The White Queen (Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #2) (Cousins' War, #1)

by Philippa Gregory

The first in a stunning new series, The Cousins War, is set amid the tumult and intrigue of The War of the Roses. Internationally bestselling author Philippa Gregory brings this family drama to colourful life through its women, beginning with the story of Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen

The White Queen tells the story of a common woman who ascends to royalty by virtue of her beauty, a woman who rises to the demands of her position and fights tenaciously for the success of her family, a woman whose two sons become the central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the Princes in the Tower whose fate remains unknown to this day. From her uniquely qualified perspective, Philippa Gregory explores the most famous unsolved mystery, informed by impeccable research and framed by her inimitable storytelling skills.

• ISBN10: 1416563911
• ISBN13: 9781416563914
• Publish Date: 18 August 2009 (first published 1 August 2009)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Touchstone Books
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 415
• Language: English

Reviews

[gmcgregor]

I rolled my eyes pretty heavily when The White Queen kicked off with the hoary romance trope of instalove. But it redeemed itself from that sin by not dragging out an endless will-they-or-won't-they in which we're supposed to believe that two adults with serious responsibilities (he as the king, she as a widowed mother to two small sons) would pine after each other for years based on one encounter. Instead we're supposed to believe that these same two adults would almost immediately fall in love and decide to marry...according to Gregory's author's note, because that's what they did. That they married in secret while Edward's advisors were trying to negotiate a marriage to a foreign princess for alliance purposes is a matter of historical fact. But to her credit, Gregory wraps up their "courtship" in a relatively short period of time and their actual marriage (and Elizabeth's life after his death) make up the bulk of the book.

Although Edward was a prolific adulterer, Gregory doesn't mine their relationship for drama. Elizabeth is not totally immune from jealousy, but she accepts that her husband is who he is and his philandering is only a minor plot point. The drama comes organically from the situation in which Elizabeth and Edward find themselves: the leaders of a tenuous dynasty, constantly threatened. Elizabeth even gives birth to her first son, also named Edward, in sanctuary (literally spending months living inside the walls of a church) because her husband has been temporarily foisted from the throne. With a background situation like that, she doesn't need to create problems in their marital relationship for intrigue.

Getting into War of the Roses material does help the Tudor era issues make more sense. Henry's desperation for a male heir is understandable when you realize that it was only with the marriage of Henry's father (a Lancaster) to his mother (a York) that there was any sort of sustainable-seeming peace in England after a generation of civil war. Henry was only the second Tudor king and there were men in England with equally persuasive claims to the throne. It wasn't just his personal desire for a son, it was a very real matter of societal security.

When I read The Creation of Anne Boleyn a while back, one of Susan Bordo's beefs with Philippa Gregory was that she'd alluded to Anne's guilt on some of the charges...specifically, that she might have slept with her brother in a desperate attempt to conceive an heir for Henry and save her own head. But it's not only to Anne that Gregory does this: her Katherine of Aragon is guilty of the charges that she'd consumated her marriage to Henry's brother Arthur, and in this book, Elizabeth Woodville and her mother are guilty of charges of witchcraft that are levied against them. I almost wonder if this is Gregory's way of pushing her audience out of their comfort zone a little. It makes us ask ourselves if they'd have "deserved" what they got, even if it were true. Did Anne deserve to die? Did Katherine deserve the cruelty she suffered at the end of her life? Did Elizabeth Woodville deserve to have her crown taken and her sons disinherited (and disappeared)? Even if it were true?

[duchessofdiscord]

Absolutely loved it. It was a beautiful mix of history and fiction. I will definitely be reading the rest of the books in the series.

[Heather]

It is the War of the Roses. Cousins are fighting cousins as the Houses of the Lancasters and the Yorks squabble over England. Elizabeth Woodville is the daughter and widow of Lancaster men. As a punishment for their rebellion her lands have been seized by the new regime of the York King, Edward. Elizabeth has two sons to protect and she has a plan. She is a beautiful woman and the new king is known to have a weakness for women.

Elizabeth catches the King’s eye. She gets him to promise to have her lands returned to her and then she makes him fall in love. They marry in secret but soon she is declared Queen of England.

Elizabeth’s mother was a powerful lady under the Lancasters and Elizabeth has learned her lessons well. She arranges appointments and marriages to put her family firmly in control. But, constant warfare wears down her King and her family and soon even cunning and witchcraft may not be enough to save them all.

edward-family-tree1Image from here.

It helps to have a family tree handy at times when reading these stories because everyone is related to everyone else and they are all either named Edward, Richard, George, or Henry.

I know from doing some genealogical research on my mother’s family that the main bad guy in this book is the nephew of a many, many times great-grandfather of mine. He was probably just misunderstood. Of course, it appears that he cheated my relative out of one of his deserved titles so many he was just a nasty fella.

See on the timeline above where it said that Edward IV had lots of bastards. They talk about that a lot in the book. I’m a fan of monogamy. Actually, I don’t care what you do as long as it is fair and equable for everyone involved. Whenever the discussion came around in the book to one of Edward’s other women, I would feel my blood pressure rising. It wasn’t fair to Elizabeth. She was a politically savvy woman in a time when that kind of thing had to be kept secret

[elysium]

The story starts after Edward has already gotten his crown and Elizabeth has become a widow. She waits for the king to pass her on the road and petition for her lands. And Edward, who just can’t leave a pretty woman alone, takes fancy on her. After Elizabeth refuses to become his mistress by theatening him with a knife, they marries in secret. You could say the marriage isn’t taken with happy faces...

I have to say that I’ve heard more about Melusina thatn I’ve ever wanted to read in my life. And I don’t like how the author repeats certain things over and over and over again through the book. The readers aren’t stupid, you know? Didn’t care for the witchcraft thing either. I like history and fantasy, as long as you don’t mix them.

I liked how she portrayed Richard, Duke of Gloucester but didn’t care for what was going on with him and Elizabeth of York. But what did annoy me was the whole Anthony-hero-worshipping. I get that Elizabeth idolized her big brother but I was wondering if Gregory is gonna change history and gonna name him as a saint. Because there really wasn’t a thing he can’t do wrong. Haven’t read anyone else having this problem so maybe it’s just me...

For a person who brags what a great historian she is, you would think that she gots the places right. At one point Elizabeth goes to a palace that’s started by her grandson, Henry VIII. Time travel maybe?

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would and it was better than The Other Queen.