Customer Reviews

The Kings Grey Mare

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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.

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.

I did not enjoy this book about Elizabeth Woodville.
Perhaps it is because I thought I was getting something different than what it actually was. I thought this book would be a bit more historically plausible than it was. The references to witchcraft were very over-the-top, as was the manipulation of Edward IV.
There was little in-depth coverage of Elizabeth's life, as many years were skipped and little coverage was given to the biggest period of her life- being the wife of Edward IV.
I would not recommend this to anyone who likes their historical fiction to be accurate, as this is more like fantasy.

First of all the review stars are brought down by a three star rating from a reviewer who didn't like the size print of the book. I too agree with her on that issue about books but these ratings I feel are for the CONTENT of the book. Therefore the rating of this book was a surprise to me.
It should have been much higher.

I agree with the somewhat highflown language of Elizabeth at times as other reviewers have mentioned But what I like the most was that it really stayed in the venacular of the time, such as "mein". So many of what passes for historicals these days are what I call "historical light". Well, this book here is real meat and potatoes. This book was written in 1973 before the writers felt they had to please the publishers by putting in modern day language such as "what kind of message does this send" (sometimes I wonder if they even realize what they print didn't exist in those days).

Also the author characterizations of the various players such as Margaret Beaufort, her son Henry Tudor, Richard III felt right and accurate. It's really hard to know exactly how a personage really was because history has so many different versions of the motivations of these historical figures.

For Elizabeth herself, she is one of the most fascinating women of English history. I have read several books written about her, sometimes sympathetic, sometimes meanspirited, and books with her as a supporting character, such as The Summer Queen.

As I read this book, I felt that was a LOT of historical research in back of it and I, who knew a pretty good bit about this interesting period of history, learned even more. It's not just about Elizabeth, but it moves into the point of view of Henry VII at the end, and that part is very enlightening.

I wax enthusiastic because "they just don't write them like this anymore". 4.5 stars

Jarman recounts the life of Elizabeth Woodville, daughter of Richard Woodville, Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg. As a young girl she serves at the court of Henry VI as maid of honor to Marguerite d'Anjou until she meets and marries John Grey (a true love match according to the author) and bears two sons. When Grey is killed while fighting for the Lancastrians, Elizabeth's mother Jacquetta sets her sights on Edward IV and herein Jarman weaves the story of the Woodville's alleged sorcery and descent from Melusine as they drive Edward mad with lust that can only be slated with a wedding ring.

The novel then moves on to known history, Elizabeth's marriage to Edward, her times in sanctuary, the infamous Jane Shore, Edward's death and the ascent of Richard III to the throne as through Titulus Regius Edward and Elizabeth's children are named illegitimate. After Richard is defeated at Bosworth the story then focuses more on Edward's illegitimate daughter, Grace Plantagenet, and her love/hate relationship with Elizabeth.

This all sounded promising, even though the witchcraft and descent from Melusine are allegedly nothing but rumor and speculation. Unfortunately the author's over the top flowery prose and the "visions" and "dreams" not only didn't hold my attention, she flat out lost me at times and I couldn't follow what was going on. A minor quibble and not being a historian I can't say if its right or wrong, but the author had both Marguerite d'Anjou and Elizabeth (when Queen) addressed as "My Liege" instead of "Your Grace", or she switched between the two and that also kept throwing me out of the story. In the end, it's certainly not the worst book I've read on the period but then it's far from being the best either. Get it from the library if you must and then buy it if you love it. Three stars.

I read this book years ago, and recently decided to read it again. But like a lot of books I have bought lately, the print is so small it is hard to read, and if I can't read a book with enjoyment, I don't read it. And it's not my eyesight. This is becoming more common. It must be a cost cutter on the part of the publisher because I bought several other books of historical fiction and was very disappointed in how small the print has become. The font looks like a 6 or an 8 instead of a readable 10 or higher. When I find a different copy I'll get it, because this is actually a very good story of Elizabeth Woodville.