by Philippa Gregory
Hardcover- N/A
The first in a stunning new series, The Cousins War, is set amid the tumult and intrigue of The War of the Roses. Internationally bestselling author ...
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Great read, combination of Pillars of the Earth and The Other Boyelan Girl. The intrigue, backstabbing and suspence of this book held me captive till the very last page. Definite great book club book
Nunca pude terminar de leer el libro. Si he de ser sincera tengo que decir que el libro no es malo. Pero realmente no es...digamos que no me atraen ni el genero, ni la monarquia en cuestion. Si a eso le sumamos que estaba realmente muy ocupada en esa fecha, es logico que lo haya dejado a la deriva. Pero pienso retomarlo este año y terminarlo. Para darle una reseña definitiva.
We enjoyed this one. According to Internet, it was very factual. The capriciousness of those who struggled to gain and retain power and the determination of women to protect and improve lot of their families were interesting. There was so much fighting and scheming that it dragged a bit for me--but that was the way things were evidently. The many family scenes with Elizabeth were the most engaging to me anyway.
This is historical fiction centered around the War of the Roses. It was interesting to read about royal life in that time period.
Very interesting part of England's history that I knew little about. The author has combined historical facts, addressed rumors of the day, and included the mysticism that Elizabeth's family was known for. The book is presented well, especially considering the repetition of names. I plan to read the other two books in this trilogy.
None of us regretted (or quit) reading this book, even though the plot offers limited discussion if you aren't familiar with early 1400-era history. Despite Queen Elizabeth and King Richard having lived a life always in the shadow of treachery, the first-person narration doesn't offer much suspense.
The subplot about Queen Elizabeth and her mother gifted with "Sight" and the practice of magic/witchcraft is an entertaining aspect of the story.
One criticism some of our members had was the redundancy of portions of the narration or repetitive dialog. One might find both make for a less fulfilling read.
As far as a book club selection goes, if you are looking for an interesting story with limited character development with not much detail about life as a royal or citizen in that era, "The White Queen" should be a successful choice for discussion.
Such a wonderful book that it was made into a very popular mini series. Phillipa (the author) specializes in historical fiction. I loved this book so much, and Phillipa is my favorite author. She is a very, very prodigious author, but I have read all of her books, they are all THAT good! It also is quite different from the books I have seen in the club so far, so thought it would bring a fresh, fun, new approach.
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