To Hold the Crown: The Story of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York

By Jean Plaidy

From exile and war to love and loss—every dynasty has a beginning.

Henry Tudor was not born to the throne of England. Having come of age in a time of political turmoil and danger, the man who would become Henry VII spent fourteen years in exile in Brittany before returning triumphantly to the Dorset coast with a small army and decisively winning the Battle of Bosworth Field—ending the War of the Roses once and for all and launching the infamous Tudor dynasty.

As Henry’s claim to the throne was tenuous, his marriage to Elizabeth of York, daughter and direct heir of King Edward IV, not only served to unify the warring houses, it also helped Henry secure the throne for himself and for generations to come. And though their union was born from political necessity, it became a wonderful love story that led to seven children and twenty happy years together.
Sweeping and dramatic, To Hold the Crown brings readers inside the genesis of the great Tudor empire: through Henry and Elizabeth’s troubled ascensions to the throne, their marriage and rule, the heartbreak caused by the death of their son Arthur, and, ultimately, to the crowning of their younger son, King Henry VIII.


“Plaidy excels at blending history with romance and drama.”
—New York Times

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 7, 2008
• ISBN: 9780307450173

Jean Plaidy

Jean Plaidy, the pen name of the prolific English author Eleanor Hibbert, was one of the preeminent authors of historical fiction for most of the twentieth century. Her novels have been translated into more than twenty languages and have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide. She died in 1993.

Reviews for To Hold the Crown

[philsyphe · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Having read numerous books by Jean Plaidy, I’ve concluded that her earlier books are better than the later ones. “To Hold the Crown” is a later book, published after the last novel in her Plantagenet saga.Like with the Plantagenet saga, the author's attempts to pack several years’ worth of history into one volume results in a serious rush job. While I like fast-paced novels, I dislike rushing through bland scenes that should’ve been dramatized. It could be the author’s “rush” to finish that led to a few historical errors. For example, the Earl of Warwick is occasionally referred to as the Duke of Warwick, while on another occasion we’re informed that Wawrick “had no close relations”. Didn’t his sister count? What about his Plantagenet aunts and his cousins?The main reason why Plaidy’s works are so dry is because there’s far too much *telling*, as opposed to *showing*. Many times in this book the reader is told what happened in a few sentences, when the author could’ve dramatized scenes to show what happened.Something else Plaidy’s guilty of is her continuous use of the passive voice. It’s always, “The coronation of the Queen” or “one of the sons of Edward”, as opposed to the active voice: “The Queen’s coronation” and “one of Edward’s sons”.Passive voice = passive prose.Some of the character exchanges are good, but most lack substance. At times, we don’t even know where conversations are transpiring. A new scene opens with two characters talking, yet there’s no sense of place. The author/narrator hasn’t given a shred of detail where the characters are. It’s like they’re floating in limbo. This is poor imagery. At least have them seated at a table, or lying in bed, or taking a walk – anything to give the reader a sense of place to visualise the scene.Also annoying is characters talking with the benefit of hindsight, such as the young Henry (future Henry VIII) seeing himself as king because his older brother is fragile (we're repeatedly told how fragile he is.The Battle of Stoke in 1487, which was the last significant conflict during the Wars of the Roses, is treated the same as the battles featured in the Plantagenet saga. Here, Stoke is no more than a three-sentence summary (I’ve omitted names to avoid spoilers for anyone unfamiliar with this history):>The opposing armies met at Stoke and battle ensued. The Germans fought valiantly and, professional soldiers that they were, came within sight of victory; but the King’s forces were too much for even them and gradually they had to face defeat. **** was slain; **** managed to escape and **** and ****, who were not actually involved in the fighting, were surprised together in a tent and taken prisoner.

[librarycin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5 starsThe Wars of the Roses is over, with Elizabeth (House of York) having married Henry VII (House of Lancaster) to join the two warring houses for the crown of England. This book starts when Elizabeth is pregnant with her first child (Arthur) and ends with Henry’s death. It follows the births of all their children; the two “pretenders” to the crown pretending to be Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville’s missing princes from the tower – the “rightful” heirs; Katherine of Aragon’s marriage to Arthur and subsequent betrothal to the soon-to-be Henry VIII. Henry VII was always concerned about someone coming along to claim the throne.It was good, but – especially at first – I found it a bit hard to follow as it followed many different viewpoints of many different characters and transitioned without any indication of a transition! I think it got a bit easier once we were following Henry VIII and his generation, as I know the people and characters better, so I could figure it out. The story moved forward very quickly, as years would pass with only a sentence or two (or nothing, and it’s a few years later).

