"The White Queen" by Phillipa Gregory Finally Arrived At My Door

I have anticipated the release of this book for quite awhile. Yesterday it finally arrived on my doorstep & I read late into the night. Had I not needed to get up to go to work I would have read a lot longer I'm sure ! Thus far I have to say that the "hype" over this book is worth it - this is one good read. Best of all this is the first book of a new series called the "Cousin's War" which chronicles events of the War of The Roses -especially (in this book) about Elizabeth Woodville, King Edward IV oft defamed wife & mother of the "Princes In The Tower". Elizabeth was a descendant of The Frnch water goddess Melusine & rumors of witchcraft were always rife at Court on that account. This element would spice to any book!

I've always thoroughly enjoyed Phillipa Gregory's fabulous historical novels. Ms. Gregory's last series about the Tudors included such titles as "The Constant Princess", "The Other Boleyn Girl" (remember the great movie from this book?!), "The Boleyn Inheritance" &"The Other Queen" - plus there were two other books that completed this series. Ms. Gregory claims that a chance "taster" history class at the University of Sussex started her on the road to penning her lush, well researched books. The only thing that my history classes in college did were to strengthen my passion for both history (history minor) & reading about history - both fiction and non-fiction. I love to read books in a series because they allow you to really develop a good feel for the subjects & the time period. One of the things I enjoy doing when I am reading historical fiction is to research the true facts - people, places, dates - you get the idea. I like to see how far a writer goes to weave a tale around the truth. Ms Gregory generally writes fiction with a strong non-fiction base to which she adds just a pinch of plausible fiction to round out the story.

I have, in the past written about other favored authors; Vanora Bennett (I cannot wait for her next book!), Alison Weir (I love all of her books, both fiction and non-fiction), Susan Carroll (who I will be writing about very soon), Susan Higginbotham - and the list could, and no doubt will go on & on! I will be adding more book reviews - about historical fiction and more art/craft books soon.

Blogger is not allowing me to format the paragraphs for some odd reason today - so I must apologize for the disorderly appearance of this post.

For additional information about this book I have copied the info below directly from Amazon's website. Of course the book is easily available from Amazon or from you local independent bookseller - we really must support them too!

"...THE COUSINS' WAR
Book One

Philippa Gregory, "the queen of royal fiction,"*
presents the first of a new series set amid the
deadly feuds of England known as the
Wars of the Roses.

Brother turns on brother to win the ultimate prize, the throne of England, in this dazzling account of the wars of the Plantagenets. They are the claimants and kings who ruled England before the Tudors, and now Philippa Gregory brings them to life through the dramatic and intimate stories of the secret players: the indomitable women, starting with Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen.

The White Queen tells the story of a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition who, catching the eye of the newly crowned boy king, marries him in secret and ascends to royalty. While Elizabeth rises to the demands of her exalted position and fights for the success of her family, her two sons become central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the missing princes in the Tower of London whose fate is still unknown. From her uniquely qualified perspective, Philippa Gregory explores this most famous unsolved mystery of English history, informed by impeccable research and framed by her inimitable storytelling skills.

With The White Queen, Philippa Gregory brings the artistry and intellect of a master writer and storyteller to a new era in history and begins what is sure to be another bestselling classic series from this beloved author...."