Customer Reviews

The White Queen

5 star:		(223)
4 star:		(123)
3 star:		(65)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

I discovered Philippa Gregory a few years ago when I spotted the eye gripping and truly gorgeous cover of The Other Boleyn Girl at my local library, and which I had to read right away of course. Though I knew it wasn't historically accurate in many places, I found Philippa Gregory's storytelling enchanting: the way the Tudor court took shape before my eyes and how she wrote about every day details like what kind of food people ate, what dresses they wore, how they spent their daya all made that ancient period of history more human and easier to imagine. Once I discovered Philippa Gregory's writing I wanted to read more. However, unfortunately I found both The Boleyn Inheritence and The Constant Princess disappointing. So it was with trepidation that I started reading The White Queen, not knowing if it would be like the gripping historical tale that The Other Boleyn Girl was or repetitive, dull and not too interesting like the other two novels. I have to say The White Queen didn't disappoint, Philippa Gregory is definitely back with an even more excitiong story to tell!

The White Queen is the first book in Philippa Gregory's new series about the Wars of the Roses. It tells the story of Elizabeth Woodville, wife to Edward of York, mother of the Princes in the Tower and of Elizabeth of York, who later became the wife to Henry VII and mother of Henry VIII.

I have to admit that I was not familiar with the details of this time period and didn't know much about the details of the wars and tugs for power. And especially because of this it was very refreshing to read a novel and not knowing how it would end (not like with The Other Boleyn Girl, where one could never ignore the fact that Anne would be executed).

The White Queen is a love story at its core, the sweet and romantic love story between Elizabeth and Edward weaves through the historical events and wars, and we have to reckon that their love is not something Philippa Gregory created to suit her novel, since they had ten children together!

The novel is narrated by Elizabeth Woodville, a young widow and mother of two at the beginning of the novel, telling the reader how she met and fell in love with the king of England. Elizabeth Woodville is a sympathetic character (most of the time), she is charming, stunningly beautiful and had a very eventful and interesting life. Philippa Gregory used part of the legend about Elizabeth Woodville's heritage which claimed that her family was the descendants of Melusina the water goddess, and Ms. Gregory wove this part of historical legend together with mystical elements of witchcraft to make the story more interesting.

My only problem with the novel was the repetitive writing style of Philippa Gregory which appeared at certain times. I understand that this tool can be used to emphasize some aspects and may even make the novel sound more archaical and historical, but it irritated me to read the same few sentences for the seventh time (the locket scene for example). My other critique is that sometimes I felt Philippa Gregory made Elizabeth too similar to Anne Boleyn in certain aspects (using witchcraft to revenge her loved ones with the locket, and how the sweet natured woman would sometimes turn quite vicious and cruel), which I felt was quite out of character for the Elizabeth she created all along the novel.

Verdict: Philippa Gregory is back again with a very enjoyable and exciting story. Thankfully the heroine/narrator is an interesting and sympathetic character and the times and events Ms. Gregory chose to write about are definitely exciting. I'm sure that those who love historical fiction or period dramas will enjoy The White Queen very much!

Plot: 8/10
Characters: 7/10
Ending: 8/10
Writing: 6/10
Cover: 9/10

Lady Elizabeth Grey's husband was killed at the Battle of St. Albans and she desperately wants his lands back for her two little boys. She is tired of living in her parents' home and would like her independence. So she stands out in the road as the new king, Edward IV, rides by, holding their hands and hoping he'll see her. He does see her and takes note not only of her problems, but of her beauty, and before she knows it, Elizabeth is the queen of England and in almost over her head with politics and intrigue. She is a Woodville, though, and she will perservere, going to the edge to push her family as high as it can possibly go before her tower of cards topples around her.

This is going to be a good long review, as I have a lot to say on this book. For those who skim, here's my verdict: much better than I was expecting!

