About this title: The #1 "New York Times"-bestselling author of "The Other Boleyn Girl" presents the first book in a new series set amidst the tumult and intrigue of England's passionate family feud, The War of the Roses.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781847374554ISBN:1847374557
Description: Acceptable. Bumping to edges. Internally Clean Unclipped dust wrapper, tear to front cover First Edition A usable copy. Please note that this book will show signs of wear and will have been extensively read but all pages will be in tact with it's binding secure unless stated. read more
Binding: Audio CD
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Date Published: 2009-08-18
ISBN-13:9780743582292ISBN:0743582292
Description: Very Good. Total of 7 very clean CDs (one is a Bonus CD), in cardboard pockets, encased in a box. Box has some wear along edges and at corner. Very nice set. FREE USPS tracking number. Thank you for choosing Premiere Books! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
Date Published: 18/08/2009
ISBN-13:9781847374554ISBN:1847374557
Description: Used-Good. Book in good or better condition. Dispatched same day from warehouse. Please email with any questions for quick response. read more
Binding: CD-Audio
Publisher: SIMON & SCHUSTER LTD Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781847376053ISBN:1847376053
Description: BRAND NEW CD-AUDIO. The tale of one woman's ambitious ascent to royalty during the wars of the roses and the unsolved mystery around her sons' imprisonment in the tower (CD-Audio) read more
Binding: Hardback
Publisher: SIMON & SCHUSTER LTD Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781847374554ISBN:1847374557
Description: BRAND NEW HARDBACK. 432 pages. The tale of one woman's ambitious ascent to royalty during the wars of the roses and the unsolved mystery around her sons' imprisonment in the tower (Hardback) read more
Binding: Hardback
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781416563686ISBN:1416563687
Description: The #1 "New York Times"-bestselling author of "The Other Boleyn Girl" presents the first book in a new series set amidst the tumult and intrigue of England's passionate family feud, The War of the Roses. read more
"Phillippa Gregory often falls into melodrama with her Tudor novels, but I am not ashamed to say that I eat them up! This latest installment of her historically acurate guilty pleasures is a novel about Henry the VIII's granmother, Elizabeth Woodville. The court intrigue and lusty, feminist tinged scenes are classic Gregory; the new time period brings a freshness to her formulas. My favorite thread in this novel is how Elizabeth is changed by her own role in the War of the Roses. Gregory writes in the first person and even though her characters change, she often does not have them realise their faults, allowing the reader to see the evolution of the character without the unbelievable self- exploration found in novels that is often absent in real life. People may call her novels "bodice rippers" or "Harlequin-esque". I think this is unfair. Her historical accuracy, feminist, yet true renditions of imperfect people shows a literary talent that should be recognized."
"Yes, another piece of historical fiction but this time from not quite Tudor England (pre-Tudor, War of the Roses era). I can't help myself. These folks were a ruthless, ambitious, plotting, crazy, wretched group of people with the women playing really interesting roles. Glad I didn't live then.
The two problems with this book:
1) Our heroine, Elizabeth Woodville, didn't DO much. After winning the heart of the king, she mostly looked after the fortunes of her relatives, had babies, and spent a lot of time waiting around and fretting about things. Her mother and daughter both were more interesting characters (along with most of the men for a change). I also am a bit tired of using the common device in historical fiction where one of the main characters has "the sight" or some other sort of gift in order to make it more interesting, move the plot along, or go overboard with the foreshadowing. I will cut the author a small break after reading some background information that this family did consider themselves descended from a water goddess and the mother was accused of witchcraft.
2) Sometimes historical fiction is hard to make a nice happy ending out of when we already know something bad is going to happen. Like probably why the new Amelia Earhart movie has got to be a downer--we know she is going to disappear and probably die. Well, in this story, the mother has to send her sons, the famous "Princes in the Tower," to the Tower. Not much suspense there.
Here are some things I really liked:
1) The author gave me good arguments to consider that Richard III might NOT have been the one who murdered the Princes in the Tower. And I like the intrigue and learning who changed sides when and for what reasons. Oh, and I had no idea that a royal brother of a king was convicted of treason and chose drowning in a barrel of wine as method of execution.
