The Sun in Splendour

I purchased the book for my mother. We are both fans of historical fiction but had been searching for new authors. After she read it, I picked it up after hearing her honest thoughts.
I wanted a different take on Elizabeth Woodville, curious to see the differences between authors. (I have read The White Queen and related books, and watched the series). This book was highly recommended but it is not flawless.
It is implied that this book is the POV of Edward IV. While he did have the predominant amount of narrated sections, random POVs would pop inside and the character voices were less distinct than one might expect. There was no narrative purpose with these random POVs, and you could go 2/3 of the book without hearing from them again or go completely without them popping back up. There was also an immense focus on Richard III, almost equivalent to the focus on Elizabeth and Edward. I could definitely tell Plaidy is a Ricardian, which is not a bad thing within itself though it did tint her writing a good bit.
The set-up of the book is a negative. Even for the most competent readers, a moment of confusion is bound to happen while reading this. It is a multiple POV book but the POV does not change every chapter yet every few paragraphs; characters end up separated by a blank line or two. For people with memory problems or trouble reading, I would not recommend this. Jean Plaidy writes well but the set up is not the best, considering the character voices are not distinctive enough.
Character consistency is another issue as well as character development. I was well aware of Edward IV's routine forgiveness of traitors and the like, but this book refuses to gift him any political acumen which even the notorious Phillipa Gregory grants slightly by having him admit the country was torn apart. In comparison, Richard III's short rule as both King and Lord Protector was constantly described as better, as “the rule of a man” because he never pardoned traitors and would not sup with those he didn't personally like. I almost think that Plaidy deeply disliked her story's supposed protagonist by the end. Richard III's last few chapters where so different from his previous that if, not for the constant use of his name, you would think this was an entirely new character.
The view on Elizabeth Woodville constantly changed. Three paragraphs about how marriage wasn't bad and how she was fond of her life and then the next three would be about how she didn't care for Edward much. At some points, she was smart but not heartless, and at others, foolish and aloof.
All in all, it wasn't terrible but the negatives did detract two stars from my rating.