Jennifer C. Wilson has joined us today for an exclusive interview about her fabulous novel, The Last Plantagenet?: A Ricardian Romance, a time-slip romance that brings a fresh, thoughtful perspective to the final months of Richard III. I’m looking forward to discussing how history and imagination come together in this engaging story.
Mary Anne: What first drew you to the idea of combining a modern protagonist with the political and emotional intensity of Richard III’s final years?
Jennifer: Honestly, there is a healthy dose of ‘author wish fulfilment’ in The Last Plantagenet?, because truly, what historical fiction writer wouldn’t want to be whisked back in time to meet their hero / leading characters?
Whilst the idea of writing a timeslip story had been flitting around my mind for a few months, I actually started putting pen to paper in the hotel bar after getting back from Compline. I had been sitting in one of the front rows of Leicester Cathedral as Richard III’s remains were carried in, as the first part of his reinterment services, just an hour earlier, and my mind was fizzing with writing plans. There had been so much discussion around Richard as a result of the discovery, and I think a chance to look at him as a rounded individual, not just the ‘monster’ that Shakespeare created, was very appealing.
Mary Anne: How did you decide which historical details were essential to include and which could be left in the background to serve the story?
Jennifer: I think having the idea that this was Kate’s story allowed me to keep things quite stripped back. This was never intended as a major historical work; it was definitely intended as a lighter romance, so I researched what was absolutely necessary, and then used artistic licence for the rest. Although Richard did have two illegitimate children (that we know of), the identity of their mother isn’t entirely certain, and there’s no real references to royal mistresses, unlike his elder brother, Edward IV, so the concept of Richard having a mistress in his final days goes against the known record. I do think though, when you’re adding time-travel into stories, readers can hopefully suspend some disbelief and enjoy the romance elements.
Having said that, I did ensure that where I do refer to specific details, such as Richard’s location on particular dates, and the loss of his son and wife, that I got this right. I have so many friends who read and write historical fiction, that the risk of somebody spotting a glaring error is far too high, and whilst people can happily read of people travelling back hundreds of years in time, if I’d said Queen Anne was still alive in August 1485, or that one of Richard’s allies was hunting with him in Nottingham when the record shows they were in London at the time, I know for certain that my book would have been DNF’d at the very least, or more likely, thrown across the room!
Mary Anne: Kate brings modern sensibilities into a medieval world. Were there particular moments where her contemporary mindset created the most tension or surprise for you as a writer?
Jennifer: I think the biggest issue I had was not letting her scream “Don’t ride to Leicester! Don’t go to Bosworth!” – having a character with such foresight and knowledge was probably worse than modern sensibilities for me.
Mary Anne: Richard III has been debated for centuries. What aspects of his character did you most want readers to reconsider through this novel?
Jennifer: I think there’s a risk with historical figures that they become one-dimensional. They’re either a pantomime villain, practically cape-swishing onto the page, or an absolute angel, incapable of doing any wrong whatsoever, depending on which side of the debate you stand. Whilst I am a proud Ricardian, I can admit that he certainly wasn’t perfect. I don’t believe he was guilty of killing the Princes in the Tower, but his order for the execution of William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, cannot be denied.
So, I think for people to see him as more than just one-sided would be my ultimate goal, either through this, or through my Kindred Spirits series, which also features Richard as the main leading man.
Mary Anne: Time-slip stories often hinge on a single turning point. Was there a scene where you felt the story truly “clicked” into place?
Jennifer: Absolutely. As I was writing it, I was really confident and comfortable about how Kate would come to travel to 1485, but getting her back at the end of the book was a little more problematic. I needed something that didn’t feel too convenient, but that fitted in with the general arc of the story, as well as the sense that something ‘bigger’ was happening with Kate and her time in Richard’s court. A friend mentioned the idea of another character being somehow linked with Kate, and that was the moment where it all fell together. I had the conflict the story had been missing, tension for Kate, and a way for her to get ‘home’ at the end of the story, and the rest of the writing really flowed after that.
Mary Anne: How did writing a shorter work influence your pacing, character development, and emotional payoff?
Jennifer: I wasn’t sure when I started how long the story was going to be, and as I didn’t really have a plan for it, I decided to just let the story be as long as it needed to be. I did ponder briefly whether I could expand it to become more of a novel than novella, but after I’d thought about the story a bit more, I knew that trying to lengthen the story from ~25,000 words to ~50,000 words would only result in the story becoming overly ‘padded’, and the writing just wouldn’t be as tight.
