My Lord John was Georgette Heyer

Georgette Heyer

Georgette Heyer was a British historical romance and detective fiction novelist. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story for her younger brother into the novel The Black Moth. In 1925 Heyer married George Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer...

's last novel and was published after her death. Fictionalised History was Heyer's true passion and she looked upon this chronicle of the House of Lancaster as her Magnum Opus. However, financial burdens forced her to set aside her work in order to write another of her Regency Romance

Regency romance

Regency romances are a subgenre of romance novels set during the period of the British Regency or early 19th century. Rather than simply being versions of contemporary romance stories transported to a historical setting, Regency romances are a distinct genre with their own plot and stylistic...

s. She eventually died of lung cancer

Lung cancer

Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...

 before being able to complete the story. Her husband George Ronald Rougier published the unfinished book a year after her death.

Plot summary

John of Lancaster is the son of Henry IV

Henry IV of England

Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...

 and the favourite brother of Henry V

Henry V of England

Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....

. This book chronicles his life from 1393 through until 1413. Although incomplete (the book is finished where Heyer left it) the Historical Note at the end fills in the gaps. Uses a lot of Middle English language but includes a Glossary for easier reading in the back.

Simon the Coldheart

Simon the Coldheart

Simon the Coldheart is a novel by Georgette Heyer-Plot summary:In the year 1400 14-year-old Simon the illegitimate son of Geoffrey of Malvallet fends for himself after his mother’s death. He forces himself into the service of Fulk of Montlice – his natural father’s most hated foe...

(1925) covers much the same period (1400–1418). Kings Henry IV and Henry V also appear in it.