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THE WHITE QUEEN, Philippa Gregory’s newest novel, is the first in a new series about the Plantaganets. The Plantaganets were the ruling family befo... (show more)
THE WHITE QUEEN, Philippa Gregory’s newest novel, is the first in a new series about the Plantaganets. The Plantaganets were the ruling family before the Tudors, and readers of Gregory’s other works will quickly spot familiar families and the alliances that led to the birth of Henry VIII. Like any good prequel, this book is compelling not because we don’t know the end, but because we like getting a sharper view of the road to that end.
The War of the Roses makes clear why Henry VIII needed a son so badly: when there is any dispute as to who the rightful king might be, all hell breaks loose. At the beginning of the book, the Houses of York and Lancaster are warring, and the alliances of English families are up for grabs. Elizabeth Woodville’s family is initially loyal to the red-rosed Lancastrians, but when Edward IV marries her (after falling in love with her on first sight), they join his house of York, represented by the white rose. Loyalties shift in a heartbeat; this wasn’t dubbed “The Cousins’ War” accidentally.
As the novel progresses, the fighting worsens and becomes more intimate: not only are Elizabeth’s parents and brothers the constant target of those rising against the king, but Edward IV’s two brothers each have visions of taking the crown for themselves. The Cousins’ War becomes a Brothers’ War, and their mother (one of the only characters in the book who came off as truly unsympathetic) watches her sons literally kill each other in their ambition.
A big plot point, though it doesn’t happen till late in the novel, is the mysterious disappearance of Edward and Elizabeth’s two sons: held captive in the Tower of London, they vanish and are presumed dead, but their bodies can’t be found. Their story remains an enigma in British History. At one point, Elizabeth says “A woman is not safe. Not in this world. Not in this world where brother fights against brother and no one can ever put their sword aside, or trust in the law (315).” Fair enough—but it’s not just women. No woman, man, servant, or child, is safe in the War of the Roses.
The pacing of the first half of the novel was surprisingly poor: in introducing readers to the setting of the War, Gregory spent a lot of time recapping battles and outlining family alliances, rather than developing the characters or their relationships. When Elizabeth loses her father and brother at the hands of one of Edward’s enemies, she expresses great grief, but it didn’t resonate with me as much as it should have—the moment was clearly intended to be climactic, but it didn’t feel earned.
The fact that it took a long time for me to feel emotionally invested in the story might explain why I was initially dubious about Elizabeth as a heroine: she was supernatural (like Hannah was in The Queen’s Fool) and beautiful to an apparently breathtaking degree, but was she a woman driven by passion and love or ambition and greed? Was she sympathetic or not?
Elizabeth remained a complex character, but I got to know her much better in the second half of the novel. For me, the novel got good, really good, once we were seeing the historical events as turning points in the lives of the characters, rather than the characters as bland players in a big historical moment. So, maybe the slow start paid off: I could focus on the character dynamics because I was never confused about the events of the War of the Roses, nor did I have a hard time keeping the tons of characters straight, despite the fact that half of them were named Edward, Elizabeth, or Richard.
While I don’t think THE WHITE QUEEN is as singularly strong as some of Gregory’s other works, I am compelled by this new cast of characters and I’m certainly looking forward to the next book in the Plantaganet series. (show less)
