that my dad would buy me his latest novel every year for Christmas, and I would read it over the summer holidays. I've now had 8 Christmases without a BC novel under the tree, and it's still sad.