Audible Audio Edition
Listening Length: 15 hours and 4 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Audible.com Release Date: January 20, 2011
Whispersync for Voice: Ready
Language: English
ASIN: B004K3S0F0
Best Sellers Rank: #31 in Books > Audible Audiobooks > Romance > Historical #109 in Books > Audible Audiobooks > Fiction & Literature > Historical Fiction #816 in Books > Romance > Historical
I have been anxiously awaiting the new Philippa Gregory book THE WHITE QUEEN. Like many, I enjoyed THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL; however, I didn't exactly love the last book that I read by Ms. Gregory. I was sincerely hoping that THE WHITE QUEEN would love up to all its advance billing. After reading it (or you could say devouring it), I am so excited to say that Ms. Gregory is back. I loved THE WHITE QUEEN!THE WHITE QUEEN is the first book in The Cousins' War Series. You can't see me, but I'm doing a little happy dance because that means there will be two more books about the Plantagenets -- THE RED QUEEN and THE WHITE PRINCESS. I am already excited about the release of the next book because I felt as if I was kind of left hanging at the end of THE WHITE QUEEN. I don't mean that in a negative way and I'm sure it was the author's intent, but I want to know what happens next!While I definitely enjoy historical fiction, I am sadly lacking in knowledge about England and its Monarchy. As a result, I knew almost nothing about the Plantagenets except for a few small things that appeared as side stories in other novels. I can't tell you how much of this story is fact versus fiction; and frankly, I don't even care. I was fascinated by the story Ms. Gregory told about these characters' lives. THE WHITE QUEEN is better than any televised drama or movie I've ever seen. These characters are smart, determined, and ruthless; and I just loved reading about them.I thought THE WHITE QUEEN had a little bit of everything; and I'm sure there is something in Elizabeth Woodville' s story that will capture your attention. First, THE WHITE QUEEN is just a fabulous historical story about the Cousins' War.
The White Queen opens in 1464, on the day that Elizabeth Woodville meets Edward IV, the man who has just recently been crowned King of England. In the attempt to gain back the lands she lost when her husband died, Elizabeth catches the eye of the young king, and becomes Queen of England herself--and eventually, the mother of kings and queens of England.I have mixed feelings about this book.Here's what I didn't like so much:--The fact that the book is written in the present tense. Gregory started writing this way sometime around The Boleyn Inheritance, and it gets on my nerves sometimes because I feel that using the present tense for historical fiction is so limiting.--The water imagery got to be a bit much-too-much at times. It was beautiful at first, but the fact that Elizabeth kept talking about her ancestress, the water goddess/nymph Melusina, began to get tired after a while.--Although Gregory is great in general at describing the events of the time periods of which she writes, she's not so good as describing how people actually lived--as with her previous novels, there's very little about what her characters wear, eat, or do in their free time. It's the little bits and pieces that make characters come to life, make them three-dimensional.--Reading Sharon Kay Penman has seemingly made me pro-Richard III for life, so I was a little disappointed by Gregory's vilification of him in the book (though of course, when the story is told from the point of view of Elizabeth Woodville, of course Richard would be portrayed in a negative light).--About halfway through the book, Gregory switches from 1st person POV to 3rd, in order to talk about some of the decisive battles of the Wars.
I enjoyed the Tudor series. However, it did seem that each book following "The Other Boleyn Girl" was progressively worse, ending with the travesty that was "The Other Queen." I so wanted to like this book.First off - it is very confusing. I know a lot of English history, but was constantly confused. If you knew nothing about English history, I think you'd be totally flummoxed. The map and family tree at the front of the book were not helpful at all.Second, the writing was AWFUL. I've read some of the stories my 13 year old writes and she is a Pulitzer Prize winning author compared to most of the conversations between the characters in this book. The dialog is repetitious to the point of beyond nauseating. It goes a little something like this, and I am NOT exagerrating:"Darling, is your meat exceptionaly chewy?" I paused and chewed my meat for a moment. "Yes, dear," I replied, "the meat is very chewy. Very chewy indeed. In fact, I agree that it is exceptionally chewy." Edward looked at me for a moment while chewing and chewing his meat. "Darling, I think that I have never encountered anything like the chewiness of this chewy meat since that particularly chewy rack of lamb I had back in 1465." I returned Edward's amourous look while I continued to chew and chew and chew my particularly and extraordinarily chewy meat. "Yes, dear, that chewy rack of lamb back in 1465 was exceptionally chewy. In fact, that was a very strong year for exceptionally chewy meat. But this is nowhere near as chewy as the chewiful chewiness of the particularly chewy brisket we had a Blackfriars in 1469." "Really?" Edward paused while working and chewing a particularly chewy piece of meat in his mouth.
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