The inspiration for the critically acclaimed Starz miniseries The White Queen, #1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory brings to life the extraordinary story of Elizabeth Woodville, a woman who rises from obscurity to become Queen of England, and changes the course of history forever. Elizabeth Woodville is a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition. Her mother is Jacquetta, also … Her mother is Jacquetta, also known as the mystical lady of the rivers, and she is even more determined to bring power and wealth to the family line. While riding in the woods one day, Elizabeth captures the attentions of the newly crowned King Edward IV and, despite her common upbringing, marries him in secret.
When she is raised up to be his queen, the English court is outraged, but Elizabeth rises to the demands of her exalted position and fights for her family’s dominance. Yet despite her best efforts, and even with the help of her mother’s powers, her two sons become pawns in a famous unsolved mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the lost princes in the Tower of London.
In this dazzling account of the deadly Wars of the Roses, brother turns on brother to win the ultimate prize: the throne of England.more
The White Queen is set in the 15th century during the time of the Wars of the Roses. It tells the story of Elizabeth Woodville, a beautiful and ambitious commoner who sets out to gain the attention of the King, Edward IV. Elizabeth succeeds, and Edward marries her. The rest of the book tells of their love and their fight against the constant intrigues at court – intrigues that turn into danger. Elizabeth is a wonderful character who holds her own with courage and fights for her children using her wits in a man’s world. There were rumours during their time that Elizabeth and her mother were witches. I enjoyed the way Philippa Gregory brought this into the story and added an element of magic.
I love how Philippa Gregory picks up the lives of women in history and brings them back to life. I knew nothing of Elizabeth Woodville before reading this book. I’m now really looking forward to reading The Red Queen.
A good story that gives an interesting twist on the Princes in the Tower story. I’m a bit of an Anglophile, so Ms. Gregory is one of my favorite authors. This is one of her best stories.
Excellent follow up. And I do love this family. Good storytelling – especially with the connections to the first book and the subsequent ones. You see the other side of the story which is a sign of a good storyteller. Nice one, Ms. Gregory. Plus there’s the secret of the two princes locked in the tower. Did Richard do it? The language is beautiful. I just love reading these re-creations, imagining the beauty and the glow of the language, the scenes and the words. If you love history, and you’re OK with some fiction interspersed, you’ve got a winner here.
Elizabeth Woodville, a young widow who stands to lose everything after her husband’s death, makes a desperate move and petitions King Edward IV to restore her late husband’s lands to her as he travels the road past her father’s estate. She gets more than she dreamed of when the attraction between her and the king is instant and irresistible. The two marry in a secret ceremony and Edward crowns her the Queen of England.
But the country has been at war for too long. Threats to Elizabeth’s family and children and Edward’s throne crop up at every turn. Can she navigate the treacherous times and keep her loved ones safe?
I read The Other Boleyn Girl and The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory years ago and enjoyed them both. I have some understanding of England’s history under Henry VIII though and I know pitifully little about the Wars of the Roses. That lack affected my enjoyment of The White Queen a bit. There’s a family tree at the beginning but it doesn’t actually show anyone who appears in the book. I was so confused! I still don’t understand why the publisher included that family tree. It might show the beginning of the wars but it wasn’t helpful at all with this period.
There’s a fantastical element woven throughout the novel that I didn’t care for either. Elizabeth is descended from a water goddess, Melusina, so Elizabeth and her mother have magical powers. They cast spells and curses and have strange forebodings. They hear Melusina singing when someone in their family is about to die. I’m making it sound like more of a plot device than it actually was but the fact that the author included it at all bothered me. I love reading fantasy and I don’t generally mind magical realism, but these fantastical touches felt out of place in a book about real people and events.
I liked Elizabeth herself though. Just think about the courage she showed as a woman petitioning the king in person–not in court, but on the side of the road. And that’s just the beginning. When she’s queen, she makes sure to place her family in positions of power too. She learns some of the art of intrigue and dips her toes into those waters to hold onto what’s rightfully hers. The Elizabeth in these pages is a force to be reckoned with.
I did enjoy learning a bit more about this period of history. As events unfolded, I realized that Elizabeth’s sons were the mysterious “Princes in the Tower” (which I only know about because of Sent , a middle grade book). And now that I’ve finished The White Queen, I’m curious to find out how the throne went from the Yorks and Lancasters to the Tudors. This feels like something I should know more about but as an American, England’s vast history is daunting.
Those who know more about this period in history will probably like this more than I did. The history confused me a bit but Elizabeth was a strong character whom I enjoyed reading about.
The White Queen was a very fascinating take on history. I love this story of Elizabeth Woodville and King Edward IV. I am very interested in reading more from The Cousins War series.
