Take a photo of a barcode or cover
janaroos 's review for:
The White Queen
by Philippa Gregory
Spoilers ahead, though seriously, this stuff happened more than 500 years ago, I think we're fine.
I love medieval history. It has so much violence, plotting and superstition that fact is often more interesting than the glut of fantasy it has inspired. So it must have taken some effort to have one of the most fascinating periods--the Wars of the Roses--and one of the most famous mysteries in history--the Princes in the Tower--and make them boring.
It doesn't help that the writing is very stilted. I'm sure people used contractions in olden times, and even if they didn't, there's a reason why we use them now: they make stuff easier to read, and they sound more natural. But the real problem was unavoidable: Elizabeth Woodville sucks. Seriously. The author describes her in the postscript as one of the most disliked and disregarded queens, and it is really easy to see why.
And that is literally all she does. For the ENTIRE book. Mumble about revenge and write people's names on little scraps of paper. I think the recent trend of historians and authors choosing previously overlooked characters (especially women) to write about is really cool, but sometimes there is a reason why they're overlooked. Elizabeth had no political instinct, no skill at managing her family's gains and was barely present during the most crucial events of her reign and the crisis surrounding her sons.
Compared to the actual female schemers of the day--Margaret of Anjou being the shining example, going around leading armies, forging alliances and being the inspiration for Cersei in Game of Thrones--this wet blanket was a huge disappointment. Elizabeth spends 90% of this book (and I am not exaggerating) in her bedroom swooning over her husband, or in sanctuary hiding from his brothers. She talks big but does nothing, which the author tries to circumvent by making her a convenient witch. So she summons a storm or two and can NOT stop going on about her water goddess ancestor. Enough with the Melusina stuff already, we get it.
The problem is, there is a lot of super interesting stuff going on. The murder of the addled King Henry. The battle of Tewkesbury, where Lancaster is finally defeated (Henry Tudor doesn't count, what with being a Tudor) is crazy, and has the York army breaking sanctuary (a huge deal at the time) to kill men inside the chapel. But these events are recounted secondhand, and it becomes as dry as reading a history textbook. The most interesting characters, like the York brothers George and Richard, are constantly in the distance, just as the objects of Elizabeth's hatred. The one small scene with Richard stands out as one (in my opinion the only one) with actual emotion and depth. My kingdom for more of him.
I doubt I'll be reading the rest of the books in this series. Two stars because I supposed I learned some stuff, but in future, Wikipedia might serve me just as well.
I love medieval history. It has so much violence, plotting and superstition that fact is often more interesting than the glut of fantasy it has inspired. So it must have taken some effort to have one of the most fascinating periods--the Wars of the Roses--and one of the most famous mysteries in history--the Princes in the Tower--and make them boring.
It doesn't help that the writing is very stilted. I'm sure people used contractions in olden times, and even if they didn't, there's a reason why we use them now: they make stuff easier to read, and they sound more natural. But the real problem was unavoidable: Elizabeth Woodville sucks. Seriously. The author describes her in the postscript as one of the most disliked and disregarded queens, and it is really easy to see why.
"All I can do now is ill-wishing. But God knows, I do that."
And that is literally all she does. For the ENTIRE book. Mumble about revenge and write people's names on little scraps of paper. I think the recent trend of historians and authors choosing previously overlooked characters (especially women) to write about is really cool, but sometimes there is a reason why they're overlooked. Elizabeth had no political instinct, no skill at managing her family's gains and was barely present during the most crucial events of her reign and the crisis surrounding her sons.
"I blame you and my father for bringing us into this world and putting us here, in the grip of ambition, and yet not holding strongly enough to your power to make it right for us."
Compared to the actual female schemers of the day--Margaret of Anjou being the shining example, going around leading armies, forging alliances and being the inspiration for Cersei in Game of Thrones--this wet blanket was a huge disappointment. Elizabeth spends 90% of this book (and I am not exaggerating) in her bedroom swooning over her husband, or in sanctuary hiding from his brothers. She talks big but does nothing, which the author tries to circumvent by making her a convenient witch. So she summons a storm or two and can NOT stop going on about her water goddess ancestor. Enough with the Melusina stuff already, we get it.
The problem is, there is a lot of super interesting stuff going on. The murder of the addled King Henry. The battle of Tewkesbury, where Lancaster is finally defeated (Henry Tudor doesn't count, what with being a Tudor) is crazy, and has the York army breaking sanctuary (a huge deal at the time) to kill men inside the chapel. But these events are recounted secondhand, and it becomes as dry as reading a history textbook. The most interesting characters, like the York brothers George and Richard, are constantly in the distance, just as the objects of Elizabeth's hatred. The one small scene with Richard stands out as one (in my opinion the only one) with actual emotion and depth. My kingdom for more of him.
I doubt I'll be reading the rest of the books in this series. Two stars because I supposed I learned some stuff, but in future, Wikipedia might serve me just as well.