2) I learned some about Sanctuary. It is hard to imagine that these historical figures who seemed to have little honor or loyalty would respect Sanctuary. Go figure.
3) Now I am dying to know if the author made up all the weather that both aided and waylaid battles or if that portion of the story was grounded in historical fact.
Although this isn't one of my favorite Philippa Gregory novels, I will undoubtedly read the rest of the series when they are published."
"Philippa Gregory's latest novel, The White Queen, opens her series on the War of the Roses with a tale of blood and lust shrouded in historic mythology. Told from the perspective of Elizabeth Rivers, country maiden turned Queen of England; we follow the fall of the House of Lancaster and rise of the house of York through a Romeo and Juliet love story with a conspiring twist.
Elizabeth loses her husband in battle fighting for King Henry, leader of the house of Lancaster. As Lancaster falls and the Yorks take the reigns of Britain she loses her property and in turn her sons inheritance and only hope of a prosperous future. As the daughter of a nobleman she decides to plead with the new king, Edward IV. It is at this fated and possibly magically guided first meeting that our story truly begins.
Lust at first sight is followed by a series of desperate mysterious acts, the most fascinating of which is the possible use of magic by Elizabeth's mother to propagate her daughter's second marriage. The King, an infamous womanizer, would be nearly impossible to pin down especially when he was still at war. It is implied that a water goddess, Melusina, a fabled descendant of the Rivers line, intervenes after Elizabeth mom invokes her. The Rivers family calls upon Melusina throughout the book for luck and hope bringing fantastical explanations for some quite unbelievable but true turns of events.
Magic aside, it is a beautifully woven story that heeds to the integrity of the historical record while still maintaining the lightness of a beach read. My one complaint would be the repetitiveness of Elizabeth's language, she at times seems more of a conniving robot then a person but to be fair in order for her rise to power to have been plausible at all she had to have a one track mind.
As summer turns to fall, you may have a hankering to be back in the classroom. With this book you can easily reap all the benefits of a history class plus the easy reading pleasure of a good romance novel.
"Phillippa Gregory does it again! All the possible controversial theories are utilised here in this work of The Wars of The Roses and shall be used for fodder by history enthusiasts. Phillippa Gregory is one of those authors that you either love or hate. Those that are very particular about sticking to the known facts regarding Anne Boleyn dislike her for what she says happened in "The Other Boleyn Girl". And then the movie came out and that took even more liberties (not Gregory's fault) and there was a mini revolt on Facebook against Gregory which was fun to watch. I must say that "The Other Boleyn Girl" is exactly what got me hooked on historical fiction last year, probably about February of 2008. And there was no turning back. I googled Henry VIII and bought more books, from non-fiction to fiction all about the Tudor Era. I then read Gregory's "The Constant Princess" and "The Queen's Fool" and enjoyed those. I got a little burnt out on Gregory once I read last year's "The Other Queen"; I did not like some of the insinuations that were made about Mary Queen of Scots in her attempt to spice up her dull writing. STILL.. I have a soft spot for her since she was the jumping off point to this passion I now hold for historical fiction. The fact that I know the family tree of Henry VIII and potential successors to the throne during his reign would probably fascinate and bore those that know me outside of this book blog world. It's my little secret, and I owe it all to Phillippa Gregory.
Just as there are myths and rumors that have been debated about regarding Mary and Anne Boleyn of The Other Boleyn Girl, there have also been many different theories regarding Elizabeth Woodville. Most historians now seem to agree that without proof of things such as Elizabeth and her mother being witches, there is no reason to discuss it further because of the lack of logical proof. But with this novel, it is all opened back up and historians again will have a field day denying all the insinuations that Gregory makes with this new novel. Gregory even has a YouTube video discussing this Witchcraft topic. For this particular novel we are treated to historical fiction where the author has taken all of her available information and used her creative spin to twist the facts into something more pleasing then a text book. She does quite well creating the story and I believe there will now be a lot more googling on Elizabeth Woodville, and there is nothing wrong with that.
