The White Queen: A Novel

Written by Philippa Gregory

Narrated by Bianca Amato

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Aug 18, 2009
• ISBN: 9780743582308

Philippa Gregory

Philippa Gregory is an internationally renowned author of historical novels. She holds a PhD in eighteenth-century literature from the University of Edinburgh. Works that have been adapted for television include A Respectable Trade, The Other Boleyn Girl and The Queen's Fool. The Other Boleyn Girl is now a major film, starring Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Eric Bana. Philippa Gregory lives in the North of England with her family.

Reviews for The White Queen

[lollypup-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Started off sluggish, picked up after about 100 pages and sucked me in. I couldn't put it down til it ended and then felt lost without it.

[goth_marionette · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is one of Philippa Gregory's better works. I loved the depth of the characters and the realistic view of the time period. The plot was enjoyable and fast moving while the depth of the characters was well developed. As she was addressing one of the great mysteries of the English royalty I felt that she did a nice job of leaving the fate of the two boys as unknown. She leads you down paths but all of them end up as possibilities rather than actualities. This is a great beginning to the series and I look forward to the next book.

[ant.harrison · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I think I might be getting a bit tired of Philippa Gregory’s Tudor and Plantagenet series. This one about Elizabeth Woodville, who marries Yorkist King Edward IV is a move away from her Tudor period. It’s an interesting period, but I am guessing has fewer original sources upon which to fashion a story. Gregory is obviously filling in a lot of gaps in order to make the narrative work, but unlike most of her other novels it just didn’t seem to work on this occasion. There were points in this book when I just felt bored, disconnected from the characters and their stories; I wanted to know a bit more about Edward and how and why he thought like he did; why did her choose Elizabeth? Perhaps that was unrealistic given that Gregory is a feminist novelist, and makes no secret of putting women centre stage. But for me, this made for a less rounded book.I think I will give the other two books in this latest series a miss – The Red Queen (sequel to this book), has got a fair few poor reviews, so I don’t think I will bother.© Kopolwitz 2013

[kc9333 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Typical Gregory. This novel focuses on an often ill-regarded queen and sheds light on the many possibilities leading her life. Very readable and thought provoking. The author provides an appendix that explains when historical record substantiates the story and when fiction takes over. The last quarter of the book gets a little bogged down in battles but overall an enjoyable novel.

[jcwlib · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have to attract the attention of a young man riding out to yet another battle, against an enemy that cannot be defeated. He may not even see me. He is not likely to be in the mood for beggars or flirts. I have to excite his compassion for my position, inspire his sympathy for my needs, and stay in his memory long enough for him to do something about them both. These are the words of Elizabeth Woodville, recently widowed during a battle of the Cousin Wars as she tries to gather favor with the soon to be named King of England - Edward. Elizabeth comes from a long line of family who descended from Melusina, the water goddess. Her and her mother use their "powers" to influence weather conditions or put a hex on others. Elizabeth is able to enchant Edward and marries him in secret before he went into battle to claim his throne. Edward and Elizabeth take over as King and Queen and arrange their advisers to make alliances between the House of York and House of Lancaster. As their family grows, they are challenged by other family members and other usurpers that want to have the throne. Edward gets sick and ends up dying causing a fight for the throne yet again even though he left two sons as official heirs. His brother Richard ends up claiming the throne for himself and locking up Edward's two sons in the Tower. Elizabeth flees with her daughters to sanctuary and starts to plot on how to overthrow Richard. She makes an alliance with Margaret of Beauford who son Henry Tutor is anxious to take the throne as well.From her confinement, Elizabeth plots, schemes and uses her "powers" to continue her ambition and allow her children to claim their birthright.This book is the first in a series about the Plantagenets from Philippa Gregory. I really enjoyed her Tutors series, but had a hard time relating to the main character Elizabeth. I felt that her voice was very whiny and negative. The plot from chapter to chapter was very similar and it was hard to keep all the different family members straight. I didn't really believe that women back then would use "powers" or "witchcraft" to influence events. I found it hard to believe that a local woman could stand at the side of the road and entrance the would-be king to marry her.

[marient_5 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Brother turns on brother to win the ultimate prize, the throne of England in the wars of the Plantagenets. The are the claimants and kings who ruled England before the Tudors.The White Queen teells the story of a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition who, catching the eye of the newly crowned boy king, marries him in secret and ascends to royalty.

