I've finally got around to reading another book in Philippa Gregory's Cousins' War series, 'The White Princess'. About time, I'm only about four books behind...
'The White Princess' sweeps the veil of Tudor propaganda aside and suggests an alternative story of the dynasty's founding couple, Henry VII, only child of the ambitious Lancastrian Margaret Beaufort, and Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter of the late King Edward IV and sister to the famed Princes in the Tower. When her usurper uncle Richard III is defeated at the Battle of Bosworth Field, Elizabeth once again finds herself the unhappy victim of another dramatic change of circumstance, one of many that has seen the wheel of fortune turn her from princess to pauper and back again many times. With few options open to her, Elizabeth is forced to become a pawn in the power games between the new rulers and her mother, the widowed Elizabeth Woodville, While Henry VII and Margaret Beaufort weave a public story of strength, unity and authority, Elizabeth sees the threadbare truth of a family wracked with fear and eaten away by suspicion, a situation that reaches breaking point when a pretender marches on the kingdom claiming to be Elizabeth's missing younger brother, Richard of York...
The difficulty with Philippa Gregory is that all of her work is of such a consistently high standard that each book really has to work hard to stand out from the others. I'll admit that I haven't enjoyed many in the Cousins' War series so far because I think they often suffer from two common historical novel issues. Number one: if you have an aristocratic female lead, then they don't get to do much, which can get quite frustrating, especially if they don't hear about what's going on in the outside world through a spy network or letter writing relations. Number two: the writer is constrained by having to hit certain known historical events to retain authenticity, but consequently loses some control over pace and don't have full creative freedom. The minute a historical novelist of Gregory's supreme talent is able to flex her muscles with a less well known historical figure, the difference is obvious and, for me, the results are always better.
The strength of 'The White Princess' is that it provides a different perspective on the traditional story of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Usually portrayed as the rather romantic way that the Wars of the Roses ended and a genuine love match, Gregory successfully suggests an alternative view that seems more plausible and reminds the reader not to take everything they think they know about the past for granted.
Overall, this is a worthy addition to the Cousins' War series of books and hasn't stopped me wanting to read more, but unlike 'The Other Boleyn Girl', 'The Other Queen' or 'The Lady of the Rivers', I doubt I'll want to read this again.
Now, what next...?
Related Posts
'The Lady of the Rivers' (Cousins' War Book I)
'The White Queen' (Cousins' War Book II)
'The Red Queen' (Cousins' War Book III)
'The Kingmaker's Daughter' (Cousins' War Book IV)
'The Virgin's Lover'
'The Other Queen'
