Anne Easter Smith

Anne Easter Smith is an English-born American historical novelist whose work focuses on the York dynasty and the Wars of the Roses. She grew up in England, Germany and Egypt before settling in the United States in 1968, and later spent ten years as the features editor of a newspaper in northern New York State. A longstanding member of the Richard III Society, she has studied Richard III and fifteenth-century England for decades, combining detailed historical research with fictional interpretations of royal relationships, political ambition and dynastic conflict.

Smith’s six interconnected Wars of the Roses novels examine the period through both prominent and overlooked figures. A Rose for the Crown imagines the life of Kate Haute, traditionally associated with Richard III’s illegitimate children; Daughter of York follows Margaret of York; and The King’s Grace centres on the possible identity of Grace Plantagenet, an illegitimate daughter of Edward IV. Queen by Right portrays Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, while Royal Mistress tells the story of Edward IV’s mistress Jane Shore. The final novel, This Son of York, presents the life and reign of Richard III, completing Smith’s extended portrait of the York family from its rise to its defeat at Bosworth.