"The White Queen" is a novel taking place during a tumultuous period of time in the latter half of the 1400's before Henry VIII's father's reign, called The Wars of The Roses, also known as The Cousin's War for the specific period that takes place within Gregory's book. England was not stable, there were two distinct factions of Lancastrians and Yorkists who battled for their right to the throne of England and each had legitimate candidacy with ancestors that had easily each justified their quests for the throne. For some, it was just a matter if the descendancy came via the female or male line as to where in the royal line of succession they landed. The Yorkists overthrew the reigning King Henry VI who was a bit 'touched in the head' and put Edward IV, a Plantagenet, on the throne, eventually murdering the pious king. It is a very intriguing history for England, as well as one of my favorites, and there are many what-if's that can be asked for the possible outcomes of this war. There are many people involved, many important figures also who are turncoats and traitors (such as Warwick the advisor and 'Kingmaker', and the king's brother George, the Duke of Clarence) and those who try to keep up with the prominent figures of this time could easily be confused. For this read, Gregory successfully dodges that confusing bullet. She sticks to her main characters and centers her story around Elizabeth Woodville, a Lancastrian widow who suddenly marries the Yorkist King. That was such an amazing feat in itself that Elizabeth and her mother were quickly branded as witches, since there could have been no other logical way that the King of England would have wedded in secret to an unimportant family from an opposing party. There are conflicting stories as to whether Elizabeth and Edward had known each other before the infamous meeting under the tree, but there is not a lot of hard evidence about Elizabeth Woodville in general. She is of a large family and was married and widowed before wedding Edward; she came into her royal marriage with two sons of her own, and she was older than her husband Edward IV. These Grey sons did not get a lot of time in the book, but were also quite important in their time, along with the Woodville clan themselves.
P. Gregory depicts Elizabeth Woodville and Edward IV meeting when Elizabeth asks for the rights to her dead husband's land, and soon after their marital events are taking place towards the beginning of the novel. Some intriguing dialogue comes after, prophetic phrases galore and then Queen Elizabeth is complete with three girls off of the King. I was a bit dismayed at the jump in time, as well as the lack of putting names to her growing family. It wasn't till the younger Elizabeth was 4 years old before Gregory actually mentions her name. I think that since there are so many different family members a part of this Cousin's War, that the author did not want to add more names than necessary into the story that she was telling. There are many Elizabeths, Edwards, Richards of the time. For a novice, leaving some names and their importance out of this novel works well, such as the Grey boys, but since I am not, that turned me off a bit, especially since I know the importance of her daughter, Elizabeth of York, who later does become a Queen and mother to the Tudor Dynasty.
The characterization of Elizabeth Woodville in the beginning was very likable and I enjoyed the first person narration. Once Elizabeth Woodville is Queen, she seems to become immediately shallow, spiteful, and vengeful, eager to promote the Woodville names. I liked the way that the seemingly loving marriage was portrayed; Edward was promiscuous and Elizabeth had resigned herself to that even though she outwardly did not like Elizabeth (Jane) Shore. Once disaster strikes the family and her father and brother are killed in battle, she is intent on revenge and not exactly likable at that point either especially when the witchcraft angle is at use. Yet as a mother, I completely fell into pace with her character as she finally realized the extreme danger her royal family was in and I was helplessly rooting for her all the way even though I already knew the general outcome.
Although I was enjoying the way that P. Gregory was depicting the story of the traitors Warwick and Edward's brother George, I was getting a bit annoyed at the amount of times the author had Elizabeth mentioning that they were "dead men" because she has "their names in the black locket in my jewellrey case and their names will never see the light again until they themselves are in eternal darkness"... which is just one example that shows that the author wants us to believe that Elizabeth and her mother were indeed witches. Several occasions occurred where either the whistles or breaths of the ladies had affected major events in the stories. As far as witches go, I do not subscribe to that idea although I do believe that perhaps they were harmless women attempting any means possible to get what they wanted by trying little tricks and prayers and the like, but I do not believe that they would have certain powers that the author would like us to believe. With these interesting twists to the original facts, readers may not enjoy the overused witch theory.
Read the rest of the review: http://www.theburtonreview.com/2009/08/book-review-giveaway-white-queen-by.html"
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