The Wars of the Roses Quartet is a series of four Historical Fiction novels by Eleanor Fairburn about the life of Cecily Neville, Duchess of York who was a key figure in the Wars of the Roses and the mother of two English kings, Edward IV and Richard III.
Book 1: The Rose in Spring portrays Cecily's childhood and her arranged marriage to her friend, Richard of York, a powerful young man who is very close to the throne.
Book 2: White Rose, Dark Summer has Cecily and Richard falling out with Margaret of Anjou, Henry VI's powerful queen, and Cecily supporting her husband's desire to take power.
Book 3: The Rose at Harvest's End finds Cecily grieving Richard and her son Edmund's deaths while watching her son Edward become king.
Book 4: Winter's Rose sees Cecily devastated by Edward's early death and must come forward with information that will dispossess her grandson and put her youngest boy, Richard, on the throne.
The series provides examples of:
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: Cecily gives birth to a large brood of children, who grow up to be the mortal enemies of their cousins, the Lancasters as well as often fiercely competitive with one another.
- Childhood Friend Romance: With Richard and Cecily, this overlaps with Happily Arranged Marriage. It also applies to George and Isabel and eventually Richard and Anne.
- The Casanova: Handsome Edward loves women and women love him. He leaves countless bastards, many of whom resemble him, both in England and abroad.
- Dark Secret: Cecily knows about Edward's secret marriage to Eleanor Butler and that Eleanor gave birth to a son. She keeps her mouth shut, for a time, but she is haunted by it.
- Doting Grandparent: Cecily loves her grandchildren by Edward and Elizabeth so much, she keeps her mouth shut about Edward's bigamy. It's only when the Woodvilles make it clear they plan to ignore Edward's wishes after his death, that she comes forward.
- The Fate of the Princes in the Tower: Edward V is a sickly lad, and he dies along with a servant boy who is also his half-brother. Richard III strongly suspects that the Duke of Buckingham poisoned the boys and assumed that the servant was Richard of York. Richard then sends the real Richard of York to Burgundy with his sister Margaret of York. However, he is not Perkin Warbeck. Perkin is actually another bastard of Edward IV.
- The Fettered: Richard of Gloucester takes chivalry and honor far more seriously than his brothers, which proves both an asset and a liability.
- Financial Abuse: George wants Anne Neville's half of her mother's fortune and goes to extreme, abusive lengths to get it.
- Good Parents: Within the constrains of their time and rank, Cecily and Richard are devoted, if distant, parents to their children.
- Happily Arranged Marriage: Played With Richard of York and Cecily are childhood friends who love each other and are excellent partners. However, it is not a passionate love affair. Cecily realizes this when she falls in love with a handsome archer, whom she can never be with.
- I Coulda Been a Contender!: This is true of Richard of York, whom Cecily thinks would have been a far better, more mature king than Edward. It also applies to Cecily herself, as she would have been a more appropriate consort than the upstart Elizabeth Woodville. She knows this, as do many people around her.
- Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: Rumors abound that Edward, the Earl of March, is the son of the archer William Blybern but it isn't true. Cecily and William never consummate their emotional affair.
- Rescue Romance: Richard rescues Anne from a kitchen, where George has hidden her and convinced her, falsely, that Richard wants to kill her. Richard convinces her this is untrue and takes her to sanctuary, and they marry soon afterward.
- Sent In To Hiding: Richard III does this for his nephew, Richard of York, when he realizes that Buckingham probably poisoned Edward V and a servant boy.
- Sibling Rivalry:
- George knows he's the rightful heir to the throne, and even before he finds that out, he deeply covets Edward's crown.
- George and Richard fight bitterly over their wives' fortune, to the point where Edward gets sick of it.
- Social Climber: Elizabeth Woodville does not and never loves Edward. She marries him to advance her family, which she does successfully.
- The Un-Favourite: Edward feels he is this, with his mother and sister Margaret preferring George. To be fair, Cecily has ample reason to be annoyed with Edward, though she does love him.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Cecily and William, in spades. They have great passion for one another but do the right thing and do not act on it.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Eleanor Butler's son is raised by monks, and we never know what becomes of him. We also never know what eventually happens to the intelligent and likable Richard of York after he is sent to his aunt.
