The Kingmaker's Daughter (The Cousins' War) [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Philippa Gregory (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 14, 2012 | Series: The Cousins' War

Spies, poison, and curses surround her…. Is there anyone she can trust?

In The Kingmaker’s Daughter, #1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory presents a novel of conspiracy and a fight to the death for love and power at the court of Edward IV of England.

The Kingmaker’s Daughter is the gripping story of the daughters of the man known as the “Kingmaker,” Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick: the most powerful magnate in fifteenth-century England. Without a son and heir, he uses his daughters Anne and Isabel as pawns in his political games, and they grow up to be influential players in their own right. In this novel, her first sister story since The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory explores the lives of two fascinating young women.

At the court of Edward IV and his beautiful queen, Elizabeth Woodville, Anne grows from a delightful child to become ever more fearful and desperate when her father makes war on his former friends. Married at age fourteen, she is soon left widowed and fatherless, her mother in sanctuary and her sister married to the enemy. Anne manages her own escape by marrying Richard, Duke of Gloucester, but her choice will set her on a collision course with the overwhelming power of the royal family and will cost the lives of those she loves most in the world, including her precious only son, Prince Edward. Ultimately, the kingmaker’s daughter will achieve her father’s greatest ambition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Gregory returns with another sister act. The result: her best novel in years.” (USA Today)

“Gregory delivers another vivid and satisfying novel of court intrigue, revenge, and superstition. Gregory’s many fans as well as readers who enjoy lush, evocative writing, vividly drawn characters, and fascinating history told from a woman’s point of view will love her latest work.” (Library Journal)

“Gregory is one of historical fiction’s superstars, and The Kingmaker’s Daughter shows why . . . providing intelligent escape, a trip through time to a dangerous past.” (Historical Novels Review (Editor's Choice Review))

“Wielding magic again in her latest War of the Roses novel … Gregory demonstrates the passion and skill that has made her the queen of English historical fiction.…Gregory portrays spirited women at odds with powerful men, endowing distant historical events with drama, and figures long dead or invented with real-life flaws and grand emotions. She makes history … come alive for readers.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review))

About the Author

Philippa Gregory is the author of several bestselling novels, including The Other Boleyn Girl, and is a recognized authority on women’s history. She studied history at the University of Sussex and received a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. She welcomes visitors to her website, PhilippaGregory.com.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (August 14, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 145162607X
• ISBN-13: 978-1451626070
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (320 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,817 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #72 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Biographical

More About the Author

Born in Kenya in 1954, Philippa Gregory moved to England with her family and was educated in Bristol and at the National Council for the Training of Journalists course in Cardiff. She worked as a senior reporter on the Portsmouth News, and as a journalist and producer for BBC radio.

Philippa obtained a BA degree in history at the University of Sussex in Brighton and a PhD at Edinburgh University in 18th-century literature. Her first novel, Wideacre, was written as she completed her PhD and became an instant world wide bestseller. On its publication, she became a full-time writer, and now lives with her family on a small farm in the North of England.

Her knowledge of gothic 18th century novels led to Philippa writing Wideacre, which was followed by a haunting sequel, The Favoured Child, and the delightful happy ending of the trilogy: Meridon. This novel was listed in Feminist Book Fortnight and for the Romantic Novel of the Year at the same time - one of the many instances of Philippa's work appealing to very different readers.

The trilogy was followed by The Wise Woman, a dazzling, disturbing novel of dark powers and desires set against the rich tapestry of the Reformation, and by Fallen Skies, an evocative realistic story set after the First World War. Her novel A Respectable Trade took her back to the 18th century where her knowledge of the slave trade and her home town of Bristol produced a haunting novel of slave trading and its terrible human cost. This is the only modern novel to explore the tragedies of slavery in England itself, and features a group of kidnapped African people trying to find their freedom in the elegant houses of 18th century Clifton. Gregory adapted her book for a highly acclaimed BBC television production which won the prize for drama from the Commission for Racial Equality and was shortlisted for a BAFTA for the screenplay.

