The White Princess
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Most promising of the series :)
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I have just finished The White Princess. I think this is the best in The Cousins War series so far. The Kingmaker's Daughter was my other favourite.
I agree. The White Princess is the best of the bunch even though it is extremely frustrating at some times. The younger Elizabeth and her grandmother Jacquetta (Lady of Rivers) were my two favorite characters by far.
I also agree this one was the best found this particular one hard to put down. The White Queen was also good I like the woodville family with their power and intrigue
I liked the magical element in The White Queen, and Jacquetta was a major favorite of mine. While I think the characters in the White Princess were absolutely the most interesting (even if they were totally infuriating at times), I felt like we got to know Elizabeth of York the least, and the book ended up spotlighting Henry VII and Margaret Beaufort more than her. In the other books, I feel that at least the narrators had the main stage.
I loved the series but favoured the cahracters of Elizabeth Woodville and ELizabeth of York so my favourites were the White Queen and the White Princess. [I had just completed "The White Princess" when I watched a documentary about the "King in the parking lot", where they documented finding King Richard III's remains. That was fascinating for me in light of reading the Cousin's series!
This was by far my least favorite of the series. I have been told by many PG fans to remember the emphasis on FICTION in her historical novels, but it seemed she set out to make Henry VII such a villain that she overlooked some of his historically noted strengths, such as his notable fidelity to his wife in a time when kings were not only able but expected to have many mistresses (as Edward York and Henry VIII did). It seemed the author was set on making the king look as terrible as she possibly could, ignoring history in the process. I enjoyed the rest of the series, esp. The White Queen and Lady of the Rivers.
I got interested in the series after watching the White Queen mini-series. So I'm reading the series backwards.. The tv series covered the first 3 books so I ran out to get the White Princess and LOVE it.. Now, I'm reading the Kingmaker's Daughter and hoping I enjoy it... Anne wasn't one my favorite characters in the show. But, I'll give her a chance. My favorites were both Elizabeths, and Jacquetta..
i want immigrant writers for books like these.
This is the only one out of the series that I have read. I really liked it. I will definitely search out the others. I would like to read the series. It is a very sad story though.
Well, i have finally finished reading the white princess... and I must have built up soo much expectations of it being the epitome of romance and intrigue of the cousins war series, that I was really excited at the begining. Unfortunately, I am too much of a romantic and this books simply lacks in the romance of my taste.
As for intrigue, just when i thought i'd scream if i read one more sentence referencing "The Boy" being in one part of christendom or the other, they caught him and i finally woke up with fresh excitement about the story. But even after his capture, I couldn't tell why PG seemed to turn the story into a circus of disjointed thought chains and events. E.g the boy's wife plays at romance with Henry VII, while the boys sticks around, grinning and taking it all in good stride ... goes against the grain of honour and true love that was supposed to characterise him. E.g Elizabeth knew the minuite she looked into his face that this was her brother (and at some point indirectly admitted it to her son Arthur), yet she's caught questioning the boys identifty in her thoughts when she, margaret and katherine stand together, for the first time. I understand the concept of fiction but even fiction should have a flow of authenticity about it. I set soo much expectations by this final book in the cousins war and I must say, its been dissapointing for me. I think PG did her best works in this series with "white queen" and "king makers daughter". Character wise, the white princess doesn't hold a candle to her mother, for sure.
Lara wrote: "I understand the concept of fiction but even fiction should have a flow of authenticity about it. I set soo much expectations by this final book in the cousins war and I must say, its been dissapointing for me. I think PG did her best works in this series with "white queen" and "king makers daughter". Character wise, the white princess doesn't hold a candle to her mother, for sure. "Phew. Thought it was just me being daft when I was thinking along these lines. For anyone trying to read this as a stand alone book, I think they will get confused rather rapidly, as it keeps referring back to incidents in the previous books (i.e. the Duke of Clarence's death, the execution of Elizabeth's uncle, etc), but I did like the way Elizabeth "foretold" the end of the Tudor line with "a virgin queen".
Lena wrote: "This was by far my least favorite of the series. I have been told by many PG fans to remember the emphasis on FICTION in her historical novels, but it seemed she set out to make Henry VII such a vi..."Well I have to say that I thought it was very much explained/implied why he was such a faithful husband - he was a fervent, devoted and true catholic and that would be a sin to him. Even by his mother's reactions to his affection of Lady Katherine you can see the horror she feels towards the slightlest extra-marital feelings.
I think that PG portrayed him as she believed he really was; I don't doubt that there's record of his mean and raging streak or that his court often heard him yell at his own wife (e.g., calling her a York Bitch). I don't think, him being who he is, son of who he is, that he could ever let go of the fact that she was from the House of York. But I think that through Elizabeth's words, PG gave Henry an excuse to be the way he was - Elizabeth often thought to herself that he was suspicious and sometimes violent because he had to spend his life away in exile, pretty much alone, without the love of his mother, thinking that he might never get the throne he thought he deserved.
Lara wrote: "Well, i have finally finished reading the white princess... and I must have built up soo much expectations of it being the epitome of romance and intrigue of the cousins war series, that I was real..."I get that at points things got a bit chaotic, but you have to realize that when Elizabeth "witnessed" her brother Richard leaving she was a kid. So even now, after seeing a man that resembled him, she couldn't be totally sure it was him - when the stable boy went to court, I think she said his hair was like her brother Richard's and he turned out to be an impostor. She couldn't be certain that her brother had really survived everything and was there, so I guess she couldn't help but wonder and think back and try to remember everything. That's what I would do.
When I said white princess doesn't hold a candle to her mother, it's simply from a decisiveness point of view and ability to stand up to her husband. That said, as a queen, she was actually more tender hearted and less self serving than her mother. Marriage did transform her a lot.... but perhaps this was also because she was married to an emotionally retarded man.
When I said white princess doesn't hold a candle to her mother, it's simply from a decisiveness point of view and ability to stand up to her husband. That said, as a queen, she was actually more tender hearted and less self serving than her mother. Marriage did transform her a lot.... but perhaps this was also because she was married to an emotionally retarded man.
After watching the cable TV series "The White Queen," I learned from the TV show interviews of the author and other series producers, that The White Queen series consolidated several characters from the book series, "The Cousins War." Intrigued, I had to start reading the series in order. This was my first time reading anything by this author. Although I am not generally a huge fan of historical fiction, the reference sections in the back of each novel points the reader in a direction to access the NON-FICTION history of the story characters.
I agree Elizabeth of York is VERY different than her mother but I find Elizabeth of York especially intriguing. I think because their is so much fewer pieces of information about her. Although Weir's information about her hints at more similarities to her mother than most historians portray her as being. As people keep pointing out you have to remember PG is writing fiction so she can make up a personality for Elizabeth of York and of course she can make up a marital relationship with her husband.
Kimber wrote: "I agree. The White Princess is the best of the bunch even though it is extremely frustrating at some times. The younger Elizabeth and her grandmother Jacquetta (Lady of Rivers) were my two favorite..."
I also liked her grandmother a lot more.
I also liked her grandmother a lot more.
Most promising? Only if that promise is poking your eyes out because you are so bored. I like the white queen a lot and skipped to this one just to find out what happens to Elizabeth. I'm sooo disappointed.
"Most promising" was my expectation, before I read it ☺
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Reason is I feel white princess is d perfect sequel, I am just Dlying to know d outcome of Elizabeth's curse on d killer of Edward v and d outcome of her marriage with Henry vii. Phillippa g is a master story teller indeed.