The King's Daughter

December 1, 2008
Worth vividly brings one of England's lesser-known queens to life in this luminous portrait of "Elizabeth the Good," wife of Henry VII and mother of the notorious Henry VIII. The daughter of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville Grey (who dabbled in witchcraft), Elizabeth of York first falls in love with her uncle-a man she originally despised-who later becomes King Richard III after Edward's death. Although she does not marry Richard, Elizabeth becomes queen when she accepts Henry Tudor's proposal and becomes the first Tudor Queen. Woven into Elizabeth's story are the shrewish machinations of her mother and Margaret Beaufort, Henry's mother, as well as the mysterious fates of her brothers, Edward V and Richard of York, the princes who disappeared in the Tower of London. Worth (Lady of the Roses) examines Elizabeth's life with a journalist's eye, an impressive feat given that her subject left little behind for study. This attention to detail will appeal to fans of historical fiction.