The White Queen by Philippa Gregory, a Review

Reading about the relationships and power struggles between English royals in the 1400s is better than watching a season of Survivor. The affairs are riddled with intrigue, turncoats, back stabbing and sabotage. Allies become enemies over night and it's hard to know who to trust.

No one captures these historical characters better than English author Philippa Gregory in The White Queen, the first book in the Cousins War Series.

At the opening of the novel, Elizabeth Woodville finds herself on the Landcaster (losing) side of the War of the Roses.  She lost her husband in a battle and her land to the profiters of the war.
  

Elizabeth meets the newly crowned King Edward IV (of the York family) and petitions him to return her land to her.  It's love at first sight for Elizabeth and Edward.  The two are later married in secret ceremony.  This wedding sets off a chain of events that makes Elizabeth the most powerful woman in England.  And puts her entire family in danger.

I enjoyed The White Queen immensely. Like The Other Boleyn Girl, I couldn't put it down. I researched (briefly) the history behind the novel as I was reading it, so knew the fate of the characters already. I still got attached to them and hoped that the ending turned out in the book differently than in history.

History often tells the story of the men, but Gregory has a knack for telling about the strong, determined, powerful women who sometimes take a backseat to the historical men. There is nothing 'back seat" about Gregory's characters. Gregory brings these women alive through their desires, hopes, dreams, loves and losses.

The White Queen shows the female side of ruling a country behind a king who is gone to war. Elizabeth uses all the people and talents available to her to keep her husband and family safe…including magic and witchtcraft. Elizabeth and her mother believe they are defended from a water goddess so they are able to control the water and storms in an effort to affect events. This blending of old religion with new was common practice in medieval times.

Unlike the women in Gregory's Tudor series, Elizabeth is faithful to her husband and family. Elizabeth isn't trying to climb the power ladder, but trying to secure and hold on to what she believes rightfully belongs to her and her family. There is also less sex (although it is not absent) than other Gregory novels.

One confusing part to this novel is that several of the character's names are the same. There are three Richards in the book. That's not Gregory's fault. She uses the names of the actual historical people. And to Gregory's credit, she does address them with titles to distinguish one character from another (e.g. Richard, Duke of York and Richard Grey two different people.)

Elizabeth Woodville and Edward IV are the parents of The Lost Princes of The Tower.  The princes are the center of one of the most famous unsolved mysteries in history. 

The young princes, Edward and Richard, were confined to the Tower of London soon after their father's death.  They then disappeared.  It is assumed that the boys were ordered murdered by wither their uncle Richard (who became King Richard III) or by Henry Tudor (who became King Henry VII.)