The White Princess

May 6, 2013
In Gregory’s fifth entry in the Cousins’ War series, marriage unites the upstart House of Tudor with its long-time enemies, the declining House of York, to rule over volatile 1485 England. As Gregory envisions her, narrator Elizabeth of York—sister to the princes imprisoned in the Tower, mother of Henry VIII, grandmother of Elizabeth I—still loves the vanquished Richard III when she dutifully marries his triumphant challenger, Henry VII. The royal pair produces an heir and two spares but mistrust continues to abound, particularly between the two mothers-in-law, who are seemingly determined to fight the Wars of the Roses down to the last petal. Elizabeth must navigate the treacherous waters of marriage, maternity, and mutiny in an age better at betrayal than childbirth. Gregory believably depicts this mostly forgotten queen, her moody husband, and the future Henry VIII, shown here as a charmingly temperamental child. Something about the Tudors brings out the best in Gregory’s portraiture. At this novel’s core lies a political marriage seen in all its complexity, including tender moments, tense negotiations, angry confrontations, and parental worries over predictions that the family line will end with a Virgin Queen. Agent: Anthony Mason.

Philippa Gregory and Bianca Amato have another winner in this thrilling installment of Gregory's Cousins' War series. In addition to having one of the loveliest voices around, Amato's ability to transform words into people is extraordinary. She inhabits Gregory's richly imagined story of Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King Edward IV and Elizabeth, The White Queen. After Henry Tudor's forces kill her lover, Richard III, Elizabeth is horrified to learn she must marry Henry in an attempt to end the strife between the Houses of York and Lancaster. With an ever present mystery surrounding the two missing York princes and the vindictiveness of Henry's mother, The Red Queen, Elizabeth struggles for survival. As Amato maneuvers her way through drafty corridors, intrigues, betrayals, and passions, listeners will be spellbound. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine