June 11, 2012
The bonds of sisterhood infuse Gregory’s latest in the Cousin’s War series (after The Lady of the Rivers). The stakes are high as Anne and Isabel Neville, daughters of the earl of Warwick (“The Kingmaker”), vie for their father’s favor and a chance at the throne. The earl has long mentored the young King Edward and Edward’s brothers George and Richard in hopes of marrying his daughters into royalty. But when Edward weds the commoner Elizabeth Woodville, the Kingmaker arranges a secret marriage between Isabel and George, and launches an uprising that will result in the earl’s death, leaving Isabel entangled in a dangerous political web and Anne—having recently married—already a widow. However, Richard—a tough soldier who honors family obligations while his brothers sell out—soon comes to Anne’s rescue. In addition to Gregory handling a complicated history, she convincingly details women’s lives in the 1400s and the competitive love between sisters. By the book’s end, Anne and Richard have ascended the throne, but the War of the Roses has yet to be won, setting the stage for a sequel showdown. Agent: Anthony Mason.
June 15, 2012
In the next entry (after The Lady of the Rivers) in Gregory's historical series about the War of the Roses, Anne Neville is the daughter of the Earl of Warwick, who put Edward of York on the throne after battling the Lancasters. When Edward marries Elizabeth Rivers, a Lancaster widow and a rumored witch, without the earl's blessing, the kingmaker begins plotting for a more pliable king. The earl uses his daughters as pawns in the fluid political situation. Anne eventually marries Richard, the youngest of the three York brothers after an ill-fated first marriage. Anne and Richard live a relatively quiet life in the north of England until events spur Richard to take the throne after Edward's death. VERDICT Gregory delivers another vivid and satisfying novel of court intrigue, revenge, and superstition. Gregory's many fans as well as readers who enjoy lush, evocative writing, vividly drawn characters, and fascinating history told from a woman's point of view will love her latest work. [See Prepub Alert, 10/25/10.]--Kristen Stewart, Pearland Lib., Brazoria Cty. Lib. Syst., TX
Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2012
It's every man and woman for themselves in Gregory's latest, which offers reliable royal entertainment about Anne, queen consort to Richard III. Born the younger daughter of Warwick the Kingmaker, Anne sees her position constantly shifting, depending on whether her father is supporting his protege, King Edward IV, or fighting him. Forcibly wed at 14 to the son of the former Lancastrian queen, Margaret of Anjou, Anne is brought low after his death and obliged to serve her proud sister, Isabel, whose life is equally volatile. Their mutual enemy is beautiful commoner queen Elizabeth Woodville, whose large group of upstart siblings and rumored witchery threaten England's stability. Gregory deftly shows how living amid war's brutality can harden one's character, even that of a gentle innocent like Annewho has a mostly happy second marriage to her childhood friend Richard, the king's loyal brother. At the same time, Gregory presents a stark account of woman-as-commodity in late medieval times, with Anne's forceful mother kept in comfortable, strict confinement, her wealth stolen by her daughters and sons-in-law.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)
August 1, 2012
The latest of Gregory's Cousins' War series debunks--mostly--the disparaging myths surrounding Richard III and his marriage to Anne Neville. Anne and her sister Isabel are both used without hesitation as political bargaining chips by their father, Richard, Earl of Warwick. True to his sobriquet, "Kingmaker," Warwick engineered the downfall of the Lancastrian King Henry VI after Henry succumbed to mental illness and supplanted him with Edward IV, scion of the Yorkist-Plantagenet claims to the English succession. Increasingly disenchanted by the degree to which Edward is allowing his queen, Elizabeth Woodville, to dole out favors to her large family, Warwick marries Isabel off to George, Duke of Clarence, Edward's brother, on the theory that George, next in line for the throne, can dislodge his older brother. When George fails at this, Warwick gives Anne, barely 14, in marriage to Henry's son, Edward and, together with his former enemy, Margaret of Anjou (Henry's exiled consort), attempts a coup that fails miserably, bringing us to the time period chronicled in Shakespeare's Tudor/Lancaster-biased take on events. With her father and new husband slain in battle and mother and mother-in-law either in prison or otherwise defanged, Anne is left penniless. Her brother-in-law, George, and her own sister have taken her inheritance and are keeping her a virtual servant. King Edward's youngest brother, Richard, rescues Anne, marries her and uses some unorthodox means to regain her inheritance (while ensuring that it all belongs to him). The marriage, unlike the sinister seduction depicted by Shakespeare, is presented as a genuine love match (aside from some doubt about that tricky prenup). The chief threat to the realm is not Richard but Queen Elizabeth: A reputed witch with a grudge against Warwick's daughters (Warwick killed her father and brother), she will not be happy until Isabel, Anne and their progeny (and if necessary her brothers-in-law) are dead. Although their fates are known, Gregory creates suspense by raising intriguing questions about whether her characters will transcend their historical reputations.
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