If you know me and have been reading my blog, you'll know that I've been working on a dissertation about Anthony Woodville (and fifteenth century chivalric culture in England overall) for what feels like forever. As such, this book was bound to touch on a topic near and dear to my heart, and it was bound to get some of the facts wrong, if only for the sake of storytelling. So it does; the Woodville family was loyal to Edward IV after 1461 but before he married Elizabeth, and Anthony was sent to besiege Alnwick Castle on his behalf with the earl of Warwick in 1463, not to mention that Elizabeth's father Lord Rivers had already been appointed to office. The beginning was anachronistic in another way because Edward kept being referred to as a boy, and there is no way anyone in the medieval period would have considered a man who had commanded and won two battles a boy. I can see that she did this more for characterization purposes, especially given he was younger than Elizabeth, so I don't mind as much, but still worth noting. And Anthony was not at Tewkesbury, although he was definitely in London and fighting when Thomas Neville arrived. There is also the whole magic subplot, but I thought that was actually quite creative, and historical inaccuracy only bothers me if people believe it's true. I don't think anyone would ever believe Elizabeth and Jacquetta were witches. I could go on, but I'll spare you.

All that said, Philippa Gregory got more right than wrong in this instance and I was pleasantly surprised. No one is needlessly victimized here; in fact Elizabeth is quite a sympathetic character which is refreshing after all of the villainizing that typically surrounds her. Even Richard III is not a villain but a multi-faceted man whose ambition just kept on pushing a little too far. The rest of the history is in many ways what has been fictionalized before, and I found nothing that really bothered me. All things considered I enjoyed this book after the first fifty pages and I wasn't expecting to. Gregory even included Anthony's poem, which is authentic and the only one that survives; she inflates his reputation to some extent, but I didn't mind, it fit in.

Gregory writes well, and in general the book is absorbing even for someone who has heard it all before. It's romanticized, but in the way that makes us sigh and wish we had a big blond knight to save the day. It's exciting and tense because everything is dangerous, and because I kept wondering who was going to kill the princes in this version. Another interesting twist there, and I think we're meant to guess at what she means, but for someone who doesn't know the history, it's a nice question. And in the end, I like the way Gregory twisted things here. It's interesting and it's different when the story has been done over and over again. Given the fluidity of history itself, I found myself enjoying the way she pushes boundaries and suggests things that probably didn't happen but might have done. I didn't want to read another fictional recap of the Wars of the Roses, but Gregory made it a little bit new, and despite myself I think I'm looking forward to The Red Queen very much, even if I don't think anyone ever called these `the cousin's wars'.

In other words, I do recommend The White Queen. It is historical fiction, after all, and if you're going to read another book that fictionalizes the Wars of the Roses, I highly suggest this one.

I loved Gregory's `The Other Boleyn Girl' and have always been pretty interested in the Tudor period in English history, but I have no great knowledge of the preceding Plantagenet age in which this book is set. I know a little of The Wars of the Roses and of the Missing Princes in the Tower, but that's it. Before reading this book on Elizabeth Woodville, I knew nothing of her at all. However, Gregory really brought these characters to life for me. she has chosen a fascinating female protagonist, and the era in which this is set is just as exciting and interesting as the Tudor era.

My lack of knowledge on this period in history made this book a very exciting read for me. I usually find lengthy battle scenes in historical novels pretty boring, but here I found them to be tense and exciting since I didn`t know the outcome of most of them. If there was one main difference between Gregory's Tudor books and this one, then it was the suspense factor for me. The Tudor books didn't hold much surprise for me as through study, books and even TV, I have a good background in Tudor chronology. Here, I feared for the characters at every turn. I didn't know what hand fate would deal them next, and I loved it.

While my lack of background knowledge on the time period added to my enjoyment of the book, it brought it's problems too. With so many battles, so many changed allegiances and so much plotting going on, it is sometimes easy to get confused. That's before I even mention the names. There are so many Edwards and Richards in this book, that things can get a little muddled. I did a little background reading and looked up a chronology of English Kings and Queens online, and this helped.

