tax liabilities, Heyer interrupted herself to write Regency romances, such as April Lady (1957) and Charity Girl (1970). According to Heyer's husband George Ronald Rougier, the Lancaster trilogy was to centre on John of Lancaster because he was Henry V's most trusted brother, lived during the entirety of her selected time period, and "was a great man" little known today. In her novel, Heyer describes John as possessing the "best temper of all his family, and the greatest talent for peacemaking." Rougier stated that the perfectionist Heyer prepared for the trilogy by embarking on holistic research that covered "every aspect of the period," including its wars, social conditions, and heraldry. Heyer learned to read medieval English and created indexed files that catalogued every single day for the forty year time period. She and her husband travelled England and Scotland, where Heyer took copious notes while visiting seventy-five castles and twenty-three abbeys. After each break taken to write another Regency novel however, Heyer found it difficult to return to writing the trilogy and "recapture the spirit of her main work," as each time she had to refresh her knowledge of the era. As a result, she only managed to complete nearly a third of the trilogy, and My Lord John was the result of these efforts. It became her only completed volume of the series. Heyer died in 1974, with a story that only covered a quarter of John of Lancaster's life, from 1393 to 1413. The novel's structure is split into four parts, each covering a specific period of John's life. Plot Historical background The reign of Richard II of England forms the backdrop of the novel. Having become monarch at a young age, Richard has become a vain king "not universally held in high esteem." In his minority, governance has been dominated by select favourites such as the 9th Earl of Oxford, who is deeply unpopular. In response to policies they deem bad for the realm, Henry of Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby and other members of the "Lords Appellant", such as the Duke of Norfolk and the Earl of Arundel, successfully take up arms against Oxford at the Battle of Radcot Bridge and remove him from power. Now twenty-two, King Richard takes the reigns of government back into his own hands, appointing new favourites labelled "contemptible foppets" by his uncle John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster. Gaunt is,