 "A King's Ransom" is about the second half of Richard's life, during and following his imprisonment, ransom, and life afterward.Penman's approach to her novels is to present meticulously researched medieval life and history as everyday life, and to present the nobility as fallible.Set against a backdrop of political tension, power struggles, war, and hardship, the main characters confront personal drama such as conflict in love, conflict between family members, conflict with God, and conflict in friendship, as well as conflicted loyalties between family, self, king and country.