(UK cover)

A blend of treachery, sorcery and devotion.

The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory (Cousins' War #4)
Simon & Schuster UK/Touchstone August 14, 2012
Hardcover 432 pages
Review copy provided by the publisher, thank you!
Burton Book Review Rating: 4.5 stars



Discuss your opinions of the Wars of The Roses. Where would you have put yourself in the wars: Lancastrian or Yorkist? Or if you have read the other books in the Cousins' War, which one was your favorite so far?
 Tell me how you are a follower of Burton Book Review.

+1 entry: Facebook or tweet; leave me a link to the post.

You must include your email address so that I can contact you if you win.

I will choose thoughtfully from the entries that have been successfully completed ;)

USA only! Contest ends September 19, 2012 and winner must respond to my email within 24 hours.
(I turned off commenting circa 2014, unfortunately that removed previous comments)

Jacquetta, daughter of the Count of Luxembourg and kinswoman to half the royalty of Europe, was married to the great Englishman John, Duke of Bedford, uncle to Henry VI. Widowed at the age of nineteen she took the extraordinary risk of marrying a gentleman of her house-hold for love, and then carved out a life for herself as Queen Margaret of Anjou's close friend and a Lancaster supporter - until the day that her daughter Elizabeth Woodville fell in love and married the rival king Edward IV. Of all the little-known but important women of the period, her dramatic story is the most neglected. With her links to Melusina, and to the founder of the house of Luxembourg, together with her reputation for making magic, she is the most haunting of heroines.

Philippa Gregory's third novel in the Cousins' War series focuses on Jacquetta of Luxembourg, who later becomes mother to the Queen of England. Her story is a fascinating one, and it is made quite entertaining Gregory-style. In Gregory's previous novel The White Queen (2009), we are introduced to the legacy of Melusina when Elizabeth Woodville captures the eye of Edward IV and the stigma of witchcraft that the Woodville women are surrounded with. With this installment on Jacquetta, we are immediately brought into this magical element of Jacquetta's upbringing and the legend of Melusina. Those readers who dislike this fantasy theme should not bother reading the book, as it is a large fragment of the story.

The White Queen centered around Elizabeth Woodville, who was Jacquetta's eldest and beautiful daughter. The Lady of the Rivers moves back in time a bit, to Jacquetta and her story of survival, love and loyalty. (Could have been a publisher's decision because two years ago Gregory was going to do the third book on Elizabeth of York: The White Princess). A young Jacquetta is forced to leave France as she is married off to England's Duke of Bedford, who is on a mission to find the mystical answers to all things unknown, along with that pot of gold. Poor Bedford seems like a creepy little man, sadly for him. Meanwhile, Jacquetta finds a friend and protector in Richard Woodville who acted as Bedford's right hand man. Once Bedford dies, Jacquetta throws caution to the wind, and usurps all authority in declaring her love for Richard.

Her story develops around the turmoil of England as they struggle to hold on to the lands in France that the late Henry V worked so hard for, but the young and weak Henry VI is ill advised and caught between the rising factions of the Cousins' War. Jacquetta embraces her new country of England, and serves the Lancastrian King and Queen as she hopes against hope that her new husband Richard Woodville won't be killed in battle. The love that grew between Jacquetta and Richard is lovingly portrayed and one can easily imagine, through Gregory's eyes, how the unlikely pair found a lasting love that brought forth quite a brood of Woodvilles. There were repeated mentions of the blue eyes of Richard, but he was always in the background of the other novels I had read so it was nice to see him form into a handsome blue-eyed person with a knack for quickly making babies. He was quite the star in this novel, with his loyal and gallant characteristics, not to mention sex appeal.

