The White Princess

May 6, 2013
In Gregory’s fifth entry in the Cousins’ War series, marriage unites the upstart House of Tudor with its long-time enemies, the declining House of York, to rule over volatile 1485 England. As Gregory envisions her, narrator Elizabeth of York—sister to the princes imprisoned in the Tower, mother of Henry VIII, grandmother of Elizabeth I—still loves the vanquished Richard III when she dutifully marries his triumphant challenger, Henry VII. The royal pair produces an heir and two spares but mistrust continues to abound, particularly between the two mothers-in-law, who are seemingly determined to fight the Wars of the Roses down to the last petal. Elizabeth must navigate the treacherous waters of marriage, maternity, and mutiny in an age better at betrayal than childbirth. Gregory believably depicts this mostly forgotten queen, her moody husband, and the future Henry VIII, shown here as a charmingly temperamental child. Something about the Tudors brings out the best in Gregory’s portraiture. At this novel’s core lies a political marriage seen in all its complexity, including tender moments, tense negotiations, angry confrontations, and parental worries over predictions that the family line will end with a Virgin Queen. Agent: Anthony Mason.

July 1, 2013
Gregory charts the vicissitudes of a high-stakes political marriage in her latest diverting epic. It's 1485; the Wars of the Roses have ended, but the victorious Henry VII sits insecurely on his throne. Still mourning her lover, Richard III, Princess Elizabeth of York must wed King Henry to unite their warring houses. Unlike his predecessors, Henry has no personal charm, and the novel excels at depicting his paranoia as royal pretenders pop up and threaten England's stability. Kept ignorant of the political scheming around her and caught between her York relations and securing her children's inheritance, Elizabeth can't match the dynamism of her mother, Elizabeth Woodville (The White Queen, 2009), or mother-in-law, Margaret Beaufort (The Red Queen, 2010), and they occasionally steal the spotlight. Nonetheless, the younger Elizabeth is an observant narrator, and her difficult position reflects historical reality, as does her growing closeness to her beleaguered husband. The repetitive language will either drive points home for readers or drive them batty, but the novel is as replete with intrigue and heartrending drama as Gregory's fans expect.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

June 15, 2013
In the aftermath of the Wars of the Roses, the new queen of Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty, struggles with divided loyalties. After he returns from exile to defeat Richard III in the Battle of Bosworth, Lancastrian conqueror Henry Tudor marries Yorkist princess Elizabeth, daughter of Richard's predecessor, King Edward IV. The marriage, intended to finally reconcile the warring Yorks and Lancasters, does the opposite. Edward's dowager queen Elizabeth Woodville (The White Queen, 2009) and her sworn enemy Margaret Beaufort, Henry's mother (The Red Queen, 2010) engineer the marriage, each to promote her own agenda. Princess Elizabeth, who had been the lover of Richard III, is horrified to have her distrust of Henry and his mother confirmed by a pre-wedding rape: Henry and Margaret want to make sure she proves fertile before vows are taken. After her marriage, and the "premature" birth of son Arthur, Elizabeth forms an uneasy truce with Henry that will lead, eventually and after the birth of more children (including future king Henry VIII), to an interlude of genuine affection. However, her mother and she remain York sympathizers at heart, particularly after their young cousin Edward Warwick is placed under house arrest in the Tower. This is an ominous reminder of the imprisonment of King Edward and Queen Elizabeth's two sons, Edward and Richard, in the Tower, from which they later disappeared. Rumors abound: Prince Richard may still be alive and may be coming to England to assert his entitlement to kingship, far superior to Henry's. Both Elizabeths know more about such claims than they dare let on: Years before, they had substituted a pageboy for Richard when the two princes went into captivity. A ruthless monarch who rules by intimidation, Henry can never escape the nagging fear that a Yorkist heir will unseat him, especially since the Yorks are so much more likable and better looking than the Tudors. As usual, Gregory delivers a spellbinding (and definitely York-biased) expose.

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Starred review from June 1, 2013

Gregory's latest installment in her "Cousins War" series focuses on Elizabeth of York, whose marriage to Henry Tudor would in effect bring about the end of the War of the Roses. Elizabeth comes to her marriage in mourning for Richard III whom she loved deeply. The newly crowned Henry VII is a less than ideal husband--and a less than ideal king. He is in constant fear for his crown as one upstart pretender, then another, arises seemingly out of nowhere. Elizabeth, despite her feelings, tries to be a dutiful wife and comes to bear some affection for Henry, but the constant presence of his mother, Margaret Beaufort, who dominates the king and his court, causes friction between Henry and his queen. VERDICT Like the other titles in the series (The Red Queen; The White Queen; The Lady of the Rivers; The Kingmaker's Daughter), this rich tapestry brings to vivid life the court of Henry and Elizabeth. Meticulously drawn characters with a seamless blending of historical fact and fiction combine in a page-turning epic of a story. Tudor-fiction fans can never get enough, and they will snap this one up. [See Prepub Alert, 2/11/13.]--Pam O'Sullivan, Coll. at Brockport Lib., SUNY

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