Good Reads?: The White Queen, by Philippa Gregory

I’ve read quite a few of Philippa Gregory’s books, including The Other Boleyn Girl, The Boleyn Inheritance, and The Queen’s Fool, among others.  So far I have thoroughly enjoyed all of Ms. Gregory’s books.  I love history, and these novels have definitely spurred my interest in other historical fiction authors as well.

I recently finished The White Queen: A Novel (Cousins’ War).  Since I had this book listed in my “What I’m Reading” Section in the sidebar, I’ve been getting lots of questions from blog readers about what I thought of this book.  Honestly?  It wasn’t my favorite of Philippa Gregory’s works.  The plot itself was captivating, but I did not care for the main character, Elizabeth Woodville.  (I didn’t care for Anne Boleyn either, but she had more of a “love to hate her” attraction, if that makes sense.)

In The White Queen, Elizabeth Woodville catches the eye of the young new King Edward, and they marry in secret.  Never a good idea, especially when you are marrying the King of England.  Uproar ensues, but Elizabeth is eventually accepted as the “White Queen.”  Elizabeth and Edward marry in the midst of the War of the Roses.  Edward first fights his Tudor cousins for the Crown with his two brothers (the House of York) on his side.  Then his brothers turn against him one after the other, and he must defend the crown against them too.  Throughout the story, there are many shifts in allegiance, scheming, backstabbing, power hungry characters.  Last but not least is the mystery of the two princes in the Tower, supposedly kidnapped by their uncle.  Their fate is still unknown by historians, but Ms. Gregory includes her own version of these events.  All of that I enjoyed, just as I did in Ms. Gregory’s other novels based on fascinating periods of history.

It was Elizabeth herself that I didn’t care for.  While she was certainly courageous at times, she also came across as cold, obsessed with revenge and only concerned with the crown, no matter what the cost.  Another element I found tedious was the inclusion of the legend of Melusina, a mermaid-like water goddess.  Elizabeth was supposedly a descendant of Melusina, and Melusina’s legend is woven throughout the novel.  Elizabeth and her mother both engaged in some witchcraft related to Melusina, which I found a little far fetched.

At some point during the book, the narrative switches from Elizabeth’s point of view to third person which is slightly jarring, and reads more like a history textbook account of some of the important battles.  Thankfully, these shortcomings are few, in my opinion.

Overall, if you enjoy Philippa Gregory’s other novels, then you will probably like most aspects of this book.  The War of the Roses was certainly a fascinating time in the history of England, and Ms. Gregory has a knack for selecting soap-opera like plots from history that make for good reading!