Sharon Kay Penman Biography & Facts
Sharon Kay Penman (August 13, 1945 – January 22, 2021) was an American historical novelist, published in the UK as Sharon Penman. She was best known for the Welsh Princes trilogy and the Plantagenet series. In addition, she wrote four medieval mysteries, the first of which, The Queen's Man, was a finalist in 1996 for the Best First Mystery Edgar Award.
Her novels and mysteries are set in England, France, and Wales, and are about English and Welsh royalty during the Middle Ages. The Sunne in Splendour, her first book, is a stand-alone novel about King Richard III of England and the Wars of the Roses. When the manuscript was stolen she started again and rewrote the book.
Her work was generally well received, with the more recent novels reaching the New York Times Bestseller List. Critics have praised her meticulous research of settings and events presented in her fiction, as well as the characterizations.
Penman died from pneumonia on January 22, 2021, at the age of 75.
Career
Born in New York City, Penman grew up in New Jersey. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where she majored in history. She also received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Rutgers University School of Law, and worked as a tax lawyer before becoming a writer. 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. 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. Of practicing law, she admitted she "considered it penance." Penman lived in New Jersey, 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.
Writing career
The Sunne in Splendour is about the end of England's War of the Roses. In the book, Penman characterizes King Richard III as a healthy, if misunderstood, ruler. She chose to write Richard's character in such a way after becoming fascinated with his story and researching his life, both in the United States and in the United Kingdom, which led her to believe that "his was a classic case of history being rewritten by the victor."
Once finished with The Sunne in Splendour she claimed to have become "hopelessly hooked" on writing. She had plenty of material to be written about the "rebellious sons and disgruntled brothers and conniving kings and willful queens" of the Plantagenets and hoped to write as many as a dozen books on the subject. After the publication of The Sunne in Splendour, Penman began work on the Welsh Trilogy, set primarily in Wales. The "Welsh Trilogy" was followed by the "Plantagenet series", which presents the events of the life of King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Penman's settings are all in the Middle Ages; the Welsh Princes trilogy is set in the 13th century, two centuries earlier than The Sunne in Splendour. During her research for Here Be Dragons, the first book in the series, she became fascinated with the complexity of the role of women in medieval society; for example, Welsh women at the time had a great deal more independence than the English women. Whether in Wales or in England, a noble wife had responsibility for a household, complete with household knights, whom the wife relied upon to keep the household safe.
In 1996, Penman published the first in the series of medieval mystery novels. Penman's first mystery, The Queen's Man, was a finalist for an Edgar Award for Best First Mystery from the Mystery Writers of America. Penman explained her reasons for turning to the mystery genre after writing only historical novels: "By the time I'd finished researching and writing When Christ and His Saints Slept, I was in danger of burning out. For the first time in nearly two decades, my boundless enthusiasm for the Middle Ages had begun to flag. So I decided I needed a change of pace, and since I am a long-time mystery fan, it occurred to me that a medieval mystery might be fun to write. Once that idea took root, it was probably inevitable that I'd choose to write about Eleanor of Aquitaine, surely one of history's most memorable women."
Set in the 12th century, Penman presents the young Justin de Quincy as a medieval sleuth. In the first book he is elevated to the status of "queen's man" by Eleanor of Aquitaine. The Queen's Man and Cruel as the Grave depict the period after King Henry II's death, as Eleanor, about age 70, rules the Angevin empire with one son (Richard) in captivity, and another son (John) hovering at the edge of power. The third novel in the series, The Dragon's Lair, is set during the same period, but Penman shifts the locale to northwest England and north Wales. And finally, in the most recent novel of the series, Prince of Darkness, Penman continues to show the conflict between mother and sons, and weaves in de Quincy's conflicts as well.
In addition to the Edgar Award, Penman was the winner of the 2001 Career Achievement Award for Historical Mysteries from Romantic Times.
Welsh Princes trilogy
Here Be Dragons (1985) is the first of Penman's trilogy of novels about the medieval Welsh princes of Gwynedd. Of the novel, Penman stated, “I think Dragons is so popular because it was virgin territory for most readers. The saga of the Plantagenets was much better known, but not many people were familiar with medieval Wales or its princes. And then, too, the story of Llewelyn the Great and Joanna, King John's illegitimate daughter, is a remarkable one, which struck an emotional chord with many readers.”
In Falls the Shadow (1988) Penman chronicles the family relationships of King Henry III and his brother-in-law Simon de Montfort. Falls the Shadow is a bridge novel as Penman uses the Simon de Montfort rebellion to lead her to the conclusion of the trilogy in The Reckoning. As Penman explained: '“After I'd finished Here Be Dragons, I knew I wanted to continue the story… At first I'd planned to write one book in which Simon de Montfort would share top billing with Llewelyn Fawr's grandson, Llewelyn ap Gruffydd, who later wed Simon's daughter. I soon realized, though, that this was too much to tackle in one book, that Simon and Llewelyn each deserved his own novel. So I decided to devote Falls the Shadow to Simon and The Reckoning to Llewelyn".
Penman's characterization of Simon de Montfort is that of a man increasingly disillusioned by his sovereign, who rebels in 1263, becomes regent to Henry III, and attempts to re-establish rights granted under the Magna Carta. In addition to the story of Simon de Montfort and his wife, Eleanor the Countess of Pembroke and sister to King Henry III, the novel presents characters such as the Welsh ruler Llywelyn Fawr and London's FitzThomas.
O.... Discover the Sharon Kay Penman popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Sharon Kay Penman books.
