The King's Grey Mare

Poor Elizabeth Woodville! Her character and role in history is plagued by the same problems as Richard III. It seems there is no grey area (forgive the pun!) - you are either pro-Elizabeth or anti-Elizabeth. The pro-Elizabeth faction (and I own to being in this category) is enchanted by the story of her romance and secret marriage to Edward IV. The mysterious death of her two sons in the Tower, the two periods in which she fled into sanctuary at Westminster and her daughter Elizabeth of York's marriage to Henry Tudor only add to the drama of her life. The anti-Elizabeth faction views her legendary beauty with suspicion (she must have ensnared the King into marriage through witchcraft!) and as a greedy woman who ruthlessly promoted the interest of her numerous relatives thus adding to the tensions which led to Richard III's usurpation of the throne. If you are a pro-Elizabethite book then this book is not for you. She is portrayed as being quite cold, ruthless, scheming - literally a witch! However, if you can look past this you may enjoy the book as I did. There is a somewhat jarring transition of Elizabeth's character after the death of her first husband but otherwise the book is well written and plotted. The other characters are interesting as well, particularly Margaret Beaufort, Jacquetta and Grace. If you approach the book expecting Jean Plaidy's rather dry style of fictionalizing history then you will be disappointed. If you enjoy a little more fantasy and color and can accept the harsh portrayal of Elizabeth than you will be pleasantly surprised. I look forward to reading more of this author's works!

Elizabeth Woodville was the ambitious, much-maligned wife of King Edward IV, the mother of the little princes in the tower, and rumored to be a witch. Rosemary Hawley Jarman does a wonderful job of bringing this fascinating figure to life, even though all but the barest facts about her are lost to history.Jarman's Elizabeth is, at the beginning of the novel, an ordinary noble teenager of her times; sweet, passionate, but hot-headed. But when her first husband, whom she married for love, is killed in battle, she vows revenge and hardens her heart. With the help of her mother and Melusine, the ancestral spirit who haunts her family, Elizabeth brews up a plot to enchant the King of England and make her family the most powerful in the country. But her reign is cut short by the violent years of the Wars of the Roses, and suddenly Elizabeth is playing for her very survival. Intertwined with her story is that of King Edward's illegitimate daughter, Grace, who adores the icy Queen Elizabeth but loves one of her greatest enemies.This novel is a vivid depiction of the turbulent era of the Wars of the Roses. The writing is beautiful and descriptive, and I especially loved the little dash of the supernatural that Jarman adds to her brew. That said, I did have a little bit of trouble sticking to the course with this book, since it is very much a downer! Most of the characters are utterly unsympathetic (except Elizabeth as a young girl, and Grace who is sweet but a complete doormat most of the time), and almost nothing happy occurs in the entire book. This is NOT Jarman's fault--these were terrible times that brought out the worst in almost everybody--but it does make for a story that is often painful to read.

Jarman picks up the setting of her earlier "Crown in Candlelight," telling the story of the breathtakingly beautiful Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV, and grandmother of Henry VIII. Jarman's usual brilliance at weaving a written tapestry is everywhere in evidence. Elizabeth is the daughter of a powerful and none too scrupulous enchantress, who spins a complex web to further her family's fortunes, setting in motion a chain of events that help topple the Plantagenet dynasty and bring the Tudors to power. Elizabeth is the most complex and finely drawn of Jarman's fine characterizations, as she is caught up in the chaos of the War of the Roses that costs her her life's love and happiness. She is the mother of the 2 princes who died in the Tower, and this enduring historical mystery, as well as the supposed villainy of their uncle Richard III, is very believably and logically portrayed. Why is this wonderful novel out of print? Grab it if you ever see it--it is one of the finest historical novels around.