White Queen

By: Philippa Gregory

Narrated by: Susan Lyons

Length: 15 hrs

Publisher's summary

Brother turns on brother. The throne of England is at stake. The deadly Wars of the Roses have begun....

They ruled England before the Tudors, and now internationally best-selling author Philippa Gregory brings the Plantagenets to life through the dramatic and intimate stories of the secret players: the indomitable women.

Elizabeth Woodville, a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition, secretly marries the newly crowned boy king of England. While she rises to the demands of her exalted position and fights for the success of her family, her two sons become the central figures in a famous unsolved mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the lost princes in the Tower of London.

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 best-selling classic series.

©2009 Philippa Gregory (P)2011 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"It would be hard to make history more entertaining, lively or engaging." ( Sunday Express)

"Queen of the historical novel." ( Mail on Sunday)

"Gregory brings to life the sights, smells and textures of 16th-century England." ( Financial Times)

I really enjoy her books

I love the way she takes the facts from history and delivers them with such away that keeps you wanting to know more and more.

looking forward to the next books

And some think the reality is rough! This book and narrator make history come alive.

White Queen

I’ve read so many books from Philippa Gregory and every book I read I think this is the best book I have ever read. This one was very magical and I really do feel this is my favorite King and Queen.

Great book/story

This is a wonderful fact based account of the white queen. Spoiler alert: I guess I was hoping for a more definitive end to her life and her daughters, and the book stops a bit short for me. However, that is the author’s discretion, and something I can research on my own. Otherwise, great book!

Interesting Twist

Any additional comments?

I at first thought this was mostly fiction, when about half way through I realized how close it stayed to the facts while telling an interesting story.

A New Look at the Wars of the Roses

Would you listen to White Queen again? Why?

Yes I would, and someday I will. I love a good historical novel, and especially one that doesn't violate any of the available history. Elizabeth Woodville is a little-known figure but one that inspires "what if" thoughts.

What did you like best about this story?

The personal reaction to political dealings.

What about Susan Lyons’s performance did you like?

Well read, good emphasis without being histrionic.

If you could rename White Queen, what would you call it?

Daughter of the River?

great!

If you could sum up White Queen in three words, what would they be?

great story! instantly draws listener in. narration was also great!

Who was your favorite character and why?

elizabeth woodville; i loved her ambition and her ability to love

Which character – as performed by Susan Lyons – was your favorite?

elizabeth

If you could take any character from White Queen out to dinner, who would it be and why?

jacquetta rivers; would love to hear more about her heritage and her goddess roots

She's constantly "hissing like an angy cat"

What did you like best about White Queen? What did you like least?

I love the story but the writing got a bit redundant.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

It's history, how intense of a reaction could I have? lol I'm looking forward to getting into the Tudors.

What three words best describe Susan Lyons’s voice?

Aristocratic and perfect for a "perfect" Queen.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No but I watched the series.

Intrigue and Romance and a Good History Lesson

My first Philippa Gregory, picked up partly because it was on sale here at Audible, and partly because I was interested in learning more about the mother of the Princes in the Tower and that particular period of British history, which especially came to my attention when I listened to Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time (narrated by the fantastic Sir Derek Jacobi). Reading Tey's book, I was both impressed and frustrated. Impressed because Tey is such a great story-teller, but frustrated because at that point I knew little to nothing about the main characters involved in this political drama and I resolved to find out more about it so I could read it again eventually and feel I had a better grasp on the events and personalities described.

In that sense, this book has delivered the goods very well. Why go to a work of fiction rather than a no doubt more reliable work of non-fiction? Because I can retain facts much better when they are told to me as a story with interesting characters moved by complex motives. Gergory's work is obviously very well researched and she has a skill for writing compelling stories. Certainly she is never likely to win a literary prize, and I was slightly annoyed when certain details were repeated twice and three times. But otherwise the story of Elizabeth Woodville, who became Queen consort when she married King Edward IV for love—of all things, in an age when marriages were nothing more than political pacts (it was the cause célèbre at the time)—, is here very well told, and from her own perspective so that we get to hear how much influence the women likely had over these great men of power. The story begins in the 1460s, when she first meets the King and compels him to fall in love with her with a combination of charm, great beauty, brains, and if we are to believe the persistent rumours that have always surrounded her, witchcraft as well. She had two sons from a previous marriage to John Grey of Groby, who died fighting for the Lancastrians during the ongoing Wars of the Roses. Her own parents were also Lancastrians, so that while her alliance with a Yorkist King was certainly calculated to promote her and her children's welfare by aligning with the clan in power, it seems this ambitious woman truly loved King Edward and bore him 10 children, including Edward V of England, who was King of England for less than 4 months, and Richard, Duke of York, both Princes in the Tower who disappeared in suspicious circumstances when their uncle Richard III (King Edward IV's youngest brother) kept his nephews imprisoned in the Tower of London in his political machinations to take over the crown. Elizabeth Woodville's oldest daughter, Elizabeth of York, married King Henry VII, and King Henry VIII was one of three surviving children from that union, so that the heroine of this novel is the ancestor of every English monarch since Henry VIII and every Scottish monarch since James V of Scotland through her daughter Elizabeth. A really great read with plenty of political intrigue and romance as well as a good lesson in history. I checked many facts against wikipedia and found everything to be completely in order.

I only wish I'd checked the chronological order of the stories, as would have probably started the series with The Lady of the Rivers, which is third in publication order but tells the story of Elizabeth Woodville's mother, who sounds like a fascinating lady. Jacquetta of Luxembourg had a scandalous second marriage with a man far inferior in rank, Sir Richard Woodville, who served as her first husband, John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford's chamberlain. Believed to be a descendant of the river goddess Melusina, she also allegedly practiced witchcraft, the knowledge of which she passed on to her daughter. I'll probably be moving on to that one next.

I was hoping ...

This is just not for me. I'm disappointed because she has written sooo many books. :( it is history however ... and apparently back then there were only two male names, Richard and Edward. Lol. Everyone has these two names in this book and most females are named Elizabeth. Pay attention.