Interview with The White Princess author Phillipa Gregory and a review of her novel about the end of the Pantagenet reign and the rise of the Tudors
Rating: 2 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
“The White Princess was one of the most controversial books, I think,” says The White Princess author Phillipa Gregory. “My view of Henry Tudor was not common when I started the novel.”
The White Queen, based previous books by Gregory, is currently a mini-series on Starz. “It’s a real epic, ten hours based on three books: The White Queen, The Red Queen, and The Kingmaker’s Daughter, beautifully shot with fantastic performances,” says Gregory. “I think it’s going to be completely absorbing for viewers and introduce them to an historical period that few people know well. I am particularly pleased the way the dramatization has kept the heart of the piece based on the women and on their battles for power and supremacy. I was executive producer and focused most of my attention on the scripts, which reflect the books very closely.”
The White Queen runs through October 19th. For more details visit www.starz.com.
The White Princess is the latest in Gregory’s Cousins’ War series. We meet Elizabeth of York, the daughter of Elizabeth Woodville and King Edward, who must marry Henry VII to try to end the War of the Roses that has torn the country apart. That two young princes, legitimate heirs, vanished without a trace, leaves room for plenty of intrigue, and leads us to one figure on whom Gregory might have focused more; Perkin Warbeck, pretender to the throne, who claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, the younger son of King Edward IV, one of the Princes in the Tower. On the plus side Gregory paints wonderful descriptions of clothing and castles, transporting the reader back to the London of the late fifteenth century.
By all historical accounts, Henry VII was led around by his mother, Margaret, who tells her son to force Elizabeth to have sex before marriage to prove she is fertile. Gentle readers be warned, in Gregory’s novel both mothers condone Henry repeatedly raping Elizabeth until she becomes pregnant. Elizabeth is portrayed as also having had sex with her uncle King Richard and being ready to marry him.
Unfortunately the dialog often gets repetitive and sometimes you want to slap Elizabeth and Henry for being so weak-willed. Despite being the protagonists of the story, the pair are both portrayed as clueless nits ruled by their respective mothers. Did they really let their mothers run their lives? Even if that’s accurate, what’s the fun in imagining being them while reading this novel? This book suffers markedly in comparison with others in the series.
“There was a surge of imposters,” says Gregory. “Against the Tudors, and also a lot of potential rival heirs. Henry Tudor was the last most likely heir of the Lancastrian side but the Yorks were very fertile. There were many possible heirs that could claim the throne and show a better claim than the Tudors. Henry’s fear of rival claims was rightly strong. His inability to produce the bodies of the princes or explain how they died made his problem even worse since anyone could coach a pretender.”
Gregory portrays Elizabeth as having despised Henry Tudor as the murderer of her uncle, King Richard III. “The most compelling piece of historical evidence is missing: a letter from Elizabeth to the Duke of Norfolk begging him to assist her marriage to Richard, which makes clear that she is in love with him and that they are lovers,” says Gregory. “The letter was copied but the original lost.”
Gregory is writing a new novel about Margaret of Warwick. “Margaret goes on to be chief confidante and best friend of Katherine of Aragon,” says Gregory. “She’s a most interesting character, on the edge of the court, a royal but a woman who chooses to keep a distance from the throne.”
The White Princess (Series: Cousins’ War – Book 4) by Philippa Gregory (Author). Hardcover: 544 pages, Publisher: Touchstone (July 23, 2013) Language: English. SBN-13: 978-1451626094 $ 27.99
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