I never quite got around to reading The White Queen, by
Gregory, that’s sitting comfy in my TBR pile.
Maybe that’s’ because I’ve already read a lot about Edward IV’s
magnificent queen… However, I knew very
little about her firstborn daughter, Princess Elizabeth of York. So I immediately was captivated by this
story.
The first part of the book was entertaining enough; I was
curious to find out how this young and reluctant queen married to the killer of
King Richard lll (her presumed lover) would fare within a court where the York
name was almost a blasphemy.
Cold and aloof, Elizabeth began by despising her ruthless
and insensitive husband King Henry Vll. It
also didn't help that she was surmised by the mother-in-law from hell (
Margaret de Beaufort), who co-ruled with her son. Once the lady-in-waiting of Elizabeth Woodville(!),
pious Margaret now felt it her right to belittle, mistreat and dismiss the former regents. There were no limits in how far she’d go to assure Henry’s throne and
rid the court of all Yorks once and for all.
As time went by,
through absolute loyalty to her kingdom and for the fate of her children,
Elizabeth would eventually learn how to
enjoy her husband’s company and even begin to care for him. But a (huge) factor would be a constant OCD
for Henry…could one of the boys in the tower still be alive? Throughout the novel this is the thorn in
Henry’s life.
Henry could never rest- always paranoid about the
‘pretender’, ‘the boy’, seeking the right to his throne. Needless to say, this became the obsession
within this book. And, frankly, there
was just way too much of this (the whole middle part of the book!). As for Elizabeth, I honestly don’t know how
she could have realistically kept her cool to preserve an incredible detachment
– especially when it came to her supposed younger brother...All in the name of
her heirs and the right to their throne.
I would have liked to see more passion in this bland queen.
Fortunately, there was one bright beam that kept me reading
on- I loved that Elizabeth Woodville was a pivotal character in THE WHITE PRINCESS! It was her strength, love of family and
incredible non-stop determination that kept the plot alive. This underlying sense that she was plotting
all along, brought interest and engaged me enough to see this novel
through. As well, the rest of the York
siblings and cousins brought much compassion, dread, helplessness and a true
feel for what times may have been like for them under Henry Vll’s rule. In the end, THE WHITE PRINCESS proved to be a passable read.
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