Monday, September 9, 2013

The White Princess by Philippa Gregory


Book:  The White Princess 

Author:  Phil Gregs 

Grade:  B 

Recommended To:  Phil Gregs fans! 

This is the latest installment in the Cousin's War series of books that Philippa Gregory has written.  It is hard to believe that there have been five books in this series so far.  It seems like she just finished the Henry VIII series.

This book is the story of the parents of Henry VIII.  Elizabeth is married to Henry Tudor, who took the throne from King Richard.  Like all of Gregory's books, the female characters are the feature and the entire book is told from the perspective of Elizabeth, the York princess.

This book continues the mystery of the two lost princes, Richard and Edward, that was begun in The White Queen.  Henry Tudor VII has captured the throne but is far from secure.  He marries Elizabeth, in an attempt to join the two rival houses, but instead rumors of the lost boy prince Richard haunt Henry throughout his reign.

I thought this book was acceptable.  It wasn't the best of the series and it wasn't the worst.   The Lady of the Rivers, which I don't believe I reviewed on this blog was by far the worst.  It took me months to finish that book.

This book moved quickly and was fun to read.  It is true that it is repetitive, but at this point, I just assume that Gregory's books are going to repeat over and over again.  She's a huge fan of telling the reader the entire title for a person every time that person is referenced.  At least 1000 words could have been saved by limiting My Lady the King's Mother to just Mother or Crazy, for example.  So, if you are willing to overlook that, this story was good and it kept my attention.  Plus, I find the mystery surrounding the lost Tower princes to be fascinating especially because no one knows for sure what happened to them.

In other news, I am FOUR books ahead of schedule on my read-65-books-in-a-year Goodreads challenge.   In the three years that I've done the challenge, I don't think I've ever been that far ahead of schedule.  Maybe I'll hit 70 this year!

I definitely recommend this book to the hard-core Gregory fans out there.  You will not be disappointed.

Happy Reading!!




2 comments:

  1. I just finished reading this book, too, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The White Queen was wonderful, but I'm having troubles getting through The Red Queen. Then again, I'm always ready for what PG is writing. Happy Reading!

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  2. I definitely agree Melly! I like the stories about the York family better than the Lancasters with the exception of the book about Jaquetta. I wonder who she will focus on next because she's nearly at the time period with Arthur and Katherine of Aragon.

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