Jacquetta and Richard live out their life in fear of witch hunts as they do the royal bidding. Margaret of Anjou is insufferably unqueenly in this portrayal and her husband Henry is either a pious robot or a recluse. The city of London is a mob of dejected souls and Richard Duke of York is mentioned as the most-wished-for-wanna-be-king.. and other loose characterizations are formed and maintained throughout the story. The phrase 'Edmund Beaufort Duke of Somerset' is drilled into my head as he is mentioned umpteen times and who is not so subtly hinted as being in love with the Queen. History is a bit of a glazed backdrop as Gregory focuses the crux of the novel on Jacquetta and her experiences as Gregory imagines them as Jacquetta stands by the Queen's side while her Richard goes off to fight for them. Historical buffs for the Wars of the Roses may be a bit bored and put off by the lack of dramatic emphasis in areas where we would expect them as the mystical elements play the stronger part in this telling.

Of course, as with all Philippa Gregory novels, there seems to be a major uproar when the fiction outweighs the history, and this is no different. I could not get a handle on what exact title Richard Woodville had (squire/knight/chamberlain/baron/commander whatever he was at any given time), and then since we truly know very little about Jacquetta herself except for royal occasions where she was present, Gregory fills in the rest with lots of gorgeous babies. I can't remember my phone number sometimes so I wouldn't dare attempt to find any historical accuracies, but I am sure that those readers who pursue inaccuracies within Gregory's fiction as a sort of sport will be able to point them out to you. This reader doesn't care, I love the genre of historical fiction because of the entertaining accounts of historical figures, and Philippa Gregory usually captures that need for me with flair (most of the time).

I have no idea what type of schedule the author keeps, but I think that her recent popularity may have zapped some of the story-telling skills that she once demonstrated in earlier novels. Gregory is one of the more well-known authors of  historical fiction with a following of many critics and has a lot to live up to. I would personally wish for something a bit more in-depth and rounded out characters, while others wish for a bit more accuracy in the details. Jacquetta Woodville, Duchess of Bedford, mother to a Queen.. Gregory has the potential to turn her life into quite a story with creativity and that midas touch that once made Gregory so popular...

However.. the last half of the book did not quite match the expectations that were solicited in the first half as I wished for a lot more substance and a lot less of the repetitive silliness that she emphasized when utilizing various rumors of the time. I really wanted this to be a fabulous read that entertained and absorbed me, but this time Gregory comes up short. I think that newcomers to the Wars of the Roses era would enjoy this novel, much like once upon a time I was a rookie in regards to the Tudor era and Philippa Gregory wrote some intriguing introductions to the Tudors with The Other Boleyn Girl and The Boleyn Inheritance.  Also recently released which I recommend as a brief summary on the main protagonists of Gregory's Cousins' War series is The Women of the Cousin's War (my review), which is a collaborative effort with authors David Baldwin and Michael Jones.

The Women of The Cousin's War by Philippa Gregory, David Baldwin & Michael Jones
Simon & Schuster/Touchstone, September 13, 2011
Hardcover 352 pages
Review copy provided by the publisher, thank you!
Burton Book Review Rating: 4 stars

The Women of the Cousins' War is an attempt to shed light on three important women of the Wars of the Roses, which Gregory refers to with the old fashioned name of the Cousins' War. The Duchess refers to Jaquetta of Luxembourg, minor French nobility who married into English nobility of the Lancastrian side and who would probably have had a satisfied life if things ended there. Her first husband John, Duke of Bedford was the third son of Henry IV. When he dies, Jacquetta defies convention and marries Richard Woodville, who was merely her first husband's chamberlain. Philippa Gregory writes the first portion of The Women of the Cousins' War as a sort of prelude to her novel, The Lady of the Rivers, her third installment in the Cousins' War fictional series.

David Baldwin writes the second portion of The Women of the Cousins' War on the Queen Elizabeth Woodville, daughter of Jacquetta, mother of the lost princes in the tower, mother-in-law to Henry VII. Elizabeth Woodville underwent much scrutiny when she married the younger Edward IV, who enraged all nobility by bringing the large family of Woodville upstarts into the royal fold. She encounters foes on all sides, from the scheming Warwick to the King's own brothers. Baldwin previously wrote a biography on Elizabeth Woodville, one of the few written.

Finally, Michael Jones brings us the third portion of The Women of the Cousins' War with his writing on Margaret Beaufort, mother to Henry VII, who against all odds persevered throughout the tumultuous Cousins' War and eventually was able to see Lancaster restored to the English throne via her own son. All three of these women are main protagonists in Gregory's novels The White Queen, The Red Queen, and The Lady of the Rivers.

