Just Finished Reading: The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory (FP: 2011)

Rouen, France 1435. Recently widowed Jacquetta Luxembourg is fully expecting to be a trophy wife to a rich, powerful and old man of English nobility. But from an early age she has possessed a will and a way to make things happen as she wants them to, an ability inherited from her mother and known down the years to the female side of her family. From time to time they can see into the future, sometimes clearly and sometimes though a mist, sometimes to events just about to happen and sometimes to events still years or decades ahead. The gift, as her mother calls it, comes and goes as it wishes despite the prompting of husbands or heads of state. But one thing alone is certain, Jacquetta will always know when someone close to her dies no matter how far away.

Returning to England she is already in love with her husband’s squire Richard Woodville and marry in secret much to the annoyance of the King. Exiled to the country in disgrace she hopes that she came become a faithful farmer’s wife but fate, and the new Queen, have other ideas. Thrown into the centre of court intrigue fuelled by feuding families she needs to use all of her wits and all of her powers to keep on the right side as alliances shift and power moves first to Lancaster then to York and back again. Fiercely protective of her growing family she must place her children where they can be safe and where they can meet suitable matches. Her eldest daughter Elizabeth is a prize beauty who could have any man in England but Jacquetta feels that she is set for greatness and tragedy in equal measure.

After being somewhat disappointed with The Red Queen (through no great fault of the writing) I found myself falling in love with the Woodville’s again in this, the third book in the Cousin’s War series. At this rate the author might manage to steal me away from the Lancastrian cause and get me to pledge myself to the House of York! Full of fascinating characters, with the mesmerising Jacquetta in the centre of it all, this is a brilliant work of one woman’s attempts to make a life for herself and her family in an age where the hopes, dreams, wishes, needs or demands of women in general where largely of no great account. Jacquetta charts her course through fire, through victory and through defeat knowing that the wheel of fortune turns and that nothing can truly be depended upon except the love of a good man and the devotion of and to her children. This is a great story, all the more so because it is, by and large, a true one. If anyone is looking for a series of books dedicated to female role models this is definitely it. Highly recommended for anyone interested in this fascinating period of English history (The Wars of the Roses) or who just want a damned good read. Luckily there are several more in the series in print and, I understand, more on the way. I’m already looking forward to immersing myself in the troubled 15th century again. I can hardly wait!