[phoebereading · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I first encountered Philippa Gregory while working in a library. I was desperate for a juicy read, and a co-worker suggested The Other Bolelyn Girl. It definitely pulled me in, and, though I loved it enough to get my mother hooked on Gregory's Tudor series and race through all of them myself, I never quite managed to feel less-than self-conscious about reading them. All the perfect, lily-white and lovable heroines always struck me as a bit Mary Sueish, and though the history was fascinating, at times her interpretation of it felt overly modern and lacking in grit.Gregory's certainly come into her own, stylistically and in terms of characterization, in The White QueenThe White Queen is the first of a new series--having exhaustively chronicled the lives of the Tudor women (which, by The Boleyn Inheritance had exhausted me)--she takes us back a generation and introduces us to the Plantagenets and the War of the Roses. This first book is narrated by Elizabeth of Woodville, who certainly seems to have been a worthy subject. A widow, whose secret marriage to King Edward IV raised rancor between he and the man who helped him ascend to the crown, she was also frequently rumored to be a witch.Gregory's inclusion of witchcraft here, along with the integration of the medieval myth of Melusina, from whom Elizabeth Woodville's family believed themselves to be descended, was one of my favorite things about The White Queen. The myth itself is included within the text and is a beautifully written compliment to Woodville's story. And the acts of witchcraft shine as an almost feminist, but still believably-period trope. Through their spills and charms the Woodville women attempt to maintain some semblance of influence over their lives, lives which are very much largely decided by the political whims of the men around them. This is a welcome change from Gregory's murkier use of witchcraft in her Tudor books. There, the title of "witch" is only ever used as a weapon against women. Here, while witchcraft isn't without its risks, it's a risk that Woodville gladly takes in order to express her desires and hopefully help them come to fruition.Woodville's motivations generally were varied; she's a refreshingly believable character and remains so as we watch her grow into middle age. But the speed of this growth sometimes frustrated me. The White Queen has an interesting hook and some killer foreshadowing that make the first hundred pages an addictive read, but much of that is lost in the repetition of Woodville's life. That she had child upon child while her husband engaged in war upon war might be historically accurate, but it doesn't always make for riveting reading. There were a solid hundred and fifty pages that could have been excised here without damage to the narrative. And, because I was quite eager to see how Gregory worked the legend of the Princes in the Tower into the story, many of the more mundane plot lines failed to pique my interest.Still, though, even during the book's saggy middle there were some moments of beautiful writing: the scene describing the death of Woodville's mother and daughter is executed in a particularly artful and tender way. I have high hopes for this new series--perhaps The White Queen represents a new stage in Gregory's writing, one filled with gorgeous writing, nuanced characters and (let's hope) enough new material to sustain the interest of her readers.

[readingwithtea · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

“Edward lives as if there is no tomorrow, Richard as if he wants no tomorrow, and George as though someone should give it to him for free.”Continuing my reading of Philippa Gregory’s Cousins War series, a set of perspectives of women involved in the War of the Roses, we now follow Elizabeth Woodville, daughter of Jacquetta and nemesis of Margaret, as she weds Edward IV secretly and rises from her humble landed gentry beginnings to be Queen of England. Secure in her marriage she may be, but her husband is not safe on his throne; first from the remnants of Lancastrian forces, and then from the various Yorkist factions. Elizabeth is in and out of sanctuary, and on and off the throne, all her life.I was hoping this would be the best of the Cousins War series, and I wasn’t disappointed. The Red Queen is all anger and vengeance and scheming, and while I very much admired Elizabeth’s mother Jacquetta, she was too ambitious for me. Elizabeth is an Everywoman, just wanting her husband to come home safe every day. She resents the other women who catch his eye, she bears grudges against the men who brought down her family, she loves her family dearly. I was a little confused by her calm reaction to the news of the missing Princes in the Tower – it didn’t make sense after she had been so passionate about her family earlier in the book. However, judging by the material in The Women of the Cousins’ War, the non-fiction companion to these novels, she did reconcile quickly with Richard III, so maybe she knew more than we do now.My main struggle with The White Queen, as with the other books in the series, was the seemingly interminable series of battles, although Elizabeth’s less political view is less difficult to take than the others’ – she is worried by the aftermath of each battle. Similarly, having read The Red Queen and found that Margaret Beaufort spent so long at court undermining Elizabeth, it seemed odd that she played such a small part in The White Queen.I have very much enjoyed this series, particularly as I knew nothing about the War of the Roses beforehand (I had no idea it went on so long!), so the trilogy has been a great introduction, and the writing has been far better quality than I had come to expect of Gregory after The Other Boleyn Girl.

