Review: The White Princess by Philippa Gregory

Title: The White Princess
Author: Philippa Gregory
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Touchstone
Publish Date: July 23, 2013
Source: I received a copy from the publisher; however, this did not affect my review.

Why You're Reading this Book:

• You're a historical fiction fan.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "A princess from birth, Elizabeth fell in love with Richard III, though her mother made an arranged betrothal for her with the pretender to the throne: Henry Tudor. When Henry defeats Richard against all odds, Elizabeth has to marry the man who murdered her lover in battle, and create a new royal family with him and his ambitious mother: Margaret Beaufort, The Red Queen. But, while the new monarchy can win, it cannot, it seems, hold power in an England which remembers the House of York with love.

The new king’s greatest fear is that somewhere, outside England, a prince from the House of York is waiting to invade and re-claim the throne for the house of York. Fearing that none of his new allies can be trusted, Henry turns to his wife to advise him, all the time knowing that her loyalties must be divided. When the young man who would be king finally leads his army and invades England, it is for Elizabeth to decide whether she recognizes him as her brother and a claimant to the throne, or denies him in favor of the husband she is coming to love…"

My Two Cents:

"The White Princess" is the fifth book in Gregory's The Cousins' War series about the infamous war between the Lancaster and York families who are both fighting over the throne of England. As with all of the books in this series so far, "The White Princess" can be read as a stand alone book.

This book is one of my very favorites in the series so far. It follows the story of Elizabeth, a York princess, who has to marry Henry VII, a Lancaster prince, in order to try to rectify the relationship between the two families. Elizabeth is also the mother of Henry VIII, which is especially interesting.

I really, really liked Elizabeth. Even at such a young age, she had already gone through so much due to the Cousins' war. Her brothers may or may not have been killed in the Tower of London and now her family's hope for resolution lies on her marriage with Henry VII. Even with all of that going on, Elizabeth realizes that she must at least try to make the new life thrust upon her work but the odds are stacked against her. I really liked that the book was told from Elizabeth's point of view, which allowed you to really see all the events in the book first hand.

There's a lot of good twists and turns in this book and I don't want to give anything away so I'm limited in what I can say next but I really liked Gregory's treatment of what might have happened to Elizabeth's brothers. It was fascinating!

Overall, this is the kind of historical fiction book where you are wholly sucked into the story!