lady narcissa Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Sharon Kay Penman has passed away. This was posted on her Facebook: Quote As many of you know, Sharon has been having various health issues for some time. In the past 18 months, things escalated, and she began to experience more symptoms and extreme fatigue. It was only recently she was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer that had already reached stage 4. On Monday of this week, she was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with pneumonia. She passed away quietly, in her sleep, this morning. Her family grieves, and now those who loved her well along with you, her fans, join with them. News of a memorial is pending. I knew she had health issues and that for a long time she had chronic fatigue syndrome which prevented her from writing for a number of years. But she had seemed to be better in recent years and I guess we were lucky to get the books from her that we did. She leaves behind her quite a wonderful list of titles: The Sunne in Splendour The Land Beyond The Sea Welsh Princes Trilogy - Here Be Dragons, Falls the Shadow, The Reckoning Plantagenet Series - When Christ and His Saints Slept, Time and Chance, Devil's Brood, Lionheart, A King's Ransom Justin de Quincy Mysteries - The Queen's Man, Cruel as the Grave, Dragon's Lair, Prince of Darkness Penman's books are some of the most beautiful books I own - the first editions of The Reckoning, When Christ and His Saints Slept and her mystery series are absolutely gorgeous! Her titles are some of the most memorable - this past year I have found myself looking over to my copy of When Christ and His Saints Slept and thinking I had never 'felt' that title as much as I have this year. And most importantly, the stories themselves are so enjoyable. I might have my favorites and enjoy some a bit more than others but that has to do with historical preferences more than anything. And anyone who has never read The Sunne in Splendour should remedy that right now and pick up a copy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Antony Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Wow I’m speechless. I have read and re read her Plantagenet books quite a few times. Same with Welsh Princes and Sunne in Splendour. One of my favorite authors no doubt about it ahhh fuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 RIP I think Falls the Shadow might have been the first historical novel I read, my mum had a copy. I've always enjoyed her books and I only recently bought The Land Beyond the Sea. I might have to read that soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Grey Wolf Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Sad. Need to buy a copy of The Sunne in Splendour asap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanteGabriel Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 How sad. I discovered her books when I was around 14 or 15 (that gorgeous cover of "The Reckoning" stood out at the library) and they thoroughly captured my imagination. After that book I read everything else I could get a hold of. In fact when I was 17, and my brother brought me to Europe, I made a point of visiting Simon de Montfort's monument by Evesham. Rest in peace, Ms Penman, and thank you for making history come alive so vividly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Thank you for telling us. I had no idea. Her last novel, The Land Beyond The Sea (March 2020), was the last novel I borrowed from the library, before everything closed in March. I wasn't able to return it to the library until the second week in August, when a few branches re-opened, for pick-up and returns. I had read all her previous works. It's sad there isn't even just one more to look forward to. She was one of those great historical novelists who researched the true scholarship as carefully as the scholars she assiduously consulted researched their primary materials and read the original languages, out of which to create those scholarly resources she so carefully consulted. I particularly appreciated how she continuously embraced the understanding that the medieval era of ten years ago is no longer the medieval era of today, and she expected this and acknowledged and adjusted, accordingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padraig Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Great author. It is very sad to hear of her passing. Simon de Montfort, Richard, Eleanor. Some great historical stories. I wasn't aware of the Land Beyond the Sea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mlle. Zabzie Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 This is very sad. I need to do a re-read now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ormond Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 Very sad. I have never read anything by her but was just considering purchasing one of her books last week. For those of you who have read several of her books, which one do you think is best to start with if one has never read Penman before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 The novel that hooked me on Penman, was When Christ and His Saints Slept (1994). This describes the terrible period in England between the feuding royal mother, Maud -- also an empress due to her first marriage -- between the death of Henry 1 and Henry 2 taking the Plantagenet crown, and the throne in England. W/o her determination and actions, England would never have been Henry II's. The rest of her 5 novel Plantagenet cycle, a/k/a the Plantagenet series, starts with this one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharon_Kay_Penman#Plantagenet_series Sunne In Splendor is Richard III. Here Be Dragons and Falls the Shadow are King John and Wales, and King Henry III / Simon Montfort. Her final novel, Land Beyond the Sea, is the final fall of Jerusalem and the end of the Crusader states, and soon, the end of Middle East crusading all together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady narcissa Posted January 30, 2021 Author Share Posted January 30, 2021 The New York Times obituary (which I think is available to anyone to read as it normally shuts me down if I try to read their articles). https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/books/sharon-kay-penman-dead.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimesworld The obituary mentions the length of her books. I think its a testament to Penman as a writer that I never think about the length of her books. They certainly take up a significant portion of space on my bookshelf so I am visually aware of this. But when I read her books, they need seem long. They flow effortlessly, they don't drag, you don't think they are in need of editing, and you are satisfied at the end. But what I appreciated most about her as a historical fiction writer is another fact the obituary mentions, "she insisted that historical fiction had an obligation to the facts." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 12 minutes ago, lady narcissa said: The obituary mentions the length of her books. I think its a testament to Penman as a writer that I never think about the length of her books. They certainly take up a significant portion of space on my bookshelf so I am visually aware of this. But when I read her books, they need seem long. They flow effortlessly, they don't drag, you don't think they are in need of editing, and you are satisfied at the end. I agree. Although I was planning to read The Land Beyond the Sea next but considering I'm currently bogged down a bit reading another long historical fiction book I have been looking at it's length and thinking about reading a couple of shorter books first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 4 hours ago, lady narcissa said: But what I appreciated most about her as a historical fiction writer is another fact the obituary mentions, "she insisted that historical fiction had an obligation to the facts." She did that wonderfully too, because whenever new facts / information emerged, or she learned about them, that she'd presented differently, in the very next book's foreward or afterword or author's notes, she'd tell her readers about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongRider Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 Just stumbled across this thread and have been looking for req’s for historical fiction. After reading Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell series I would like read more well written HF. I looked for some in the same era to run into titles that all seemed to be about ‘Anne Boleyn, that saucy wench!’ Yuck. Sounds like Sharon Penman respected the history. Speaks well of her and will check her out. Sorry to hear that she’s died. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady narcissa Posted April 11, 2021 Author Share Posted April 11, 2021 @LongRider Very envious that you have all those books to read for the first time. Since you are coming at this from having just read about Cromwell and the Tudors, maybe start with her first book The Sunne in Splendour which is about Richard III and the end of the War of the Roses which prefaces the Tudors nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongRider Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 1 hour ago, lady narcissa said: start with her first book The Sunne in Splendour which is about Richard III and the end of the War of the Roses which prefaces the Tudors nicely. Thanks for the suggestion, am looking forward to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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