Some maybe saying..wait this isn't a teen book. Well, you caught me. However I have found that my teens love Philippa Gregory; so I decided to review her latest book The White Queen.
Elizabeth Woodville Grey is a very attractive young widow who needs to find a rich(but handsome would help) man in order to support herself and her two sons. So, Elizabeth sets out to catch the attention of the most powerful man she knows...the King of England. It works, he is taken by her beauty and they marry in secret.
The book explores Elizabeth's life as queen during the War of the Roses. This was a troubling time in English history when two families were fighting for the throne.
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this novel given that the previous one The Other Queen was a horrible mistake and should never have been printed.
The historical details were good, although one should note that Ms. Gregory likes to stretch the truth a bit. Sometimes the author repeats herself. If I had to read that Elizabeth was the decendent of a sea witch one more time I was going to hurl the book across the room.
That being said I enjoyed the novel. It was a good historical read, not the best one ever, but a good one. I think students who enjoy history, politics, family infighting(there is a lot of backstabbing) and who would like something more mature will enjoy this novel. For those looking for a fun, easy read, you may want to look elsewhere.
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