[ddelmoni_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Better then The Other Queen -- BUT not even close to Gregory's best. Did anybody edit this book? Repetition is a big red flag for fast writing and lousy editing. Sorry to say I'm probably done with Philippa Gregory as they turn her into a wealthy "dime store novelist" like Danielle Steel!

[5aweek · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The White Queen, by Philippa GregoryBefore reading "The White Queen," all I knew of this period of history was the name of the war, the War of the Roses. Gregory has done a good job in bringing the events around the Cousins' War to life, told primarily from the point of view of Edward of York's wife, Elizabeth. After finishing "The White Queen," I'm inspired to check out some of the books in the bibliography so that I can learn more about the Houses of York and Lancaster. The book is pretty solid. The first person point of view lets the reader get a real feel for Elizabeth, and her and Edward's struggles to keep the throne on England. Her concern for her family and her children is clear, and the reader gets to see her thought processes on keeping them as safe and powerful as possible. The value of sons in that period is evident, as much of Elizabeth's focus is on her two sons - her multiple daughters, except the oldest, are barely mentioned. Gregory entwines the myth of Melusina, a water goddess, with Elizabeth's story. Supposedly descended from the goddess, Elizabeth sometimes uses magic or curses as a way to aide her family and herself. It's an interesting concept, especially since Elizabeth was accused of being a witch, but I think it's used too much. I got a little sick of it after what felt like the 10th time. Also, sometimes the author switched from first person to third person to describe some of the battles, and this was a little jarring because there was no clear transition. I did like Gregory's theory on the princes in the tower; a mystery that has confused historians for centuries. I don't want to spoil it, but I think it's a very plausible theory. Overall I enjoyed "The White Queen," but I don't think it's Gregory's best book. But she did interest me enough that I will pick up the next volume, particularly since this one ended in a cliffhanger. And she did interest me enough in the subject matter for me to do other reading, which I attest to her good storytelling skills. 3/5.

[elainec_543991 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First in a new series set during the War of the Roses. Narrated by Lady Elizabeth Grey. Unusual in that it's written in the present tense - but this does make you feel like you're actually there, sharing her thoughts and feelings. Philippa Gregory has the talent for making history incredibly accessible and really taking the reader into the court or the battle - and Elizabeth is an incredibly strong and ambitious female character in a world where women didn't have any power. You'll learn a lot about this period of history without even realising it. I can't wait for the next in the series - I need to know what happens next!!

[tibsboys · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was relatively fast-paced. Told against the back drop of the War of the Roses, the story follows Elizabeth and her rise to power. Elizabeth is not an innocent among the men who are scheming for control of the monarchy. A magical element is also incorporated into the story.

[kiri_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I found this an interesting take on the story of this period of the War of the Roses. While Ms. Gregory does take liberties with the known facts (she admits to them too so that's ok) she also raises some interesting points about the princes in the tower and highlights the other power players on the stage at the time. While I felt she could have focused a bit more on certain aspects of the story, drawn the motivations of the characters more clearly, and fleshed out more of the dynamics (some of the background is left a little too much to the readers guessing) it is an interestingly told story and a fine diversion. I will admit that I am probably being much harder on Ms. Gregory than is warranted due to academic training. I did enjoy the book and think others will too.

[cyderry · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

British history is filled with figures that have been taken by writers and had their "story" re-written adding romance, passion, intrigue - all speculation - but turning them into great stories. The White Queen takes the life of Elizabeth Woodville, a Lancastrian widow, who married Edward, a Yorkist king, and presents her life from her point of view. Elizabeth was the mother of the Princes in the Tower and the grandmother of Henry VIII. Yet the story told in this book show her not just as a queen but basically as a wife, mother, sister, daughter who only got involved in the political arena to protect her children.Having read other books about the last Plantagenets, the War of the Roses (white rose Yorkist, red rose Lancaster) and the start of the Tudor dynasty, I found this author's hypothesis extremely fascinating because they were so completely different from other fictional accounts that I had read.

