Phillippa Gregory and the Cousins' war series || Book Review
I have always been fond of history and for the past two years I have been very focused on the Medieval period in England and especially the York courts. This mild obsession began with me watching The White Queen which to this day is still one of my all-time favorite shows. I was thrilled that the books exist because the show is kind of a blend between three of the seven books in that first part of the series. Gregory also has a book series The Tudor Court which I haven't finished yet. The series is historical fiction and as such, the history part is not strictly academic/truthful, but the books are interesting all the same.
Anyway, when I first encountered The Cousins' War I didn't read the entire series, but only read The White Queen and The White Princess because I was interested only in Elizabeth Woodville and Elizabeth of York. I corrected this mistake recently and here are my thoughts:
#1 The Lady of The Rivers - the first book of the series, the narrative is told from the point of view of Jacquetta Woodville and its the story of her first marriage and how she married the love of her life and how she was the chief lady-in-waiting to Queen Margaret of Anjou. The story is very interesting and definitely worth the read. Unfortunately there is a huge lack of historical documents regarding Jacquetta's life so the book is heavy on the fiction front but it is still beautifully-written.
Rate: 5/5
#2 The White Queen - the second story in the series is told by Queen Elizabeth Woodville, daughter of Jacquetta and wife and queen consort of King Edward IV. I love how she is portrayed both in the series and in the TV show (and I love Rebecca Ferguson for being such a beautiful and brilliant Elizabeth!). The White Queen focuses a lot on the love-story of Edward and Elizabeth, the many dangers that they faced because she was a commoner who due to her status raised her family in high positions. Elizabeth was incredibly devoted to her children and I believe that she loved Edward with all her heart. This is another amazing book in this series.
Rate: 5/5
#3 The Red Queen - this is the story of Margaret Beaufort, one of the last Lancaster heirs and mother of future King Henry VII and later referred to as My Lady, The King's Mother. Margaret Beaufort believed in her cause to get her son to the throne and with a lot of plotting and scheming she managed to put her son on the English throne. The book is wonderfully written, the plot suggests that she gave the order for the disappearance of the Princes of the Tower and who doesn't love a conspiracy?
Rate: 3/5
#4 The Kingmaker's Daughter - Anne Neville was Richard III's queen and daughter of Richard Neville, widely known as the Kingmaker as he helped with Edward IV's campaign and the rise of the Yorks. Anne Neville was first married to Edward of Westminster (Henry VI's son) and then defied King Edward IV and married Richard III and later became Queen consort as the wife of King Richard III. She had a very interesting life and the book portrays her very interestingly - she was afraid of Elizabeth Woodville, she was loyal to her family and it was all that mattered.
Rate: 3.5/5
#5 The White Princess - I was very interested and excited to read about Elizabeth of York, but unfortunately this was the least enjoyable book from the series.Elizabeth was daughter,sister,wife and mother to kings.Conspiracies claim that she was in love with her uncle Richard III, she is portrayed as a weak, spineless girl, not the daughter of Edward IV. I really disliked the book and I am curious to watch the upcoming show.
Rate: 1/5
#6 The King's Curse - this book tells the story of Margaret Pole, cousin of Queen Elizabeth of York, daughter of George Plantagenet and lady-in-waiting to Katherine of Aragon. She is first sent to serve Katherine when she marries Prince Arthur but after his death she was not allowed to keep caring for Katherine of Aragon. After Katherine married Henry VIII years later, Margaret was back in her service up to the time of Anne Boleyn when she had to choose whether to be loyal to the King or to her Faith.
Rate: 2/5
The series on Goodreads
Philippa Gregory's site
Have you read the series? Do you have any similar book recommendations?