[pmaurer_11 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book should have been described as being about Henry VIi, since Elizabeth was very much a minor character. It fills the gap between Edward and Henry Viii. Describes the King as a miser, and the future king as a braggart. I was unaware of the treatment of Katherine of Aragon between the time of Arthur's death and her marriage to Henry, lots of English history here, told in a very abbreviated style. I probably wouldn't have been able to follow it without advance readings.

[slvoight_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoy reading about the Tudor period in history and normally like Jean Plaidy as a writer but I must agree with the previous posters that the writing style was elementary. I must have seen the word parsimonious 20 times, who speaks like that?
As far as the actual story-It was interesting to read about Henry VII and Elizabeth of York and their life together. Elizabeth was very subservient to her husband and he was paranoid about hanging onto the crown, especially since there were several plots to overthrow him throughout his reign. Even though it was "required" of the times it is amazing how many Queens died during or because of childbirth after having children back to back for years. Glad that times have changed.

[bookpurring · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this book because at the time I was riding the high of discovering Philippa Gregory's Cousin's War series. That was my first mistake, I should just have on off to read Gregory's Tudor series. Don't get me wrong, Plaidy is a good writer, and she definitely knows what she's writing about. But her historical fiction work seems to me more historical and less fiction. I felt like there was rarely dialogue in this book, and it was more of a story telling. I loved that I learned so much about the era and got to know new important characters of the time. But I honestly felt kind of a shock while reading this, since I am so used to a more fictionalized type of book. As well I found the title somewhat misleading, this book is more about Henry than Elizabeth, and pretty much everything that happens around Henry. The story moves to Scotland more than once and while it was interesting, I just felt the title had trapped me into another, more personal, type of book.

[ejgrogan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Highly recommend this outstanding read. Transports you right to the center of everything and keeps you there until the very end. You will laugh with the characters, cry with the characters, and regret the story is ending.

[crazy4reading · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

To Hold the Crown was an enlightening view of King Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth. This is the first book I have read solely based on King Henry VII. It was interesting to learn new things about the Tudor's.This book lets you see how Henry VII reacted when people tried to usurp his power, when he didn't have the children that he really wanted. Seeing Henry worried almost all the time. He was alway thinking of every possible outcome and scenario.

[tina1969_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have set myself the challenge of reading some of my Tudor novels in order. I normally read from Henry VIII onwards but decided to start with this novel which is about Henry VII when he became king. I have recently read The White Queen by Philippa Gregory which was about Elizabeth Woodville so this book although it is by a different author continues the story.This book is full of historical facts ant touches a lot on the princes in the tower. I did feel however that the story was a little flat and at times I felt I was reading a factual book, rather than a novel. The book does however stick to the facts and is not like some historical novels where authors claim to have invented certain events for fictional purposes.Jean Plaidy is a brilliant author but due to the fact that this novel was slightly slow going and as I said a little flat I have only given it 4 stars. Would I recommend this book, yes I would.

[sensitivemuse · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have to say, I enjoyed reading this book. At first, it was a little hard for me to get into, as the plot did not grasp at my attention, and there is a slight confusion to all the names being thrown out to you as a reader. Hence why there are detailed family trees in the beginning for your reference. After getting the characters straightened out the plot gets more intriguing and the Tudor court suddenly comes to life. Albeit, not as dashing and charming as you might find in Henry the Eighth's court, but that's because his father was a penny pincher. The glamour isn't there yet, but the intrigue definitely is, and so is the constant plotting to get rid of the Tudors from the English throne. I really liked the detail and effort Plaidy had put into this novel to made it as historically accurate as possible without really compromising anything. She breathed life into each of the characters so there's flesh and feeling to them and not just two dimensional things that don't develop at all, or are just there to take up a page or two. Her writing style is a little different, it's certainly more descriptive and sets the right moods and tones for the reader. The dialogue is all right and well written, and adds personality to the characters in the book. It was nice to see Katherine and Arthur again albeit for a very short period of time. She gained my sympathy towards the end of the novel for sure. I also enjoyed how Henry the VII was so worried about these pretenders to the throne, and how he was always on the edge of his seat to defend it. Also, the outcome of the Princes of the Tower was interesting and well written here. What I didn't really like about this story? Henry was a bit too cold, almost lifeless and void of any real human emotion. He was like a robot. Also, his wife Elizabeth was mentioned but not as much as I hoped. I actually wanted to hear more about the story of both of them and how they got along in their marriage. However on a lighter note, it was nice to see Henry the Eighth, same as usual, arrogant as ever. It's nice to see some things that don't change in every Tudor novel I have come across.Overall, a must read for Tudor fans everywhere. It sets the setting for Henry the Eighth and his court and keeps you wanting more to read.