Next came two of Gregory's best-loved novels, Earthly Joys and Virgin Earth, based on the true-life story of father and son John Tradescant working in the upheaval of the English Civil War. In these works Gregory pioneered the genre which has become her own: fictional biography, the true story of a real person brought to life with painstaking research and passionate verve.

The flowering of this new style was undoubtedly The Other Boleyn Girl, a runaway best-seller which stormed the US market and then went worldwide telling the story of the little-known sister to Anne Boleyn. Now published in 26 countries with more than a million copies in print in the US alone, this is becoming a classic historical novel, winning the Parker Pen Novel of the Year award 2002, and the Romantic Times fictional biography award. The Other Boleyn Girl was adapted for the BBC as a single television drama and a film is now in production starring Scarlett Johansson as Mary Boleyn, Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn and Eric Bana as Henry VIII.

A regular contributor to newspapers and magazines, with short stories, features and reviews, Philippa is also a frequent broadcaster and a regular contestant on Round Britain Quiz for BBC Radio 4 and the Tudor expert for Channel 4's Time Team.

She lives in the North of England with her husband and two children and in addition to interests that include riding, walking, skiing and gardening (an interest born from research into the Tradescant family for her novel, Virgin Earth), she also runs a small charity building wells in school gardens in The Gambia. Fifty-six wells have been built by UK donors to date.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#10 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical

#11 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Historical

#24 in Books > Romance > Historical

#31 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

#53 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction

#10 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical

#11 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Historical

#24 in Books > Romance > Historical

#31 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

#53 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 92 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Cousins' War Novels August 14, 2012

By Amanda TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Philippa Gregory has long been associated with the highest quality in historical fiction. After reinventing the genre with her highly popular The Other Boleyn Girl, Gregory has consistently turned out quality period novels, taking on Henry VIII's other and somewhat lesser known wives, Queen Elizabeth I and the many ladies of the War of the Roses. In her latest entry into her Cousins' War series, Gregory tells the story of Anne Neville, the daughter of the famous kingmaker, Richard Neville, who put Edward of York on the throne.

It may seem simple on the surface, but there is much more to Anne's story. After Edward's highly unpopular marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, the subject of The White Queen, Anne's father felt betrayed and in order to secure his own connections to the throne, he marries Anne's older sister Isabel to Edward' brother George. When a series of failed revolts forces the Nevilles out of England, Anne is married to the exiled Edward of Lancaster in one last desperate attempt to put a Neville on the throne. But when the last Lancaster push for the throne fails, Anne is left adrift with an uncertain future.

Dare I say that Kingmaker's Daughter is one of the best books in the Cousins' War so far? While I enjoyed the others, especially The White Queen, Kingmaker's Daughter followed an incredibly fascinating young woman and her struggle as a political pawn during one of the most turbulent periods in British history. Through Anne starts off as a somewhat meek and weak young woman, she draws strength from her life experiences and grows into a stronger, more intelligent and motivated woman. On virtually every page, I fell more in love with Anne, cheering for her and wanting her to succeed and find happiness in a world that views her as little more than an annoying pawn.

Kingmaker's Daughter is considered Gregory's first "sister" story since Other Boleyn girl. Though the entire novel takes place through the eyes of Anne, there is ample time given to the complex relationship that Anne and her sister Isabel share (and, admittedly, I enjoyed Isabel more than Anne at first). Through all of the drama, the political ambition that seems to have rubbed off on the girls from their father, the greed and their relationship with their mother, Isabel and Anne are still sisters caught up in war and politics in a world where women do not have the power that men do.

I was honestly a tad bit disappointed with how Gregory handled the "sisters" aspect of the novel. Though Isabel and Anne's rivals and dramas were given some page time, the majority of the novel focused on the many other issues of the war and the sisters' relationship, I felt, wasn't given as much time as I would have liked. Also, for a while it seemed liked the working title for this book was "The Kingmaker's Daughters," which implied that it was about Anne AND Isabel. Though Anne's story may be more interesting, I would have liked to have seem some narration by Isabel to help the reader get a peek into her life and get her side of the story.