Elizabeth herself is an interesting character to read about. As powerful and resourceful as she is ambitious and ruthless, I liked her for the most part, although her relentless ambition was a little grating in the end. I loved the added supernatural element to Elizabeth's story, in which Gregory weaves the tale of Melusina, the water goddess alongside the story of Elizabeth for she and the female members of her family are descended from this otherworldly being. I loved the additions of magic and witchcraft to the story - it was something I hadn't expected, but it really worked for me. Gregory also has an interesting viewpoint on the missing princes in the tower. It is a mystery that has never been solved, and I very much enjoyed reading her take on it.

Overall I think this is a great read for fans of historical fiction. It is a wonderful prequel to her Tudor series, and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series, The Red Queen, due for release in August 2010.

An average read. The start of the book was interesting, but as the story progressed it became a little dry.
To be honest I would have give up half way through due to boredom, had it not been for me wanting to read the book before I watched the BBC programme.

THE WHITE QUEEN

Philippa Gregory

The White Queen is the first book in Gregory's trilogy about the Wars of the Roses. Elizabeth Woodville is already a widow with two young sons as the story opens. Her family has always supported the Lancastrian side and her husband was killed fighting for them; but when she sees the new King Edward of York riding past she falls instantly in love with him, and he with her.

This was the first event that made me feel that there was an element of unreality to Gregory's version of the story. Whatever the fairy stories say, and whatever story Elizabeth may have told in later life, I find it hard to believe that two people can fall in love so finally at first sight. Some credibility is provided by the suggestion that Edward is an attractive man who expects to have his way with any pretty woman and Elizabeth is wise enough to keep him at arms length until they are secretly married. But given the real politique of the day I wonder if it could have happened so easily.

In the history books the Woodvilles are generally portrayed as scheming parvenues whose determination to promote their own interests makes Edward unpopular and foments rebellion. Gregory's clever angle on this is to show the situation through Elizabeth's eyes. She has been brought up in a country in turmoil and both she and Edward know how shaky his hold on the throne is. So it makes sense to promote her family and their kinsfolk to high office or marry them off to powerful people, so as to surround themselves with reliable supporters. Quite subtly, Gergory shows us how Elizabeth develops from a romantic woman, a beautiful and beloved Queen, to a schemer who will stop at nothing to retain power.

This first person view point has its strengths in that it allows us to share in the heroine's emotions and understand her state of mind; but it has its drawbacks. Since everything has to be seen through Elizabeth's eyes, many of the important events such as battles can only be reported at second hand. Gregory counteracts this by suggesting that she is gifted with second sight. Her mother, Jacquetta, believes herself descended from Melusina, a mythical goddess half-woman half-fish, and thinks that she has inherited her magical powers. She does not insist on their efficacy, only that they might, perhaps, work. To begin with, Elizabeth is also sceptical but as the story progresses it relies more and more on this element. Elizabeth 'sees' the outcome of battles; sees her husband take flight by boat after a defeat. She and her daughter breath a fog that will roll up the Thames valley to conceal Edward's army from their foes; they call up a storm to prevent Warwick from landing in France; and they call up a flood to prevent enemy forces from reaching London. Finally, she puts a curse on Richard, Edward's brother who has usurped the throne in the place of their young son, tying a thread round her own arm till it goes numb so that his sword arm will weaken in the crucial battle; and when she believes her son has been murdered she curses whoever has done it that he will lose his own first born son and pass on the curse to his descendants so that in the end his line will die out. With the benefit of our knowledge of history, we can see that this is indeed the fate of both Richard and his rival Henry Tudor. We also know that Richard comes to his end in exactly the way Elizabeth foresees. What Elizabeth does not understand, however, until too late is that her magical powers are a two-edged sword. The storms she conjures up prevent potential rescuers from reaching her; and her own daughter is likely to be married to either Richard or Henry, the two most likely candidates for the murder of her son.

