Ring Around the Rosie

Have you ever read a book which changed your life? I have -- no, not in some life or death kind of way -- but one which took me down a path which I barely knew existed. I've always loved the medieval era but I have to admit, other than the odd romance, I didn't read much fiction set in that time period but, after reading A ROSE FOR THE CROWN by Anne Easter Smith, I fell in love with Richard III -- and there was nothing for me to do than to run down that path at full throttle. Nowadays, when I force myself to read something which is not set in the medieval era, I itch to get back to it. Because of ROSE, I joined the Richard III Society and, with R3 always the center of my interest, I've ventured out to read so many other books set during the medieval era -- I would have missed out on all of them had it not been for ROSE. Because of ROSE, I discovered Susan Higginbotham and Brian Wainwright and their blogs -- and so many others (where I discover new books to read almost daily). I picked up A ROSE FOR A CROWN in Borders one day on a whim. I'm not saying, mind you, that it's the best book ever written (on R3 or otherwise) or that Ms. Smith didn't put a spin on a story which may or maybe not have existed (it is fiction, after all). What I am saying is that it opened a new world for me which keeps expanding. And all because of one book.