Aside from the that, the only other small thing that bothered me was the repetition. Since Gregory has already written three novels about this period, it can be a little difficult to discuss fully new events in each book. Though Kingmaker focused on different characters and angles, it still covered the same period and the same conflicts, so at times I felt like I was reading too much of the same things that happened in the previous books.

Yet, despite these few stumbling blocks, Gregory still delivers an incredibly exquisite, well-constructed world of high historical detail and compelling characters. Kingmaker's Daughter is one of the standout novels of the Cousins' War, with a lot of action, politics and great character conflict that's exactly what Gregory fans have come to crave.

49 of 54 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and Original Viewpoint August 16, 2012

By The Boleyn Girl

Format:Hardcover

Phillipa Gregory has handled a muddled history with unexpected orgiginality. When The Kingmaker's Daughter came out, I was excited but equally hesitant to read it. From reading Philippa's other books, I felt she would handle the story of Anne and Isabel in one of two ways. The first was to make Anne and Isabel anachronistically independent, and the second was to make them absolute pushovers. While Philippa did make use of that worn-out anaology of medieval women acting like pawns in a chessgame, she also made Anne and Isabel seem realistic, with a few exceptions. I was also impressed by the way Philippa treated such characters as George of Clarence and Richard III because her characterization of them was, if not totally new, at least different from the majority of Wars of the Roses novels on the market these days. Overall, my chief complaint in regards to this novel was, in my opinion, the poor writing and a certain lack of consistency which hindered an otherwise enjoyable story.

In Kingmaker's Daughter, Gregory's writing seems almost like a parody of itself. The simple, slightly ominous and foreboding style that served her so well before became heavy-handed. In one sentence, she describes Edward IV as "glorious" twice, and this is only one example of her constant repition of overblown adjectives and phrases. Despite all these adjectives, I felt the writing did not serve to set an atmosphere or setting for the novel. It was clunky and amateurish, and since I know Philippa can do better from her other novels, I can't help but feel that the writing in Kingmaker's Daughter is simply the product of laziness, either on Philippa's part or her editor's. In general, the caliber of writing seems to decrease with each of her releases, specifically the books in the Cousin's War series.

For me, the second half of the book was what made it a worthwhile read. Despite the writing even, the second half was suspensful and exciting,even for someone who knows the history and can therefore be considered "spoiled" as to the events in the novel. As I mentioned before, Philippa's take on George of Clarence, Richard III, and what happened between Warwick's death and Richard III's kingship, was refreshing and unexpected. I wish this had been so throughout the novel, for the first half seems to be an entirely different novel than the second! George of Clarence from the first half is a totally different character from the second half. Isabel's characterization was also confusing and the proposed motives for her behavoir lacked the ring of believability. I also don't think that Warwick, for being such an important figure, was given enough space on the page.

All things considered, it wasn't a bad novel. I liked it infinitely better than The Red Queen. I finished it in a day, and it held my attention, but I think there was a greater potential here that failed to be met. 3/5

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "LOVE, CONSPIRACY, AND POWER!" August 14, 2012

By Geraldine Ahearn TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Philippa Gregory delivers a gripping story of the daughters of the Kingmaker, a powerful man in England, who uses his daughters in his political games. The author, a Master storyteller, reveals the lives of two fascinating women in their journey from childhood to adult. Two women filled with courage and strength as they grew up overnight, learning quickly the harsh reality of power and its ill-effects on their lives. Two women who learned the true meaning of politics, conspiracy, and revenge at a young age. The story is compelling and entertaining, the drama becomes intense, and the historic setting is stunning. The characters are colorful, and the story grabs your attention in the very beginning. Enjoyable, and Highly Recommended!