In the roughly forty-seven page introduction, Gregory explains that there is very little known about the female significant others of times gone by because women were simply considered irrelevant. Sometimes we have dates of birth and dates of death, and then a little can be filled in between the lines based on certain battles and where their husbands had traveled. And that's exactly what Gregory provides us with when discussing Jacquetta of Luxembourg. As forewarned by Gregory herself, the actual lines that were devoted to Jacquetta in Gregory's section of The Women of the Cousins' War were full of probably's and maybe's with a summary of the Wars of the Roses. The last few pages focus a bit more on Jacquetta and her family, her legacy and the stigma of being a branded a witch (which she miraculously survived a trial intact).

David Baldwin's portion on Elizabeth Woodville read much quicker, and the tone of Baldwin's writing is pitch perfect. He calls into account more of Elizabeth's actions during the events of her marriage to Edward IV, and he didn't overlook some details that I had previously not comprehended. It seems that Edward IV had a peculiar way of ignoring rules and making stuff up as he went along to whatever suited his current needs. King Edward had even declared a countess legally dead in order for her lands to be distributed, even though she was very much alive. It becomes more understandable of the unrest at the time when Edward ignored the Yorkist nobles' alliances with families regarding betrothals, bequeathals and land disputes. Even though most of the disgruntled nobles placed the blame on "the upstart Woodvilles", we cannot but help but wonder where Edward's mind was once he continued to stir the pot more and more. And so the magic/witch/evil spell factor comes back into play, because certainly Edward would not have knowingly been such an idiot when he married the Woodville widow...and he certainly would not normally have misplaced all his trust with the Woodvilles who were (up till then) staunch Lancastrian supporters. I had read Baldwin's non-fiction book on Elizabeth Woodville a few years ago and I recall enjoying it more than other WOTR non-fiction. His writing in The Women of the Cousins' War was just as enjoyable.

Michael Jones then writes of Margaret Beaufort, and we learn about her family and her own father's tragic life. He had committed suicide when Margaret had turned a year old, but as Jones tells it, he was never far from her mind. Jones writes of John Beaufort's tragic exile, his plundering the spoils of battles, enraging the pious Henry VI, his ultimate suicide and ponders what effect did these events have on Margaret? Jones emphasizes Margaret's political acumen and her very act of survival during those politically treacherous times with appraisal. There were a few more details of Margaret's family that I had not realized before, and her family's name going back and forth in and out of royal favor occurred more than I had realized. Margaret's ultimate success of seeing her son on the throne of England, and finally her grandson succeeding the throne without protest, must have been sweet success indeed.

The Women of the Cousins' War is a quick read without bogging down the reader with minutia of details regarding the many angles and intrigues of the Wars of the Roses, and is a worthy resource (family trees, illustrations, notes and sources, and index included) for those who wish to know the real story behind the formidable women featured in Philippa Gregory's novels of the Cousins' War.

"The White Queen: The Cousins War" by Phillippa Gregory
Read An Excerpt
Cover is of my ARC (a big thank you to Ally at Simon & Schuster!) I don't really care for the current release's cover.
The second and third books in the anticipated series are tentatively titled The Red Queen (Margaret Beaufort) and The White Princess (Elizabeth of York).

Published August 18th 2009 by Touchstone, an imprint of Simon & Schuster
Hardcover, 416 pages
The Burton Review Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:

