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Philippa Gregory is one of the most popular as well as prolific writers of historical fiction working today and with The White Queen she begins a fascinating new series which is sure to be a hit with longtime fans and new readers alike. Best known for writing about the Tudor period in bestsellers such as The Other Boleyn Girl, The White Queen marks a step further back into the past for Gregory as she turns her attention to the Plantagenets and the Cousins’ War. Better known now as the War of the Roses, it was known contemporaneously as the Cousins’ War since it was, in effect, just that – cousin against cousin, brother against brother, Yorkist against Lancastrian. Gregory brings this lesser explored period of history to life by highlighting the dramatic and important stories of those in the background, the indomitable women behind the power, beginning with Elizabeth Woodville, the eponymous White Queen

Elizabeth Woodville was a young widow who approached the recently crowned King Edward of York with a financial plea and ending up getting far more than fiscal advice. Elizabeth was an exceptional beauty and she almost inevitably caught the eye of the young King. The two quickly fell in love and married secretly without securing the permission of any of the King’s advisors. As rumours of the marriage spread amongst the nobility, outrage at such a breach of convention started to build and when Elizabeth was finally formally presented at court as the new Queen, plotting and intrigue swiftly began. Forced by necessity and aided and abetted by her mother, Elizabeth starts to change from being a rather naïve young women into a savvy political operator who forms alliances and brokers marriages with the single-minded goal of securely her family’s grip on power. Elizabeth does great work to strengthen her husband’s position as King but it isn’t long before old threats to his rule resurface.

Philippa Gregory is well respected as an historian as well as an author and, while The White Queen still seems hugely authentic and authoritative, it is noticeably more fictional and speculative in its content than Gregory’s previous Tudor era books have been. While this difference is probably simply due to the relative scarcity of records and information that have survived from the Plantagenet period, particularly concerning the character of Elizabeth Woodville herself, the purely fictional elements have actually served to help rather than hinder the story. Certain of the historical mysteries that Gregory has woven into The White Queen, particularly those concerning the fate of Elizabeth’s son.

Readers who have followed Gregory’s previous novels may find a noticeable lack of passion and bodice-ripping in The White Queen but this also helps to move the story forward apace. While Gregory begins with the romance and courtship of King Edward and Elizabeth, this is fairly quickly shunted aside after their marriage so the various plots and deceptions can take centre stage. Die hard fans of romance won’t be totally disappointed though, Gregory has managed to find a place for some of Edward’s more famous mistresses even if they are only found in the occasional sub plot. Although The White Queen would perhaps be best described as historical fiction rather than historical romantic fiction, Gregory has produced an exciting, fast-paced story packed with intrigue and fans of her Tudor novels shouldn’t be wary of branching out into this new era.

The second book in Gregory’s hugely promising Cousins’ War series will be The Red Queen and will feature the ambitious Lancastrian Lady Margaret Beaufort and her lifelong quest to see her son become King Henry VII. The White Princess will be the title of the third book in the series and it will concentrate on Elizabeth, Princess of York, the daughter of Elizabeth Woodville and sister to the Princes in the Tower, who would eventually marry Henry Tudor after his success at Bosworth Field.

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