The White Queen: A Novel (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels Book 2) by Philippa Gregory (Epub)

Description

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 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.

User’s Reviews

Review “Gregory returns with another sister act. The result: her best novel in years.” (USA Today)“Gregory delivers another vivid and satisfying novel of court intrigue, revenge, and superstition. Gregory’s many fans as well as readers who enjoy lush, evocative writing, vividly drawn characters, and fascinating history told from a woman’s point of view will love her latest work.” (Library Journal)“Gregory is one of historical fiction’s superstars, and The Kingmaker’s Daughter shows why . . . providing intelligent escape, a trip through time to a dangerous past.” (Historical Novels Review (Editor’s Choice Review))“Wielding magic again in her latest War of the Roses novel … Gregory demonstrates the passion and skill that has made her the queen of English historical fiction.…Gregory portrays spirited women at odds with powerful men, endowing distant historical events with drama, and figures long dead or invented with real-life flaws and grand emotions. She makes history … come alive for readers.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review))“The queen of royal fiction.” (USA Today)“Sexy…Scandalous…Smart.” (Redbook)“There’s no question that she is the best at what she does.” (Associated Press)“Philippa Gregory turns real-life historical royalty into royally entertaining novels.” (Time)“If only grade-school history books were written so vividly.” (Entertainment Weekly)“In thoroughly researched, wonderfully realized settings, she can make a period come alive.” (The Boston Globe)“Gregory returns with another sister act. The result: her best novel in years.” (USA Today)“Gregory delivers another vivid and satisfying novel of court intrigue, revenge, and superstition. Gregory’s many fans as well as readers who enjoy lush, evocative writing, vividly drawn characters, and fascinating history told from a woman’s point of view will love her latest work.” (Library Journal)“Gregory is one of historical fiction’s superstars, and The Kingmaker’s Daughter shows why . . . providing intelligent escape, a trip through time to a dangerous past.” (Historical Novels Review (Editor’s Choice Review))“Wielding magic again in her latest War of the Roses novel … Gregory demonstrates the passion and skill that has made her the queen of English historical fiction.…Gregory portrays spirited women at odds with powerful men, endowing distant historical events with drama, and figures long dead or invented with real-life flaws and grand emotions. She makes history … come alive for readers.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review))“The queen of royal fiction.” (USA Today)“Sexy…Scandalous…Smart.” (Redbook)“There’s no question that she is the best at what she does.” (Associated Press)“Philippa Gregory turns real-life historical royalty into royally entertaining novels.” (Time)“If only grade-school history books were written so vividly.” (Entertainment Weekly)“In thoroughly researched, wonderfully realized settings, she can make a period come alive.” (The Boston Globe)

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ I don’t like spoilers. I will say, if you love English medieval history and want to escape, then this is the book to purchase. You will be swept away into a whirlwind of love and war, suspense and peace. Philippa Greogroy’s writing style has a flow that is intoxicating. She does fill in the missing parts of history no one can see. Think about it, if she was to ONLY write what’s written in the archives, the book would be no longer than 10 pages long. When reading historical fantasy, remember we were not there. We have to use our imagination to fill in the missing part of history the scribe did not capture. Phillipa does a brilliant job of this. If you have not read Lady of the Rivers, the story of Jacquetta Rivers (Elizabeth Woodvillle’s mother), then I suggest you read it first. It lays a lot of the foundation of the store of the White Queen. Happy Reading. The cover, I must add, is absolutely lovely of the actress Max Iron and Rebecca Ferguson.

⭐ “‘Did I not say when we first married that I will always come back to you? Did I not say I would die in my bed with you as my wife?’”I adore how Philippa Gregory takes history and brings it to life with magic, and The White Queen is no exception. I adored the story of Elizabeth and Edward and all the twists. Elizabeth made so many questionable decisions but I found myself understanding why she made them. I am also a fan of how Gregory will explain her source for the story and the inspiration at the end of the book. I give this book 4.5 stars and definitely plan to read more of The Cousin’s War series.“‘Anthony, my whole life is a proof of magic, that I can foresee.’”

⭐ I am saddened by actually reading about English history and how our linage of violence, war and prejudices have been passed on to the United States as we emulated and adopted their laws and style of governance. The Pilgrims were intolerant of the Native Americans, and prejudices, class establishment and feelings of superiority abound even today 450 years later. Phillipa Gregory is an excellent historian AND storyteller and she has adeptly added to the history of the War of the Roses. It’s a good read and the telling the story of women, who in the 15th Century were almost powerless, and how they overcame it is fascinating. Follow this book with the Red Queen by Phillipa Gregory too.

⭐ She writes so well but, surprisingly without emotional depth. I have read other authors in this genre who are equally fine writers that make one feel as if ” you are there”..This author tells a fine and complicated story, though inriguing , and from a different perspective, is storytelling without the sense of being there. What seems to be missing in both books starting this series I have read so far, is the emotional depth that other gear authors give one. I prefer the you are there aspect of others I have read of this period in history. I think I nay read the next book and see I f it is more compelling than the first two.

