62. The Kingmakers Daughter
Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Recommended by:
Author: Phillipa Gregory
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction
417 pages, published August 14, 2012
Reading Format: Audio Book
Summary
The Kingmaker’s Daughter tells the intriguing story of Anne Neville, her sister Isabel, and their manipulative and influential father, the Earl of Warwick, one of the most powerful men in England during the Cousins’ Wars. He continually uses his two daughters as pawns in his political games, but they grow up to be influential players in their own right. At the court of Edward IV and his beautiful queen, Elizabeth Woodville, Anne grows from a charming child to become ever more fearful and desperate when her father makes war on his former friends. The tide turns against her and she is left widowed and fatherless, with her mother in sanctuary and her sister married to the enemy. Edward’s brother Richard rescues Anne from her sister’s house and she eventually ascends to the throne as queen. Having lost those closest to her, she must protect herself and her precious only child, Prince Edward, from a court full of rivals.
Quotes
“I would carry myself with much more dignity than her. I wouldn’t whisper with the king and demean myself as she did. I wouldn’t send out dishes and wave to people like she did. I wouldn’t trail all my brothers and sisters into court like she did. I would be much more reserved and cold. I wouldn’t smile at anyone, I wouldn’t bow to anyone. I would be a true queen, a queen of ice, without family or friends.”
“I have seen statues that would look stodgy beside her, I have seen painted Madonnas whose features would be coarse beside her pale luminous loveliness.”
“Richard looks into my eyes and once again I know us for the children that we were, who had to make our own destiny in a world we could not understand.”
“I sit on the bed and kick off my shoes, and he kneels before me and takes the riding boots, holding one open for my bare foot. I hesitate; it is such an intimate gesture between a young woman and a man. His smiling upward glance tells me that he understands my hesitation but is ignoring it. I point my toe and he holds the boot, I slide my foot in and he pulls the boot over my calf. He takes the soft leather ties and fastens the boot, at my ankle, then at my calf, and then just below my knee. He looks up at me, his hand gently on my toe. I can feel the warmth of his hand through the soft leather. I imagine my toes curling in pleasure at his touch.”
My Take
Another spellbinder by Phillipa Gregory, the mistress of English Historical Fiction, The Kingmaker’s Daughter tells the riveting story of Anne Neville. I always enjoy reading Phillipa who brings history to life with complex characters and intricate plots. The Kingmaker’s Daughter is a recommended read.