[ladyn_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As with all Philippa Gregory books I had read, I didn't much mind what was fact and what was fiction.Gregory makes historical characters really come to life, and paints such vivd pictures of the periods she writes about that one cannot help but be seduced by her novels. This period is not one I previously knew a great deal about, (other than being generally aware of the War of the Roses, the Princes in the Tower, Richard III etc,) but was inspired to find out more as I read, which was great fun.Here we are presented with an interesting look at the "princes in the tower" mystery, although I do wonder how this interpretaion will continue into the rest of the Cousins at War series.As with the Tudor series, I enjoyed the balance between being a portrayal of actual historical events along with being a jolly good romp. I did keep having to refer to the family tree, which was thankfully provided in the front of the book, but the author can't be blamed for that!All in all, I look forward to reading The Red Queen, but will have to wait until next April for the paperback release.

[ajlletourneau · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Elizabeth Woodville is muc moe likable than the Red Queen. Romance between her and the king. She let the younger brother go to the Tower, much to her regret.

[shanjan_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The White Queen is a semi-historical novel revolving around the Plantagenet family's war between the Lancaster and York families. Caught in the middle is Elizabeth Woodville (a.k.a. the White Queen).The novel chronicles the Cousin's War in which cousins and brothers align forces and betray one another in turns in the hope that they will claim the throne. The most intriguing aspect of this novel is when Gregory develops a fictional theory that examines the fate of the missing princes in the Tower of London, whose fate still perplexes historians.Gregory's use of the mythical character of Melusina to weave her tale together was overdone at the start of the novel and seemingly forgotten about as the plot progressed, to be thrown in again at the end to wrap things up neatly.All in all this was a readable novel, but nothing groundbreaking or genius. It might be a good poolside read or a good book group read for December when everyone is too tired to really delve into a serious book.

[gypsysmom_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the first Philippa Gregory book that I have read but it won't be the last. Who knew that English history could be so fascinating? I would have paid more attention to Mr. Majeski in Grade 9 if he had made it sound like this.The White Queen was the wife of Edward, Plantagenet victor (for a while) in the War of the Roses. About the first half of the book deals with their sudden marriage and the large family that they had while Edward fought to retain his throne. Two of the children were Edward and Richard, heirs to the throne, who have been known in history as the Princes in the Tower. The remainder of the book is about the Queen's life after Edward died and his brother, Richard, took over the throne. Gregory's theory as to what happened to the little princes is probably as realistic as any other and it happens to give the foundation for the next book. I can hardly wait.

[msjessicamae · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have much love for Philippa Gregory for bringing me The Other Boleyn Girl and introducing me to the Tudors. Although it will be difficult for her to ever write another novel as compelling as The Other Boleyn Girl, I had been impressed with the books following…until her last book The Other Queen. I was barely able to finish the book and if it was any other author I probably wouldn’t have.With The White Queen, Gregory is clearly back. Although it didn’t grab me the way I expect her books to and it took me a while to become attached to the story, by the end of the book I was yearning for more. I am extremely excited that this is the first book in a series and I am anxiously awaiting more information on the next book.As with The Other Boleyn Girl, Gregory has introduced me to an entire period of history I was blind to. I think the next book is going to be some of her best writing. She has laid the base and the background and now she can get into the dramaI can’t wait!

[strandbooks_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I've enjoyed Philippa Gregory books in the past. I had at first liked this one, especially since I knew next to nothing about the War of the Roses. It was a little odd to be listening to a romance story during my drive, but things didn't get too steamy. I'd laugh when the king would command "To my bed, wife." By CD 7 I was sick of hearing more battles and more treachery as the families seemed determined to kill everyone. Nowadays you see these kinds of family feuds on Maury Povich. Back then if it happened with the royal family it meant the deaths of thousands of people as they had to take up the arms of their nobleman. Gregory weaved in the pagan beliefs and witchcraft that I found interesting.I made it through all 13 CDs but I admit that I was only half listening near the end.

[joannee_23 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting time in English history amid the deadly feuds known as the War of the Roses. The White Queen tells the story of Elizabeth Woodville who secretly marries the boy king, Edward. This is the beginning of another series for Philippa Gregory as she has announced the next book, The Red Queen.

[afarrington_6 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

interesting story, but a little dry - about the battle between lancasters and york, and whether or not Richard III killed the two boys in the tower.

