The White Queen

by Frances Irwin

Based on the life of Anne Neville, consort of Richard III.

190 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Pauline Calkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume continues the story of Anne Neville begun in The White Pawn. That book ended with Anne’s marriage to Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and this one opens as they begin their married life in Middleham, with Richard assuming his duties as Lord of the North. As we saw in the previous book, Richard is head over heels in love with Anne, but she can offer only affection and gratitude in response. This Anne is not sugar and spice and everything nice, but is self- absorbed and often short-tempered In fact, Anne finds herself enjoying her freedom during Richard’s frequent absences. The point when her affection turns to love occurs when Richard is gone for an extended time on the campaign in France. She is lonely and worried. She misses his comfort and strength, and disappointed that his letters are infrequent and talk of the progress of the campaign rather than the man himself or his love for her, although she realizes that she had never given him much reason to think she was interested in his private thoughts.

This retelling of Anne’s story is worthwhile because it presents an interesting complexity to her character and her relationship with Richard.