The White Queen

Author: Philippa Gregory

This is Book Two of my 2010 Global Reading Challenge. After 'The Virgin's Lover', I was almost ready to give up reading Philippa Gregory, but am glad that I changed my mind to pick up this book.

This is the story of Elizabeth Woodville, the widowed mother of two boys who sets her heart upon the young King of the House of York. It is a story based on historical facts interwoven with magical folklore, and paints the White Queen as an ambitious woman whose ambitions stem from her devotion and duty as a wife, sister, daughter and mother.

The book starts with the legend of Melusina, a water goddess who marries a mortal man but later leaves him when he breaks his promise to her.

The tragedy of Melusina, whatever language tells it, whatever tune it sings, is that a man will always promise more than he can do to a woman he cannot understand.

With this as the introduction, I was lead to believe that Elizabeth Woodville was somehow jilted or betrayed by her husband, but this was not the case. Twice, Elizabeth outlived her husbands, and although King Edward was not a saint, he loved her dearly and hardly gave her cause for concern as to where his affections lay. There were only two occasions where Elizabeth had doubts of his commitment: after their secret marriage was ridiculed by her brother Anthony, and during the birth of one of her children when the King kept a mistress. The mistress, however, admitted to Elizabeth later that the King only ever really loved the Queen.

The story of Melusina is told in bits and pieces, scattered throughout the main story of Queen Elizabeth and the Wars of the Roses (or the Cousins' War), as a homage to the queen's ancestry. Through her mother, Jacquetta, Elizabeth Woodville is a descendant of the water goddess, whose sons become the Dukes of Burgundy and daughters inherit the Sight. It is this mystical link also that is played up through Jacquetta and Elizabeth's characters where they dabble in some spells, allegedly whistling up storms, mists and rain to help them in their cause.

I found this book interesting to read mainly because I don't know much about the Wars of the Roses, and even less about Elizabeth Woodville. She was depicted as a woman of great beauty - and fertile too, giving King Edward three princes and six princesses in addition to her two older boys. Sadly two of her royal children died in early childhood, and the two remaining princes are famous for mysteriously disappearing while they were held in the Tower of London under the 'protection' of their usurping uncle, Richard III. Gregory puts her own spin to this mystery, which I find quite plausible.

Typical of historical fiction about royal families, the book is rife with plots, traitors and battles. There is less scandal than The Other Boleyn Girl (or at least not as outrageously depicted) and not as saccharine sweet as The Constant Princess. There are enough events and interesting characters to keep me interested right till the cliffhanger ending, and I am keen to find out how she wraps it up in the other two books of this series. As Elizabeth says to herself,

As if I think we can ever be an ordinary family. We are Plantagenets. How could we be ordinary?

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists

Author: Gideon Defoe

This was such a great read! Thanks, Ain, for lending it to me!

The year is 1838 in the West Indies. The Pirate Captain, worried that his pirates are getting bored of "all that lying on the beach and the native women, wandering about with no tops on" decide to set off on another Adventure. They are informed of a ship called The Beagle, transporting gold bullion from the colonies back to England and decide to attack it, to find that the only treasure on the ship is the young Charles Darwin and his trained Man-Panzee. Determined to assist Darwin in rescuing his brother Erasmus who has been kidnapped by the Bishop of Oxford, they head off to England.

This book is funny with capital F-U-N-N-Y! The Pirate Captain is a debonair man, with a glossy beard, who cannot quite remember the names of his crew but is certainly on target with his Periodic Table (despite the fact that the Table was not invented yet in 1838). Circus freaks, grisly murders, a pirate convention and a science lecture all get thrown into the mix at a laugh a minute.

Apparently Defoe wrote The Pirates to convince a woman to leave her boyfriend for him. She didn't. I'm sure other women will. Just read the note from the Pirate Captain on the back cover:

"Dear Reader,

I'm choosing to picture you as an attractive young woman, about nineteen, perhaps reading this 150 years from now, while in bed wearing just a daring negligee, tanned thighs stretched out on those silk sheets of yours. You're no doubt wondering why the men of your time couldn't be a bit more like the charming piratical rogue writing these words, instead of the monstrous oversized brains they've probably evolved into. Well, what are you waiting for? With your advanced scientific knowledge it's no doubt a cinch to reconstitute me from just a few of my piratical cells, and to this I have stuck a couple of hairs from my glossy beard into the back cover. I take it you still have ham in the future? A nice big ham waiting for me would be a treat."

Hand of Isis

Author: Jo Graham

I picked this up at MPH, Gurney Plaza, Penang when I was there co-emceeing a corporate function in March. And I certainly do not regret it.

The story is about Charmian, one of Cleopatra's handmaidens. The name seemed familiar to me until I recalled the Shakespeare play 'Antony & Cleopatra', where Charmian is one of the characters in the play.

This novel is mostly historical fiction, with a bit of fantasy thrown in. It is told in first voice narrative by Charmian, who is also the Queen’s sister, borne of a Thracian woman from the Pharaoh’s harem. Together with another sister, Iras, the daughter of a Nubian serving woman named Asetnefer, they pledge themselves to Isis and represent different aspects of the goddess – Charmian is sensual as Isis Pelagia, Goddess of Love; Iras is the wise and aloof Lady of Amenti who presides with Serapis over the judgement of dead souls; whereas Cleopatra, in her role as Queen and caretaker of the Egyptian people, is Mother of the World, with Osiris as a husband and Horus as her son.

The novel begins in the Halls of Amenti, where Charmian’s dead soul faces Isis for the weighing of her heart against a feather. She then recollects the events that have brought her there, from her childhood right up to the suicidal snake bite to escape capture by the Romans. In between chapters, the novel returns to the scene in the Halls of Amenti, which I felt was effectively done.