THE COUSINS' WAR Book One:
Philippa Gregory, "the queen of royal fiction," presents the first of a new series set amid the deadly feuds of England known as the Wars of the Roses.
Brother turns on brother to win the ultimate prize, the throne of England, in this dazzling account of the wars of the Plantagenet's. They are the claimants and kings who ruled England before the Tudors, and now Philippa Gregory brings them to life through the dramatic and intimate stories of the secret players: the indomitable women, starting with Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen.
The White Queen tells the story of a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition who, catching the eye of the newly crowned boy king, marries him in secret and ascends to royalty. While Elizabeth rises to the demands of her exalted position and fights for the success of her family, her two sons become central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the missing princes in the Tower of London whose fate is still unknown. From her uniquely qualified perspective, Philippa Gregory explores this most famous unsolved mystery of English history, informed by impeccable research and framed by her inimitable storytelling skills."
Phillippa Gregory does it again! All the possible controversial theories are utilised here in this work of The Wars of The Roses and shall be used for fodder by history enthusiasts. Phillippa Gregory is one of those authors that you either love or hate. Those that are very particular about sticking to the known facts regarding Anne Boleyn dislike her for what she says happened in "The Other Boleyn Girl". And then the movie came out and that took even more liberties (not Gregory's fault) and there was a mini revolt on Facebook against Gregory which was fun to watch. I must say that "The Other Boleyn Girl" is exactly what got me hooked on historical fiction last year, probably about February of 2008. And there was no turning back. I googled Henry VIII and bought more books, from non-fiction to fiction all about the Tudor Era. I then read Gregory's "The Constant Princess" and "The Queen's Fool" and enjoyed those. I got a little burnt out on Gregory once I read last year's "The Other Queen"; I did not like some of the insinuations that were made about Mary Queen of Scots in her attempt to spice up her dull writing. STILL.. I have a soft spot for her since she was the jumping off point to this passion I now hold for historical fiction. The fact that I know the family tree of Henry VIII and potential successors to the throne during his reign would probably fascinate and bore those that know me outside of this book blog world. It's my little secret, and I owe it all to Phillippa Gregory.
Just as there are myths and rumors that have been debated about regarding Mary and Anne Boleyn of The Other Boleyn Girl, there have also been many different theories regarding Elizabeth Woodville. Most historians now seem to agree that without proof of things such as Elizabeth and her mother being witches, there is no reason to discuss it further because of the lack of logical proof. But with this novel, it is all opened back up and historians again will have a field day denying all the insinuations that Gregory makes with this new novel. Gregory even has a YouTube video discussing this Witchcraft topic. For this particular novel we are treated to historical fiction where the author has taken all of her available information and used her creative spin to twist the facts into something more pleasing then a text book. She does quite well creating the story and I believe there will now be a lot more googling on Elizabeth Woodville, and there is nothing wrong with that.
"The White Queen" is a novel taking place during a tumultuous period of time in the latter half of the 1400's before Henry VIII's father's reign, called The Wars of The Roses, also known as The Cousin's War for the specific period that takes place within Gregory's book. England was not stable, there were two distinct factions of Lancastrians and Yorkists who battled for their right to the throne of England and each had legitimate candidacy with ancestors that had easily each justified their quests for the throne. For some, it was just a matter if the descendancy came via the female or male line as to where in the royal line of succession they landed. The Yorkists overthrew the reigning King Henry VI who was a bit 'touched in the head' and put Edward IV, a Plantagenet, on the throne, eventually murdering the pious king. It is a very intriguing history for England, as well as one of my favorites, and there are many what-if's that can be asked for the possible outcomes of this war. There are many people involved, many important figures also who are turncoats and traitors (such as Warwick the advisor and 'Kingmaker', and the king's brother George, the Duke of Clarence) and those who try to keep up with the prominent figures of this time could easily be confused. For this read, Gregory successfully dodges that confusing bullet. She sticks to her main characters and centers her story around Elizabeth Woodville, a Lancastrian widow who suddenly marries the Yorkist King. That was such an amazing feat in itself that Elizabeth and her mother were quickly branded as witches, since there could have been no other logical way that the King of England would have wedded in secret to an unimportant family from an opposing party. There are conflicting