Richard 111 receives a more sympathetic portrayal then he gets in Shakespeare's tragedy. He is not a hunchback, just smaller and darker than his brothers, and the question of whether he is responsible for the deaths of the princes in the Tower is left open. Here, incidentally, Gregory goes along with the legend that one of the princes did not die but was smuggled away to Flanders, whence he will one day return as the Pretender, Perkyn Warbeck.

This is an ingenious story and one that involves the reader from the start. If you are prepared to go along with the magical element it is a satisfying and enjoyable read.

SHould have taken more notice of previous reviews! Gregory repeats herself over and over, sometimes several times per page, yet never expands on things where you need her to, such as the motivation and characterisation of Elizabeth. She contradicts herself, and suddenly throws in things which make you sure you have missed out several pages. I am going to finish the book as the actual subject matter is interesting, but I am struggling. I did try to read the suggested Moon in Splendour, but found the language hard to follow. Any other suggestions??

I confess that whilst I might be a knowledgeable source on Tudor history (my shelves are groaning with the weight of the books I have) I'm pretty clueless on the Plantagenet line that preceeded the Battle of Bosworth. Poor considering I used to have to go to said battlefield every summer on a school trip from 10-18 living so close to it!

Philippa Gregory is one of my guilty pleasure authors - She writes so richly and any historical inaccuracies are more than made up for by the pace, the cast of characters and the storytelling process. Elizabeth Woodville made a brilliant heroine and although the magic subplot in the book started to become frustrating at times, I've read more into the subject since then and realised how much magic played into medieval culture.

Like I stated in the title, it's a great read & definitely one of Philippa's better books. I really enjoyed this introduction into the Plantagenet dynasty and, now that I've taken a dip into another period of history, I'm definitely going to be reading more about it!

Having been a fan of Philippa Gregory since her Wideacre trilogy, and as I loved the fantastic Tudor series, I was really looking forward to The White Queen. I could have saved myself �7.99 as it is really not worth the paper it is printed on. This books lacks the atmosphere and rich character development Gregory used to be known for, and it is instead a tedious monologue, very boring to read. What were her editors thinking??? This could and should have been a fabulous subject for a great author to tackle, but the characters are two dimensional, the narrative slow and the whole reading experience is like swimming through sludge! I can only suppose it is a 'jobbing writer' at work who was focused on the financial gain, rather than a successful and respected author who wanted to create a fine work of lasting fiction. I certainly shall not be buying the other books in this series - in my opinion this is the sad case of an author who has had her day, passed her peak and written one too many books. Buyer beware!

This book is incredibly poorly written. I have enjoyed a number of Gregory's other books and was very much looking forward to this and the rest of the series but this was such a disappointment. We rarely get to experience anything in this book, instead the narrative jumps to a point after the action and told what happened. Sentences are repeated and repeated throughout the book. We are told about what happened and how the characters reacted again and again.

I really enjoyed her Tudor novels, they painted such a great picture of the era. They were infused with atmosphere, I just flew through them. This book is devoid of any of that warmth and detail. It's been such a drudge to complete it.

Worst of all I had been even more eager to read The Red Queen than I was to read this. Now I shall be avoiding it.

Philippa Gregory does it again!

She knows the history and you get palatable chunks of it, mostly via the narrator saying 'first this happened, then this, then ...' etc, perhaps not the most riveting way of dealing with the background but I've read worse.
My main complaint against this book is the awful dialogue and the frequent slips into neo-historical-speak or (worse) modern metaphor. At one point a character refers to Clarence as 'an utter numpty' ... a phrase not recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary as being in use before the 20th century.
Now I know dialogue is tricky in historical novels but some authors eg Mary Renault, Norah Lofts, manage to tread the fine line between flummery and sensible communication and with so many novels to her credit you would think Philippa Gregory would have found the knack by now. (I noticed the same problem with 'The Queen's Fool' ... "you have begged me for a fool ..." a phrase used at regular intervals throughout the narrative - what does it mean?"

I felt I'd wasted my money on this novel and sent it direct to the charity bookshop.