So, I feel that in this instance, the pacing, development, and emotions influenced the length of the story, rather than the other way around.
Mary Anne: What challenges did you face in writing dialogue that felt authentic to the 15th century while remaining accessible to modern readers?
Jennifer: This was definitely interesting, because I’d been writing a ghostly version of Richard III in my Kindred Spirits series, and because he had been around for so long, his speech wasn’t really that ‘historical’ in nature anymore, which meant I really did have to forget my previous writing style, and relearn things. Having said that, I’m a firm believer in sprinkling historical dialogue through a story, rather than having everyone speaking wholly in historically-accurate phrasing. I think having too much historical dialect and phrasing can make things almost unreadable at times, but I enjoy using some phrases, such as “well met” as a greeting, which can be easily understood by readers through the context.
None of my books have had swearing in yet, but I feel that some of the medieval swear-words can really give a sense of time and place in books; perhaps I should write something slightly grittier in the future, so I can use some of them!
Mary Anne: The novel explores loyalty, love, and loss against the backdrop of impending historical tragedy. How did knowing the historical outcome shape your storytelling choices?
Jennifer: It made certain things quite challenging, because firstly of course I was writing knowing exactly what was about to happen, but secondly, I was intentionally avoiding some of the ‘big questions,’ such as Kate asking outright about, for example, the Princes in the Tower. It didn’t feel the right book to start exploring such big issues, although I know if I were in Kate’s position, it would be hard not to start quizzing people!
Mary Anne: Did writing this story change your own perspective on Richard III or the Wars of the Roses in any way?
Jennifer: As I say, I’m a proud Ricardian, but I do like to think I can see both sides of Richard III. Personally, I think finding any medieval monarch who didn’t have a few skeletons in the wardrobe would be a losing battle. An example where neither Richard nor his brother George come off particularly well is around their mother-in-law, Anne Beauchamp, the Countess of Warwick, and wife of the Kingmaker. With the two Plantagenet brothers having married her two daughters, following her husband’s death in 1471, and lengthy arguments about who should inherit what of the Warwick lands and titles, Anne Beauchamp was declared legally dead, and her inheritance was split between her two daughters (and indirectly, their husbands). Hardly the acts of good men. Although, I do enjoy the fact that the Countess outlived almost everyone involved in the Wars of the Roses, surviving, albeit in relative obscurity but at least with some of her wealth returned, until 1492.
So, whilst I learned more about the detail of Richard’s last weeks and days leading up to Bosworth, I don’t think my perspective on him or the Wars specifically changed.
Mary Anne: What kind of reader do you hope will be most drawn to this book, and what do you hope stays with them after they finish it?
Jennifer: I really hope it appeals to both existing Ricardians, and general lovers of timeslip romance, and that what stays with them is a sense that whilst in no way perfect, Richard III was not the monster he is frequently portrayed as in fiction. I’m certainly not the only person on this campaign, but The Last Plantagenet? is a relatively light-hearted way into the history. I know that’s how I got into Ricardian history, so perhaps it’ll be an entry point for somebody else too.
Mary Anne: Thank you, Jennifer, for sharing such an open and thoughtful insight into The Last Plantagenet?: A Ricardian Romance. What comes through so clearly is your respect for both history and storytelling, and your instinctive understanding of how to balance careful research with imaginative freedom. By presenting Richard III not as a caricature or a cause, but as a man shaped by love, loyalty, and loss, you invite readers to pause and reconsider long-held assumptions. This novel is a reminder that historical fiction does not need to be weighty to be meaningful, nor exhaustive to be persuasive. Sometimes it is through a lighter, more intimate lens that the past feels most immediate—and most human.
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This was a really enjoyable interview. I loved getting a glimpse into Jennifer’s creative process and what inspired her writing — it makes the book feel even more intriguing. Thanks for sharing such a thoughtful conversation!
ReplyDeleteThis was such a lovely interview to read. I really enjoyed how openly Jennifer talks about the balance between historical accuracy and storytelling, especially her thoughts on Richard III being so often reduced to extremes. The moment where the idea came together in Leicester Cathedral during the reinterment is incredibly moving, and it makes perfect sense that it sparked such an emotionally driven story. I also appreciated her honesty about writing this as a lighter, romantic entry point into Ricardian history rather than a weighty historical epic. It’s clear how much care and affection she has for both the history and the characters, and this has definitely made me want to pick up The Last Plantagenet?
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