stories as to whether Elizabeth and Edward had known each other before the infamous meeting under the tree, but there is not a lot of hard evidence about Elizabeth Woodville in general. She is of a large family and was married and widowed before wedding Edward; she came into her royal marriage with two sons of her own, and she was older than her husband Edward IV. These Grey sons did not get a lot of time in the book, but were also quite important in their time, along with the Woodville clan themselves. P. Gregory depicts Elizabeth Woodville and Edward IV meeting when Elizabeth asks for the rights to her dead husband's land, and soon after their marital events are taking place towards the beginning of the novel. Some intriguing dialogue comes after, prophetic phrases galore and then Queen Elizabeth is complete with three girls off of the King. I was a bit dismayed at the jump in time, as well as the lack of putting names to her growing family. It wasn't till the younger Elizabeth was 4 years old before Gregory actually mentions her name. I think that since there are so many different family members a part of this Cousin's War, that the author did not want to add more names than necessary into the story that she was telling. There are many Elizabeths, Edwards, Richards of the time. For a novice, leaving some names and their importance out of this novel works well, such as the Grey boys, but since I am not, that turned me off a bit, especially since I know the importance of her daughter, Elizabeth of York, who later does become a Queen and mother to the Tudor Dynasty. The characterization of Elizabeth Woodville in the beginning was very likable and I enjoyed the first person narration. Once Elizabeth Woodville is Queen, she seems to become immediately shallow, spiteful, and vengeful, eager to promote the Woodville names. I liked the way that the seemingly loving marriage was portrayed; Edward was promiscuous and Elizabeth had resigned herself to that even though she outwardly did not like Elizabeth (Jane) Shore. Once disaster strikes the family and her father and brother are killed in battle, she is intent on revenge and not exactly likable at that point either especially when the witchcraft angle is at use. Yet as a mother, I completely fell into pace with her character as she finally realized the extreme danger her royal family was in and I was helplessly rooting for her all the way even though I already knew the general outcome.
Although I was enjoying the way that P. Gregory was depicting the story of the traitors Warwick and Edward's brother George, I was getting a bit annoyed at the amount of times the author had Elizabeth mentioning that they were "dead men" because she has "their names in the black locket in my jewellrey case and their names will never see the light again until they themselves are in eternal darkness"... which is just one example that shows that the author wants us to believe that Elizabeth and her mother were indeed witches. Several occasions occurred where either the whistles or breaths of the ladies had affected major events in the stories. As far as witches go, I do not subscribe to that idea although I do believe that perhaps they were harmless women attempting any means possible to get what they wanted by trying little tricks and prayers and the like, but I do not believe that they would have certain powers that the author would like us to believe. With these interesting twists to the original facts, readers may not enjoy the overused witch theory.
Other little tricks of the witch angle were used that were said to aid in battles, as well as the sixth sense Elizabeth had that almost had her privy to The Sight. I call it woman's intuition. There were many references to Melusina, a goddess of the River, hence the origin of Elizabeth's family name; at the time her brother was the Earl of Rivers. And this brother Anthony Woodville is known as being a scholarly and astute man, and that memory is held intact in the novel. Anthony was shown as disputing the power of Melusina as mere stories, until he was facing his death and he even reflects upon the 'fact' that Melusina was Jacquetta's grandmother. At Anthony's death we also are treated to an actual poem that he indeed wrote during that time. I was intrigued by Anthony and I look forward to reading some more on him.
Elizabeth is very close to her brother Anthony, the other brothers do not figure prominently until a little more towards the end. Elizabeth's emotions towards her young boys and her love for her children are emoted quite well throughout, and I felt sorry for her at her inability to see the right way of out of her ordeals. I think everyone who knows the name Elizabeth Woodville would then understand the fact that her two boys by the King Edward had disappeared in the Tower following the death of the King. The novel depicts the king's brother George Duke of Clarence as an outrageously jealous boy, his and the King's mother is seemingly doting only on George and could care less for King Edward, and the third York brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester is depicted as a sensitive quiet boy who wants to come into his own in his own time. There are a few of the other main characters of The Wars of The Roses mentioned but they do not feature as prominently, such as Margaret Beaufort, her new husband and her son, Henry Tudor, who is leading the Lancastrians. Overall I did not find in-depth characterizations except just for what Elizabeth W. portrayed them as, which is the downfall of first person narratives, although a few times we slipped into third person to set the scene.