[smg1ngeorgiou · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a great book if you like historical fiction. It is all about wars and how to stay King and Queen in the time of the War of the Roses.

[ruinedbyreading · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It is readable, but compared to The Other Boleyn Girl this wasn't very good.The one thing that bugged me the most was how repetitive it was. Gregory would repeat the exact same phrase or paragraph over and over again several times throughout the story. Maybe she thought it would be haunting or artistic, but it was just irritating. I thought the characters were shallow as well, and not very believable. I couldn't connect with the main character at all. She is meant to be a devoted wife and a loving mother, but I didn't really get any of that from this book. She's just boring.Obviously this is fiction, but Gregory's historical fiction is usually pretty believable. However, in this book she uses some magic and witchcraft which makes everything laughable and unbelievable. If she were just making a comment on how people were still very superstitious in the 1400s, that would be fine. But the spells that the main character and her mother preform actually work, and her mother can see the future. This part of the book seems more like fantasy than historical fiction to me.

[bonniesb · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The White Queen is the first in Gregory’s series chronicling the War of Roses (or Cousins War) in which the Lancasters and the Yorks endlessly found each other, and eventually themselves in pursuit of the throne. In the White Queen we are first introduced to the widowed Elizabeth Woodville and follow her controversial marriage to Kind Edward IV their struggle to maintain control of England through to the eventual rise of Richard III (also of the house of York).Gregory weaves her story through major gaps in historical knowledge and I think that she does an excellent job of marrying sometimes difficult to follow historical timelines and facts with an easy to read story line. At the centre of Gregory’s White Queen is the idea of powerful and ruthless women, family loyalties (or lack there of) and the question of whether wealth and power are enough to grant happiness. I found the first third of the book to read a little like a history textbook as we were introduced to characters, battles, loyalties, and rivalries but once I got through this section I found that the story really took over. I quite enjoyed the way Gregory told this story but I can see how some would find the amount of historical details to be tiresome. As a history major the amount of historical details is part of what pulled me in. I don’t know if the White Queen is for everyone, but for those with a strong interest in historical fiction I think it’s a good read.

[jeannemarkert · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

1st of a new series set among the feudsin England by Philippa Gregory. Brother against brother, cousin against cousin want the throne. This is a story of Elizabeth Woodville who secretly married a newly crowned king, ends up in the Tower The 2nd book in this series is "The Red Rose"

[kasthu_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The White Queen opens in 1464, on the day that Elizabeth Woodville meets Edward IV, the man who has just recently been crowned King of England. In the attempt to gain back the lands she lost when her husband died, Elizabeth catches the eye of the young king, and becomes Queen of England herself—and eventually, the mother of kings and queens of England.I have mixed feelings about this book.Here’s what I didn’t like so much:--The fact that the book is written in the present tense. Gregory started writing this way sometime around The Boleyn Inheritance, and it gets on my nerves sometimes because I feel that using the present tense for historical fiction is so limiting.--The water imagery got to be a bit much-too-much at times. It was beautiful at first, but the fact that Elizabeth kept talking about her ancestress, the water goddess/nymph Melusina, began to get tired after a while.--Although Gregory is great in general at describing the events of the time periods of which she writes, she’s not so good as describing how people actually lived—as with her previous novels, there’s very little about what her characters wear, eat, or do in their free time. It’s the little bits and pieces that make characters come to life, make them three-dimensional.--Reading Sharon Kay Penman has seemingly made me pro-Richard III for life, so I was a little disappointed by Gregory’s vilification of him in the book (though of course, when the story is told from the point of view of Elizabeth Woodville, of course Richard would be portrayed in a negative light).--About halfway through the book, Gregory switches from 1st person POV to 3rd, in order to talk about some of the decisive battles of the Wars. I can understand her intent, but it was jarring to me to go back and forth.However, I think The White Queen is a vast improvement over Gregory’s previous book, The Other Queen. Elizabeth is much more of a three-dimensional character, as are the other people that populate the novel. I was also a lot more engaged by the story—mostly because the story of the War of the Roses is more interesting than that of Mary, Queen of Scot’s captivity! Elizabeth generally has a bad rep, but here she comes across as a sympathetic woman, strong and courageous at a time when the times moved against her. Gregory uses her imagination a lot more in this novel, because there’s so much less documentation to work from. I think it’s a good thing that Gregory has moved away from writing about the Tudors (at least for the time being); the Plantagenets are a breath of breath air on Gregory’s writing, which was in the process of getting stale.

