Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 452pgs
The Story
The gripping and ultimately tragic story of Anne Neville and her sister Isabel, the daughters of the Earl of Warwick, the most powerful magnate in England through the Cousins' Wars. In the absence of a son and heir, he ruthlessly uses the two girls as pawns but they, in their own right, are thoughtful and powerful actors.
Against the backdrop of the court of Edward IV and his beautiful queen, Elizabeth Woodville, Anne turns from a delightful child growing up in intimacy and friendship with the family of Richard Duke of York to become ever more fearful and desperate as her father's enemies turn against her, the net closes in and there is, in the end, simply nowhere she can turn, no one she can trust with her life.
'I have lost my father in battle, my sister to Elizabeth Woodville's spy, my brother-in-law to Elizabeth Woodville's executioner, my nephew to her poisoner, and now my son to her curse...'
The gripping and ultimately tragic story of Anne Neville and her sister Isabel, the daughters of the Earl of Warwick, the most powerful magnate in England through the Cousins' Wars. In the absence of a son and heir, he ruthlessly uses the two girls as pawns but they, in their own right, are thoughtful and powerful actors.
Against the backdrop of the court of Edward IV and his beautiful queen, Elizabeth Woodville, Anne turns from a delightful child growing up in intimacy and friendship with the family of Richard Duke of York to become ever more fearful and desperate as her father's enemies turn against her, the net closes in and there is, in the end, simply nowhere she can turn, no one she can trust with her life.
The Review
A big thanks to Simon & Schuster Australia for sending me a review copy of this book!
A big thanks to Simon & Schuster Australia for sending me a review copy of this book!
Let me just say I'm a huge Philippa Gregory fan and I have read most of her books out there, and I've also managed to love most of those books of hers as well. Now I've quite enjoyed her Cousins War series especially The White Princess which I thoroughly enjoyed, but unfortunately for this particular title, I found there was something lacking in this particular storyline and I'm not sure what it was exactly, but there was definitely something lacking in this book.
THE KINGMAKER'S DAUGHTER is a story about Anne Neville, the daughter of King Richard Neville, also known as 'The Kingmaker' as he had a lot of influence over many kings. In part of King Richard's grand plans, he had used his two daughters, Anne and Isabel, as pawns and had high hopes and expectations that at least one of them would become a Queen. Now of course, like in most of Gregory's books, threats and enemies are soon made, families are destroyed, and more troubles comes in the main character's way, and this then leads to Anne, after some tragic misfortunes, to eventually marry King Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, and together they soon begin to face their troubles which is, in Gregory's usual writing style, becomes so very complicated and yet delicious because who doesn't love a bit of royal troubles with friends and enemies?
On a whole, I still enjoyed the book but like I said before something was lacking this time round. And perhaps that's because I didn't really know too much about Anne and her family, and perhaps there was a lot going on this time round . . . but regardless it was still a pleasant read like most of Gregory's books. But on a positive note, what I did like very much was Anne as our main character and I quite liked that she became stronger and stronger by the time the book ended, and that's one thing I've always loved about Gregory as an author: that she writes strong and empowered young women with a purpose. She always gets me with those girls of hers!
Overall, THE KINGMAKER'S DAUGHTER may not be my ultimate favourite book of the author, but I still enjoyed as apart of the Cousins War series.
The Rating
3/5 stars
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