⭐ This book was GREAT! I had no idea that Elizabeth was such a proactive (and prolific!) Queen. There is so much that we don’t know about our English history (or at least we didn’t go this far back when I was in school). I love how Philippa Gregory incorporates her research into her novels. She brings her characters to life.

⭐ This was the first book I had read by Philippa Gregory and I have discovered an author who is an extremely knowledgeable historian. She researches and finds facts and probabilities about England’s less covered but vitally important women who have influenced English history and the heritage of women across the globe. It is wonderful to find that she never distorts history, but using the facts, fleshes out the women about whom she writes with what was the reality of their humanity as well as that of the men of history.Great read. Could hardly put it down, even though I knew the general history of the War of the Roses, I was intrigued by the details and the relationships about which she writes. Loved this book and also the Red Queen and the White Princess.

⭐ Typical Gregory fashioned telling of the story of the York Queen and her rise from widowhood. Unfortunately it is this rise that cause so much turmoil within the York house. The War of the Roses/Cousins War is complicated enough, but then the York divided upon itself due to petty jealousies supposedly much caused by this secret marriage. Elizabeth was not someone to be trifled with and when wronged, her curses were sure to cause the torturous death of those that perpetrated them. but they tended to have a potential side effect of putting someone she loved in danger as well.Not sure if some of her problems were self fulfilling prophesies.This story did not have the emotional detail that some of her other stories. It was definitely based a bit more on fact and since that story was full she did not embellish as much — and that part of her amazing story telling was missing

⭐ First, I think I should be clear that the only reason I went looking for anything on the War of the Roses was because of the Song of Fire and Ice (aka Game of Thrones) series by George RR Martin. In an interview he said that a lot of his inspiration for the series came from the War of the Roses. Hence I went on a quest for a tale based on the War of the Roses. I picked Philippa Gregory because of The Other Boleyn Girl and because I respect that she does a great deal of research for her novels.If you like courtly intrigue and medieval power struggles, then this is a novel for you. The whole story will make you very grateful that you did not have to live during the age of feudalism, especially as a woman. Even the author says that she would never ever want to live in any of the courts that she writes about.Many reviews criticize the inclusion of witchcraft as a plot device. To be accurate, the witchcraft-caused events are obviously hokum and are just in the book to add a dash of fantasy to the story. There is also a great deal of page space devoted to the tale of the “watery tart” (to use the Monty Python term)who the protagonist is allegedly descended from.Aside from the witchcraft being hokum to modern eyes, there probably were a great number of people in medieval England who sincerely believed in the power/danger of witchcraft and who very likely believed the allegations that the Edward/Elizabeth marriage was caused by enchantment and various storms by a witch’s curse. Powerful women were seen as dangerous and thus witchcraft was an easy way to accuse and debase claims made by aforementioned women. Elizabeth Woodville’s mother Jacquetta was accused of witchcraft more than once.Back on the Song of Fire and Ice/Game of Thrones connection, I would say that Elizabeth Woodville is definitely a contributing inspiration for Cersei Lannister, although I think Margaret of Anjou (covered in more detail in Lady of the Rivers) is more of a Cersei (personality wise) than Elizabeth.

⭐ I enjoyed this read in the fact that it truly exemplifies the lengths families would go through to maintain their hold on the crown…. Quite astonishing. I didn’t know much about the War of The Roses, so I enjoyed learning more about what it was all about, even though he author clearly states at the end that there is less fact in this book then her others (due to lack of records from that time period). I didn’t really feel like it picked up until close to the end, though, and definitely didn’t feel like there was much resolution. I’m not really interested in reading the next book in the series, The Red Queen, based on the reviews I’ve seen on Amazon, so it looks like the series will end here for me. Bummer!

⭐ This story definitely made a more sympathetic character out of Elizabeth Woodville than most writers I have encountered. She was, in fact, downright likable throughout most of the novel, in spite of the hocus-pocus witchcraft storyline. And while I did not like Gregory’s The Red Queen and have not ever cared for Margaret Beaufort, it was interesting to see how the author switched gears rather believably in her portrayal of Henry VII’s mother between her own novel (The Red Queen) and this one. I appreciated that the witchcraft, while alluded to in the initial encounter between Edward and Elizabeth, was not given any weight when it came to the love and relationship between the two of them. I am normally a stickler for reading a series in order, but in the case of this one, it did not really make a difference (partly due to my extensive familiarity with the characters from other texts). If you omit The Red Queen and The Kingmaker’s Daughter, the other four are pleasantly enjoyable — enough character development to make the characters believable, and Gregory gets her historical details right when it really matters, as well as keeping the “bodice-ripper” content of these to a blessedly lesser degree than I have run across in some of her other works.

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