[macart3 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Plaidy's novel may be well researched but it is not at all an engaging book. She drones on for paragraphs at a time describing the action-who is betraying whom, etc-but the characters don't act it out that much. When the characters do talk the dialogue feels rote, unconvincing. There is no subtlety to how emotions or thoughts are handled, everything is explicitly stated for you so you don't have to think what their actions may be. Would not recommend the book at all.

[misfit_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

From the back cover "And though their union was born from political necessity, it became a wonderful love story..." Huh? You have to wonder sometimes what is going through the publisher's heads - the marriage of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York was not a love match by any means - why would they try to label it as one?? Originally published as Uneasy Lies the Head, this book covers the reign of Henry VII following the defeat of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth. With a very tenuous claim on the throne of England Henry marries Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter of Edward IV, in an effort to strengthen his claim. Despite keeping peace in the country and restoring the empty coffers, Henry is always fearful of conspiracies to challenge his reign with pretenders to the throne claiming to be one of the lost princes in the tower. So much of this book is known history, we've all read enough of the Tudors I don't need to rehash it all again. The book takes the reader from the beginning of Henry's reign until the end and at his death and the assumption to the throne of his son Henry VIII. Although I did enjoy this book very much, it was a bit dry at times, especially at the beginning, and those not familiar with the Wars of The Roses might have a difficult time picking up the story. Henry was nicely portrayed as a parsimonious penny pincher always worried about threats to his crown, the younger Henry a bit too full of himself and his "knightly" responsibilities, Katharine of Aragon suitably pious and obedient - my only complaint was the how Elizabeth of York was portrayed. A virtually non-existent character, the few times she was in the storyline she was quite vapid and very forgettable. She was pretty much there for the procreation of children. All in all a pleasant read, not the best but not the worst either.

[lookingforpenguins · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have a love affair going with historical fiction author Jean Plaidy.It's Plaidy that I turn to when I crave a good comfort-read.This novel is Plaidy's take on the story of the marriage between King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York: the marriage which effectively ended the War of the Roses by uniting the houses of York and Lancaster.Like her other historical fiction novels, To Hold the Crown will never be compared to, say, a Sharon Kay Penman novel. Plaidy, rather, exists in a class of her own: solid writing and a good historical foundation make her stories feel comfortable.Kind of like your favorite pair of old sneakers.The story of Henry and Elizabeth has been written about numerous times, but I still think Plaidy does it best. You won't find any heros or villains in this story. Instead you'll find human beings who make mistakes and are trying to do the best they can with the tools they have. Plaidy is the consummate professional: she presents each character in a fair light, flaws and all, and allows the readers to draw their own conclusions, as opposed to leading you to those conclusions.Those of you who are still tracking down the infamous Princes in the Tower will find an interesting idea as to their ultimate fate within these pages. Plaidy, as always, is plausible and sharp as a tack.What didn't I like? The darned new cover chosen by Three Rivers Press!For now, I'll forgive them simply because they are reprinting so many of Plaidy's historical fiction novels.If you haven't read one, do so soon. And if you've read Sandra Worth's recent novel, The King's Daughter, you'll recognize that the subject matter is the same. For my money, I recommend Plaidy's version for a more complete and perhaps a more realistic look at the lives of Henry and Elizabeth.

[devourerofbooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

“To Hold the Crown” is not the story of Henry VII himself so much as the story of his reign. The third person narrative is omniscient in turn with specific characters: Henry VII; Elizabeth Woodville; Elizabeth of York; the future Henry VIII; Katherine of Aragon; even Katherine’s brother-in-law Philip I of Castile, also known as Philip the Handsome.Central to the story is Henry’s worry about his throne when members of the House of York - either real or imagined - threatened his claim to the crown, his worry about his heirs - weak Arthur and flashy Henry, and his attempt to be recognized by other heads of state as a legitimate ruler.Although I didn’t particularly like Plaidy’s description of Elizabeth of York as a woman who was quite content to be a milquetoast, the book as a whole was very engaging, perhaps even one of Plaidy’s better works. Plus, I quite enjoyed reading about a man who is usually skipped over in historical fiction, overshadowed by his infamous son and his controversial predecessor.

[soliloquies · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyable read about Henry VII's reign. Slightly repetitious at the beginning, but settles into a well written story.