I do not want to give too much away for the actual novel, but the facts are history that many know and there are just so many facts and pertinent events!! This novel does not immediately bode well for the reputation of Richard, the dead King's brother who decides the throne should be his and not Edward's son. There are multiple reasons why the nobles do not want Edward and Elizabeth's children on or near the throne of England. The novel climaxes around the events of these little princes, and we are treated to a rare glimpse of what happened during the period the boys, and how the infamous Princes in the Tower disappeared. The author again takes liberties with the age-old theories, although mostly scoffed at the author uses them for a clever story angle.
There are many more events that occur throughout the novel that correlate to the reality of the Wars of the Roses, such as battles, births, marriages and deaths, but the basis of the novel is indeed fiction and should not be taken as fact. Ages of supporting figures are probably incorrect also. It took awhile to feel accustomed to some of my I-don't-believe-that-happened thoughts, and I had to remind myself that this was not intended to be a history lesson. The author really did a fine job of spinning the controversy of the rumors into a very entertaining read. Although the initial writing of Phillippa Gregory started off a bit forced it sucked me in quick enough. Aside from the complaints of distortion of facts which is to be expected, and the lack of character development, another criticism I have is that I could not grasp a sense of time. The chapters are divided by dates and those are the only clues we have as to what year we were in. When time passed or the author jumped a few years, we actually didn't know it unless you were paying attention to the chapter's dates. I am also sure that there were other minor facts that are misconstrued in the novel, (like dates and people involved in what conspiracy) but I am not that much of a stickler for remembering odd dates and places. I think that Phillippa Gregory wanted to keep us entertained, and since I am forever in awe of the period, and she accomplishes that.
I am sorry for the very long drawn out review, this was a hard one to do because I didn't want to give the twists away, but I wanted to try and explain my reactions to the book. And it's not every day I review a Phillippa Gregory book, so instead of deleting all the rambling discussion in the middle here I just kept it in to be true to myself. I realize only 2 of you read it, and I look forward to your responses. Suffice it to say, I enjoyed reading the novel, it was fascinating to read the plot development twists that the author fashioned and helped quench my thirst for more information on Elizabeth Woodville. I do not think that those who wish for more accuracy in their historical reads will thoroughly enjoy this one. The fact that we will never truly know what happened in many instances is still evident, but this is still a worthwhile read for those who enjoy historical fiction that is meant to entertain. The author does well with not tying up loose ends, so we are eager for her next installment. And for those that are not that up-to-speed on The Wars of The Roses, this is a fabulous introduction to one of the views of the period. Just as "The Other Boleyn Girl" beguiled many new fans of the era, and perhaps even started the Tudors media frenzy, I can only hope that this novel also spurs on the debates about The Wars of The Roses. A fabulous time period full of battles, love, treachery, you really should not miss this read.
If you have also read this book, then I direct you to Phillipa's not exactly live website here (at time of my reviewing) but you really need to be wary if you have not read the book, as it contains serious spoilers. Otherwise for those who received an ARC like I did, this is a good replacement for the Author's note that we enjoy so much. There is also a group read occurring August and September on Goodreads. It will be separated out by chapters so that you will not get hit with any spoilers. This would have been delightful for me as I was reading it, as sometimes I was bursting at the seams with incredulity, yet other times I was truly aching for Elizabeth's loss.
I am hosting a giveaway for an unread copy of the ARC of this novel which reached me par avion from the UK which is always fun, but this is for USA addresses only. The ARC is shown in the picture shown above. In order to qualify as an entry, you must do all of the following. (You do NOT need to leave separate comments):
1. Follow This Blog via Google (See sidebar, or the very top of page under your toolbar)
2. Comment with your Email Address telling me if you have read any Phillipa Gregory Books and what your opinion is of them/her.
After all the above is complete, you may:
3. Plus One Entry for a Twitter, Facebook, Blog post or sidebar blurb mentioning this Giveaway with a link back to this review. You must also post the link to where I can find your post doing this. You can also borrow this handy dandy graphic to post it, just don't forget to link it to here:


Contest Ends: Friday, August 14th 7:00PM CST; I will email the winner who has 48 hours to respond.