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mastersal 's review for:
The White Queen
by Philippa Gregory
This was a fun easy romp through the War of the Roses period of history - not particularly insightful about the period of history but a fun read. I will preface this review by saying that I had already watched the TV show The White Queen so the plot was familiar in terms of the specifics and made me predisposed to like the book.
The TV show combines this book and [b:The Red Queen|7148256|The Red Queen (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #3; Cousins War #2)|Philippa Gregory|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1281335912l/7148256._SX50_.jpg|7413156] which actually made it the stronger property. The book suffers from a lot of “I did this and then this happened. And then this happened. I was afraid but then I thought this …” In trying to cover Elizabeth Woodville’s entire reign there is a lack of focus sometimes - and frankly not a lot of interest in exploring her as a person.
Most of the characters feel like modern actors playing kings and queens - which is fine unless you expect any insight into a different political structure which emphasized the divine rights of kings and why the War of Roses was one of the most turbulent periods in English history.
The book is obviously more focused on getting to the next exciting part - the rebellions, the battles, the machination and less about what the reign meant to the people or even an exploration of the characters.
Some of the writing was repetitive and a little awkward. Despite the first person narrative focus on Elizabeth period the book switches to this third person view when the battles and the like are taking place. This was an odd choice for me - the author follows the armies when she wants to and sometimes stays in (first person) focus on Elizabeth at others. If we as readers can follow the King then why not always follow him?
I know Ms. Gregory did it to create mystery and intrigue but it felt like keeping the readers deliberately in the dark instead of internal consistency where we always follow Elizabeth and are therefore constrained by her knowledge. It’s a cheap trick if you think about it - open up the story / follow the men whenever you want to instead of it being a female focused tale as advertised.
Despite my gripes with the quality of the writing, I can see why this book made a good series - the writing is episodic where we can skip year and month in one page and then focus in detail on the ‘exciting bits’. It made for easy reading - I am not sure I truly understand Elizabeth or the period but it was fairly action focused read.
This is not an exploration of history but a costume soap opera. I like that but if you pick this up know what you are getting into.
And watch the TV show.
The TV show combines this book and [b:The Red Queen|7148256|The Red Queen (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #3; Cousins War #2)|Philippa Gregory|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1281335912l/7148256._SX50_.jpg|7413156] which actually made it the stronger property. The book suffers from a lot of “I did this and then this happened. And then this happened. I was afraid but then I thought this …” In trying to cover Elizabeth Woodville’s entire reign there is a lack of focus sometimes - and frankly not a lot of interest in exploring her as a person.
Most of the characters feel like modern actors playing kings and queens - which is fine unless you expect any insight into a different political structure which emphasized the divine rights of kings and why the War of Roses was one of the most turbulent periods in English history.
The book is obviously more focused on getting to the next exciting part - the rebellions, the battles, the machination and less about what the reign meant to the people or even an exploration of the characters.
Some of the writing was repetitive and a little awkward. Despite the first person narrative focus on Elizabeth period the book switches to this third person view when the battles and the like are taking place. This was an odd choice for me - the author follows the armies when she wants to and sometimes stays in (first person) focus on Elizabeth at others. If we as readers can follow the King then why not always follow him?
I know Ms. Gregory did it to create mystery and intrigue but it felt like keeping the readers deliberately in the dark instead of internal consistency where we always follow Elizabeth and are therefore constrained by her knowledge. It’s a cheap trick if you think about it - open up the story / follow the men whenever you want to instead of it being a female focused tale as advertised.
Despite my gripes with the quality of the writing, I can see why this book made a good series - the writing is episodic where we can skip year and month in one page and then focus in detail on the ‘exciting bits’. It made for easy reading - I am not sure I truly understand Elizabeth or the period but it was fairly action focused read.
This is not an exploration of history but a costume soap opera. I like that but if you pick this up know what you are getting into.
And watch the TV show.