Book number 2 is finished!
This book, as you can see in the picture above, actually has three authors. Philippa Gregory, being a bestselling novelist, is the most famous of the three. However, I did learn something about Mrs. Gregory that I was not aware of. She, in fact, has her doctorate in history. So when she does her research for her historical novels, she really knows how to do her research! The other two authors of this book, David Baldwin and Michael Jones (who also has his doctorate) are both historians and writers as well, although they write mostly historically accurate books. Mr. Baldwin was also a professor of history at two British universities for many years. So this book is written by three very knowledgable individuals.
The books is about three women who, though history does not talk about them much (mainly because they are, well, women), did much to influence the Cousins' War (otherwise known as the War of the Roses) and the coming of the Tudor dynasty. The women are (in order that they are talked about in the book): Jacquetta of Luxembourg (the duchess); her daughter, Elizabeth Woodville (the Queen); and Margaret Beaufort (the King's mother). As a side note, Elizabeth Woodville's daughter, also named Elizabeth York, married Margaret Beaufort's son, Henry Tudor (who would become Henry VII)--and these two are Henry VIII's parents.
The book starts out with a 40 page introduction written by Philippa Gregory. She discusses the similarities between history and fiction, and what goes into writing a historical novel. I thought the idea was good, especially for people like me who view Mrs. Gregory as a fiction writer, but I believe the points could have been made in less than 40 pages. She also talks about how history has mostly been written by the victors, and then mostly by men. Women, especially in medieval times, did not have the political power they can have today. It was unheard of. And women who sought out this power were viewed as being "manly", and that meant something was wrong with them. She mentions this to help explain why there is not much information on the three women presented in this book. This was a necessary part of the introduction to me, especially for those who, unlike me, aren't history buffs, and don't necessarily understand why historians do have to make guesses, and sometimes, they have to make quite a few guesses!
Philippa Gregory also wrote the section on Jacquetta. Out of the three women in the book, the least is known about Jacquetta. I thought that Mrs. Gregory handled writing this section with great care, and that it painted as good of a portrait of Jacquetta as can be done with the limited information available. I read another review of this book where that writer criticized Mrs. Gregory for using the words "maybe" and "probably" a lot, but I don't think that writer had a valid argument. She uses those words because there is not a lot of information available, and therefore there are a lot of things that she can't say happened for certain (and she certainly cannot claim that any of the feelings she suggested Jacquetta might have to certain events were certain, either). Out of the three women in the book, Jacquetta is my favorite, and if you read the book, you'll see why.
David Baldwin wrote the section on Elizabeth Woodville, and like with Philippa Gregory, I thought he did it very well. There is more information known about Elizabeth than about her mother, mainly because Elizabeth does end becoming queen (she married King Edward IV). However, since she was a woman, there still isn't a wealth of information known about her. And there is a lot of mystery surrounding this woman, especially when it comes to what happened to her two sons. If you've ever heard of the Princes in the Tower, those were Elizabeth's and Edward's sons who were taken by their uncle (Richard III), and they were never heard from again. This section does address the Princes in the Tower, and Mr. Baldwin gives a couple of different scenarios as to what could have happened to them.
The last section, which was about Margaret Beaufort, was written by Michael Jones. Out of the three women, the most is known about Margaret, and I believe she sort of designed it that way. Margaret was born into British nobility, and she spent her life working to make sure she had political advantage, especially when it came to making sure her son, Henry Tudor, was taken care of. And once Henry had defeated Richard III and became King Henry VII, Margaret made sure she still had political influence. I believe Mr. Jones did a wonderful job of capturing the heart of Margaret, and he talked a lot about the events in her life that probably influenced her to become this way. He also didn't stick to the traditional convention of painting Margaret as a saint, while the other two ladies were painted as witches; he pointed out Margaret's flaws, and he talked about things that she did that made her less "saint-like." It was a very real painting of Margaret to me, and I appreciated Mrs. Jones' efforts.
Overall, if you've read any of Philippa Gregory's books, especially Lady of the Rivers, which focuses on Jacquetta, The White Queen, which focuses on Elizabeth, or The Red Queen, which focuses on Margaret, then you need to read this book. It will bring a lot of the events that occur in the novel into perspective, and it will paint a more detailed picture of these ladies. Also, if you are a fan of this time period of British history (or of the Tudor period), or if you just want to learn more, then you also should read this book. The copy I read was a library book, but I may go out and buy my own copy so I can refer to it next time I read her books!
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