Once again with Philippa Gregory's historical fiction I found I had to take this with a grain of salt. If I stop and separate out historical truth I can enjoy her writing much more. I look at it as solely a work of fiction as how she would have liked events to have happened and I find that I can enjoy them. There was a lot of narration in this particular account that follows Elizabeth of York after the defeat of Richard III at Bosworth Field by Henry Tudor (who would become Henry VII). It was an interesting take on the turmoil she must have experienced at having to marry this new king and unite the warring factions of the Yorks and the Lancasters. At times I found her character to be rather weak and the constant refrain of "I don't know" made me want to slap her at certain points.Overall, it was an entertaining read and I drink up almost all historical fiction surrounding this time period so I did enjoy the book in general. Interesting, but this dragged on far too long. I kept wanting to shake Elizabeth and urge her to have a little more backbone. Maybe this was the way Elizabeth of York was.With the recent discovery of Richard III's remains, I was interested to learn more about the man responsible for slaughtering him. If Philippa Gregory is right (and there's no saying she is), then he was nobody to admire. He was greedy, cruel and a coward.
Another great book in this series that made me just want to sit down and read.
—shula87
Quite enjoyed this read and put some further context into Henry VIII.
—Elz1421
Love the series, love the historical context!
—Mommy