[saisquoi · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was fairly standard Philippa Gregory--dramatic and soap-opera-esque. I listened to this on my commute and think that might be the only reason I finished it. I suspect had I been reading it I may have given up about midway through.Like the Red Queen, I simply never attached to these characters. The story was OK, but really seemed to drag on at times.

[bookmagic_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Brother turns on brother to win the ultimate prize, the throne of England, in this dazzling account of the wars of the Plantagenets. They are the claimants and kings who ruled England before the Tudors, and now Philippa Gregory brings them to life through the dramatic and intimate stories of the secret players: the indomitable women, starting with Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen.The White Queen tells the story of a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition who, catching the eye of the newly crowned boy king, marries him in secret and ascends to royalty. While Elizabeth rises to the demands of her exalted position and fights for the success of her family, her two sons become central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the missing princes in the Tower of London whose fate is still unknown. From her uniquely qualified perspective, Philippa Gregory explores this most famous unsolved mystery of English history, informed by impeccable research and framed by her inimitable storytelling skills. my review: I feel bad for The White Queen having to follow my reading of Wolf Hall; that's a hard act to follow and it did not do well.Though I'm familiar with this part of English history, I had not read anything specifically with this period. I'm not sure what Gregory's intention was but I felt Elizabeth Woodville came off as quite unsympathetic. How easily she switches from a Lancaster to a York and moves her family to prominence, making enemies along the way. She really put her ambitions before her children. And what is with having one son from a first marriage named Richard and then having a son by the king and naming him Richard? Of course I know there were only about 5 names used at that time, but that annoyed me.Gregory also choose to play up the witchcraft accusations that were levied against Elizabeth by Richard III when declaring her marriage to King Edward invalid. However she did not do this in a very subtle manner and that was a bit of a turn off for me. And the curse that Elizabeth puts on the killers of the missing princes, covers a couple possible suspects. Did Henry VII have them killed and that is why his oldest son died before ascending to the throne? Or is that why the son of Richard III died, ending his line? It was a bit of a silly way do deal with a fascinating historical mystery.On the other hand, this was a quick read and rather engaging for some of it's faults. But I don't think I will be reading the second in this saga. It just didn't have enough depth for me.rating 2.5/5reread noperecommend not really

[amandacb_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Like others, I am a huge fan of Gregory, and have not yet been too disappointed with any novel she has produced. While nothing has of yet eclipsed the success of "The Other Boleyn Girl," Gregory still manages to create believable and interesting characters and story lines. Until "The White Queen." Honestly, the horrendous writing truly detracted from the story. Gregory makes liberal use of anaphora, where often times in a paragraph almost every sentence began with the same word or words: "I...I...I..." or "I forgot...I forgot...I forgot..." or "I see...I see...I see." Anaphora is an excellent device, used sparingly--if overused, it becomes dully repetitious and I just began to gloss over each page. Another inherent flaw in the novel is that the story is not believable, which is odd since the story is based on historical events. The main character is not developed whatsoever, and with a such of lack of characterization, we are left removed from the immediacy of the story--we do not care what happens. We are not invested in any of the characters, so we view the story from afar, instead of alongside the characters. It is obvious that Gregory researched, and at times the language and description of events is textbook-like. For instance, on page 221: "He was a spoiled greedy boy, and he has grown into a disappointed, bad-tempered man. He is in his mid-twenties now, and his rosebud mouth has drooped into a sneer of disdain. He gloried at being one of the sons of York when he was a hopeful boy; since then he was first in line for the throne of England at Warwick's chosen heir, and then displaced when Warwick favored Lancaster. When Edward won back the throne, George became first in line to inherit, but then was pushed down to second at the birth of my baby, Prince Edward. Since the birth of Prince Richard, George drops down to third in line to the throne of England." That example is actually not so egregious as much of the rest of the book--Gregory lapses into the tiresome and pedantic method of TELLING us what happened, not SHOWING us what happened. As others have mentioned, the repeated references to Melusina are distracting and ... dully repetitive. Some other annoying facets of the novel are that Gregory needs a better editor: comma splices and other punctuation errors are rampant. The jacket says this is "Book One," so I assume this is the first installment in a series. I do not know if I can bring myself to read any more.