“The White Queen” - Philippa Gregory

 

(Plantagenets and Tudors book 2)

👑 This was my first book by Philippa Gregory, and I can say that writing sweeping historical sagas is clearly her strong suit! I believe book 1 is about Elizabeth Grey’s mother, Lady Jacquetta Grey and her rather unconventional love marriage. 

I hate reading series out of order, and I didn’t realize this was book 2. But no matter. I didn’t feel like I lost much that wasn’t quickly explained here.At the outset of this novel, the allegedly mad King Henry VI is on the brink of being deposed by Edward, Duke of York (eventually King Edward IV). The country is split between Lancastrians supporting the old King, and Yorkists supporting Edward’s claim. All of the combatants are cousins, thus the War of the Roses is also the Cousins’ War with one family faction fighting the other for supremacy.

Before we proceed, I should make very clear that despite the titles, some of the covers, and the fact that it’s been made into a Starz tv series, these are not romance novels. They are squarely historical fiction, and I think they are extremely well researched.

👑 I am not familiar with the pre-Tudor monarchy and I didn’t realize that Elizabeth Woodville was the mother of the princes locked away in the Tower of London, or how her story and theirs, fits in with the War of the Roses. This novel is teeming with Lancastrians and Yorks (though Margaret Stanley’s occasional presence represents the Tudors as well). At the outset, Gregory provides us with both a family tree and a map of major battles for context.

I’ve been interested in the mysterious fate of the two princes locked away in the Tower ever since I visited. It is said that their ghosts continue to haunt the Tower today. I’m delighted that Gregory explores what happened to them, and provides her own theory. To a casual reader of old British royal history, her version seems as plausible as any of the others circulating about them. It is indeed, a delicious, unsolved mystery.

👑 Gregory writes in her author’s note that she chose to write about this Queen Elizabeth because though Elizabeth Grey was very real, she was either an  overlooked or much-maligned British queen. Gregory sets out to tell her story by piecing together historical facts, rumors, story tales, and legends. This Queen Elizabeth was many things, but according to Gregory, she was certainly not inconsequential. 

I also love that Gregory fills her story with other women, who are also generally ignored by history books. Lady Jacquetta Rivers, Margaret of Anjou, Duchess Cecily, and Margaret Stanley, all play critical roles in the history we are familiar with, but Gregory places them front and center.

In the first meeting between Elizabeth Grey and her mother-in-law, the Duchess Cecily, Lady Rivers came to play! I loved this scene! Unlike her besotted son-in-law Edward and daughter, Jacquetta is shrewd and farsighted. Earlier, she tells Elizabeth to hope to marry Edward “if that’s [your] wish”. Elizabeth doesn’t contemplate all the ways their union would affect her and the greater Rivers clan. Jacquetta is all too aware. She knows that if she is made Queen, her daughter will never rest in the ease of safety. She would forever be scheming and plotting survival for herself and her own. Gregory makes this constant unease come alive! We feel the turmoil and suspicion that Elizabeth doubtless feels.

Later, we witness Elizabeth’s eldest daughter in a disenchanted state. She is tired with what she perceives as her mother’s stubborn ambition which morphed from her simple boredom and a desire to recoup her marital Grey properties at the outset of this novel. Elizabeth the Queen knows that it’s now much more than ambition: it is her passionate desire to protect her children and relatives, and to survive the treacherous game, means one must continue to play it. We can assume that Elizabeth junior will eventually be faced with the same choice, and will pay the same price.

👑 As with Jacquetta, Elizabeth is portrayed as politically savvy, yet unlike other women Gregory will introduce us to in the Plantagenet and Tudor universe, these two are uniquely portrayed as loving wives/daughters/sisters/mothers. These two are shown to have a balance between the quest to survive, thrive, and protect their own. The contrast will be evident in book 3 which features Margaret Stanley.

👑 I enjoyed Gregory’s exploration of the medieval views on magic - especially as these views were often used to condemn powerful women. Here, we see the accusations of witchcraft levelled against Lady Jacquetta and Queen Elizabeth. Gregory incorporates the tale of Melusina the water goddess in this novel. Gregory based her version on several mythologies telling of a half-woman/half-fish. According to Gregory, the inclusion of Melusina as part of Elizabeth’s family history (on her mother’s side), was a metaphor for the hardships faced by women living in a patriarchal world “almost as if we are beings of another element”. Melusina represented an intuition like magic.

👑 I was so engrossed by the upheaval, political treachery, and machinations that I was unprepared for the novel to end. Honestly, it caught me off guard. I’m not complaining about the abrupt end; it’s a mark of how much I enjoyed the story of Elizabeth Grey. I’m certain “The Red Queen” will pick up the trail in some fashion.