Elizabeth of York is featured for this month at the excellent website Tudor Times. I am honored to be a guest with an article describing the daily habits and activities of England's first queen. So, what did everyday life look like for the real white princess?

 

Throughout this series, we had been given delicious, tantalizing glimpses of this book's central character, Elizabeth of York. In [b:The White Queen|5971165|The White Queen (The Cousins' War, #1)|Philippa Gregory|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1406950364s/5971165.jpg|13560666], she is shown to be a more powerful witch than her mother, having more accurate predictions, with the river crawling out of its bed to tell her things, and her cursing power being absolutely final. She is also portrayed as a passionate young woman, who curses her mother for her unending ambition, and defies all others for the sake of her affair with Richard of York. In [b:The Red Queen|7148256|The Red Queen (The Cousins' War, #2)|Philippa Gregory|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1281335912s/7148256.jpg|7413156], she is also passionate and strong, even daring to tell Margaret Beaufort that, though her mother was a nobody and she had been declared a bastard, "I shall be Queen of England, and this is the last time you sit in my presence." In [b:The Kingmaker's Daughter|12326644|The Kingmaker's Daughter (The Cousins' War #4)|Philippa Gregory|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1332688725s/12326644.jpg|17305288] she appears to be rather foolish and selfish, but it is very clear that this is just how Anne Neville sees her. In the end of the book, she is smart enough to understand Anne's fears by the smallest suggestion, and compassionate enough to say exactly what would give the Queen peace.

Having that in mind, and knowing this book would tell the aftermath of Henry's victory, I was very much looking forward to read this book. *sigh* What a disappointment.

This is so much worse than the previous books that it looks like a caricature. Elizabeth goes as far as to describe herself as passionate and strong, but she's far from it. The characters are so shallow you could hardly believe they're actual historical figures; their reactions are exaggerated and histrionic; everything that happens feels like an unnecessary drawing out of unimportant events.

Philippa Gregory obviously sympathizes with the York family. I have no trouble with that, we can't help but have favorites, but I would have expected her to maintain at least the pretense of impartiality. After all, I have just read 4 books written by her, telling the same events through the eyes of different people, and, despite all their issues, she was very competent in showing that there are two sides to every story. In this book, she's so desperate to show her readers that the Yorks are nice and the Tudors are bad it borders on pathetic. Margaret Beaufort, who was such an interesting and well-developed character in [b:The Red Queen|7148256|The Red Queen (The Cousins' War, #2)|Philippa Gregory|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1281335912s/7148256.jpg|7413156], has been turned into a Shakespearean shrew; Henry is the pinnacle of vices, being cowardly, ugly, tyrannical, stupid, and even a rapist; even Elizabeth's sister Cecily, who was such a joy to her mother in previous books, is so thoroughly unpleasant from the beginning of the book that you just know she'll turn out to support Tudor. She's so tendentious when comparing the two houses it goes to the point of being childish.

All that, along with the way Philippa Gregory likes to say everything at least three times in each paragraph... I had to force myself to finish reading it. It was that bad. I'll probably try to read [b:The King's Curse|15849910|The King's Curse (The Cousins' War, #6)|Philippa Gregory|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1405267460s/15849910.jpg|21596251], but more because I've already read five books and I might as well read a sixth than because I'm looking forward to reading it. (And also because I've already bought it.) But I'll give myself a break for now.

Bowled over.

Possibly one of the best books in The Cousins' War series, and, ironically, it was the only one I initially had very little interest in.

It ends everything; it brings everything together; the sisters of the Kingmaker's Daughter; echoes of the mysticism of The Lady of the Rivers; the history of The White Queen and The Red Queen; the crucial understanding of the transfer of power. And even the setting up of the plot for The Constant Princess and of the personalities of the Tudors that Philippa later explores in her works on Henry VIII.

 

How difficult and complex, indeed, it must have been for Elizabeth of York; born a princess of York; married to the "usurper" Tudor who defeated her uncle at Bosworth Field.

 

Creating a new dynasty that is both terrified of how to wield its new power and is spiteful of the old York influence and charm must have been a gargantuan political task---and Elizabeth of York takes personal targeting in this book for her house, her blood, and her allegiances.

 

And we see those allegiances evolve---as she goes from York princess to mother of Tudor royalty. She begins a new life, and she has children she loves.

 

When the time comes (though it pervades the book), which is she: York or Tudor?

Whom does she love more: her Tudor children or her York brother?

 

Would she see someone who claims to be her dead brother overthrow her husband and her childrens' inheritance in order to claim back the throne for the family into which she was born?

 

Or would she rather stand with the new faction to which she forcibly belongs and has learned to live in; the one that defines her beloved children?

 

Where are her allegiances?

 

Philippa Gregory does an astounding job---putting a human face on the very political machinations of crossed allegiances, confused identity, and transfers of dynastic power.

This is superb.

 

AND, for the record, I think her use of mysticism in the way certain dynasties are prophesied to be cursed depending on their involvement in the murder of the princes in the tower is brilliant.

I must say that I was completely surprised with this novel. I am not a historical fiction novel kind of person, but after watching The White Queen mini series on Starz, I had to read The White Princess and I'm glad I did. This novel was centered around love, hate, betrayl and family. The House of York vs The House of Tudor. I was surprised how The House of Tudor won in the end, but it only has me curious as to what happens in the next book. I definitely plan to read the other 5 books in The Cousin's War series ( The Lady of the Rivers, The Red Queen, The White Queen, The Kingmakers Daughter and The Last Rose). Definitely was not a disappointing read and I highly recommend this novel to all!

So I have a bit of a soft spot for Philippa Gregory, and I was really looking forward to this book coming out.  I finally got a chance to read it, and everything was going well until the very end.  Is there another book in this series?  I read it on my kindle, and it ended at 86%.  The last 14% of the book is a guide with questions for reading and probably an interview with Philippa Gregory, but I didn't go forward that far.  So suddenly the story just ended, and I had to go back a few pages to re-read, knowing that it was the end.  It felt like it just skidded to a stop.

 

 

So I enjoyed the book, and I liked Elizabeth's perspective.  Gregory's writing is always pretty enjoyable for me too.  But I'm hoping that she writes another book in this series, because the end was pretty abrupt for me.