This is the story of Elizabeth Woodville who beguiles a young man Edward of York and marries him in secret before he goes off to war. Edward eventually defeats his enemies and becomes King Edward IV. Now queen, Elizabeth with the help of her mother, wastes no time in matching her siblings and relatives in powerful and strategic marriages that strengthen the York family. Edward’s reign was never peaceful and he must defend his crown on numerous occasions, often referred as The War of the Roses. While Edward is on the battlefield, Elizabeth is waging her own war against their enemies.
This book is told from Elizabeth’s viewpoint and she doesn’t always come across as a benevolent queen. Her main focus seems to be mostly about power and gaining more wealth. I understand that in the 1400s, wealth and power solidified their hold on the crown, but she used her children as pawns to achieve that end and it makes her an unlikeable character. That did not dampen my enjoyment of the book though. And, of course, there was the mystery of what happened to her sons “the princes in the tower.” Ms. Gregory puts forth her own explanation for that and it’s certainly plausible, but that mystery has never been solved. I enjoyed the history she wove into the story although it can get confusing keeping everyone straight because so many of the characters had the same names. I love historical stories so I’ll be reading the next volume in this series, The Red Queen.
Phillips Gregory is a fantastic author. Her scholarship is unmatched. She makes history come alive.
Great Read
THE WHITE QUEEN is the story of Elizabeth Woodville (1437-1492), Queen of Edward IV, mother of the Little Princes in the Tower, and also of Elizabeth of York, who married Henry Tudor after he defeated Richard III at Bosworth, and founded the Tudor dynasty.
The novel starts in 1464, when Elizabeth is sent by her family to beg the King for his favor. There has been a war. Her family was on the losing side. She has nothing to give her two sons because their dead father’s estates have been confiscated. She is chosen to go before the King, because she is a beauty and the young monarch is known to appreciate pretty women.
The rest, as they say, is history. Edward IV secretly weds Elizabeth on May 1, 1464. Even more remarkably, he keeps his promises to her by publicly declaring their union in September of that year, horrifying his counselors, his friends, his family, and most of all, his mother Cecylee, Duchess of York, who does all that she can to disturb the marriage.
Philippa Gregory is such a talented writer and this novel is an easy and enjoyable read. Like others, I did not feel that the extended references to Melusina helped the story. A few details here and there, slipped into the text, would have suited me better.
But the real problem with this novel is the ending. It ends in April 1485, before Elizabeth’s nemesis and brother-in-law Richard III is defeated at Bosworth, before her eldest daughter marries the victor and becomes Queen of England, and before Elizabeth’s own disgrace and exile in 1487, and her subsequent death at Bermondsey Abbey in 1492. Philippa Gregory has created such a compelling character, I was sorry to see her abandon the novel so early, depriving us all of the pleasure of hearing what Elizabeth would have said about these events.
I’m interested in Philipa Gregory’s books for the historical detail and understanding. Such a cool way to learn about a time period.
Engaging story. I’d never encountered much about the war of the roses until this book. The history gets confusing but then history often is in this time period. Read the other novels (Red Queen and kingmakers daughter) for clarity. Then put it all together in order by watching the miniseries the White Queen.
I love Philippe Gregory’s books on the English royals and normally give 5 stars. This one, however, was hard to get into and seemed like a lot more information to start and less page turner. The second half of the book made me glad I didn’t just quit!
So easy to read; what a way to learn English history since there is so much evident scholarship in her books, Well researched.
What did they think of ? Those that would lead?
I actually started Mrs. Gregory’s series with this book. As a reader, she makes it feel that the dialogue between the characters was possible back in that time.
Not bad. I will tell you what: I could not have lived happily during the medieval times. So much violence. It was definitely fiction, but based on facts. I really appreciated the author’s note at the end, sharing what was fact and what was her own creation.
This is my second “reading” (this time listening to the audio CD)
Last month I listened to “The Kingmaker’s Daughter”, told by the same author from Anne Neville’s POV. I wanted to refresh my memory of that time period from Elizabeth Woodville’s perspective (The White Queen)
The difference of POV! In The Kingmaker’s Daughter, Elizabeth is portrayed as a scheming, cunning, spell-casting, poison wielding … witch. In The White Queen, she is a naive, innocent victim of politics.
I enjoyed revisiting this novel, and have “The Red Queen” (which I also read years ago) reserved at the library, to get Margaret Stanley’s perspective.
I love Phillipa Gregory’s attention to detail. It’s clear she has made herself a subject matter expert on the Tudor period
All the books in this series are great. Philippe Gregory does a lot of historical research. When I start one of these books I can not put it down.
Philippa Gregory has done another fantastic job in bringing England’s past to life. In the first installment of the series The Counsins’ War, Gregory tells the story of Elizabeth, a beautiful woman who catches the eye of the newly crowned boy king. She soon becomes his wife and has two sons, who will become central figures in a puzzle that historians have yet to figure out. The White Queen is a good book that I enjoyed very much, however, the ending lost me a little making it slightly disappointing. However, overall, it is a good book that I would suggest.