The story is based on real historical events and figures. The main star of the novel, however, is Alexandria. Graham does a wonderful job describing the sights and sounds of the city during its heyday, as well as the life of its inhabitants. As Alexandria was home to a great library, and was the ‘apex of Panhellenism’, the three sisters are exposed to the different branches of knowledge under the tutelage of Apollodorus, so together they make a formidable trio in ruling Egypt.

Charmian’s major role, however, is Royal Event Manager. Befitting her representation of the erotic side of Isis, Charmian also has a very healthy sexual appetite, and despite having a child and several lovers, never marries. She does, however, dote upon her own daughter and Cleopatra’s various offspring, and stands by her royal sister throughout her life.

In an exchange with the judges in the Halls of Amenti, the angel Mikhael speaks in her defence:

“You see? One may search far and wide on this earth to find an incorruptible
servant, but You need look no further. Any monarch that ever lived should be
glad of one like her.”
I turned and faced Him. “It’s not that I don’t
appreciate You speaking on my behalf, but You are giving me credit that I do not
deserve! There was nothing anyone could give me that I wanted. How could I be
tempted?”
“And what was it you wanted, then?” Serapis asked.
“The only
thing I have always wanted,” I said. “To be with those I love and to have good
work to do. And as for the rest, justice and mercy and those in need, I didn’t
do anything special. I just tried to be fair. I just did my best.”
“That is
all that the gods can ever ask of anyone,” Isis said.

To be fair and to do one’s best. Isn’t that true?

The Queen's Fool/The Virgin's Lover

Author: Philippa Gregory

Double volume of the two Tudor Queens, Mary and Elizabeth.

The first book, The Queen's Fool, revolves around a fictional character, Hannah Green, who has the ability to see the future. She is taken under the wing of Lord Robert Dudley as his vassal, and placed in King Edward's court as the King's holy fool. Later, she serves Queen Mary, and is assigned by the Queen as a companion to Princess Elizabeth. All the while, she is forced to keep her true identity a secret - a Jewish refugee from Spain - to escape the Inquisition and Mary's increasing Catholic fanaticism.

The second, The Virgin's Lover, picks up where the Queen's Fool ends i.e Elizabeth's ascension to the throne of England. The Lover in question is the same Robert Dudley, who returns to Court as the Queen's favourite and Master of Horse, much to the despair of his estranged wife, Amy. It covers the early years of Elizabeth's reign, up to a scandalous death that causes Dudley to lose his exalted position at Court.

Judging by the thread of characterisation from previous books in these series that I have read (The Constant Princess and The Other Boleyn Girl), I felt that the author sympathised very much with Catherine of Aragon's lineage while clearly not too impressed with the Boleyns. Queen Mary, through the eyes of Hannah the Fool, is depicted as a good woman with noble intentions, but as a virtuous woman who married late, became obsessed with pleasing her handsome Spanish husband. Elizabeth, meanwhile, was portrayed from the very first page as a seducer of men, and although she is mentioned as being intelligent, she is also portrayed as a highly nervous young woman who had to rely heavily on her advisors, and sometimes ignored them when it suited her fancy - in this case, her adoration of Dudley.

The second book also plodded along somewhat, with the historical events mainly played out as just a background for the royal frolics and Dudley's talent for event management. Things only really picked up in the last third of the book, but by then I had begun to lose interest and was just intent on finishing the book so I could move on to other reading material. Despite my earlier statement, I think I'm ready to give Ms Gregory a break for now.

Shadow of a King

Author: Helen Hollick


This is the third and final book of the Pendragon's Banner series written about Arthur Pendragon. Written in a more realistic, historical manner i.e. no Merlin the Magician, dragons or swords in stones, it still makes for compelling reading.

The Arthur and Camelot of these series is set at a time between the Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods of Britain. In the background is also the transition of religious beliefs from pagan to Christianity, and these conflicts shape much of the events in the book. Several of the characters are based on the more popular version i.e Gwenhyfar/Guinevere, Medraut/Mordred, Bedwyr/Lancelot, although their circumstances and fates are different.

Arthur is also depicted as a less-than-perfect man, with his womanising ways and dark temper, and this results in some very awkward relationships between his various offspring.

The book left me interested to know more about British history, especially of that period. Maybe it's time I go through my bookcase again - I'm sure I have a volume available somewhere.

The Constant Princess

Author: Philippa Gregory



This woman is fast becoming my favourite-of-the-month author. Instead of starting on the books I bought earlier, I borrowed this from my sister during my short trip back to KL. My verdict? A good historical romance that would leave you crying and asking yourself: Is this for real?


It is the story of Katherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife and mother of Mary Tudor. The story starts with a fire in a battlecamp, when Katherine - or Catalina as she was known in Spain - was five years old and her mother, Isabella of Castille, was fighting against the Moors of al Andalus. Catalina, the Infanta of Spain, was the youngest and spent her first years of childhood on the campaign trail. She shares the wonderment of the Alhambra as the conquering Christian monarchs make it their home:

But the little doorway is like a keyhole to a treasure chest of boxes, the one opening out from another. The man leads us through them like a slave opening doors to a treasury. Their very names are a poem: the Golden Chamber, the Courtyard of the Myrtles, the Hall of the Ambassadors, the Courtyard of the Lions, or the Hall of the Two Sisters. It will take us weeks to find our way from one exquisitely tiled room to another. It will take us months to stop marvelling at the pleasure of the sound of water running down the marble gulleys in the rooms, flowing to a white marble fountain that always spills over with the cleanest, freshest water of the mountains.

Betrothed at a young age to Arthur, the 'Rose of England', Catalina grows up with an intense purpose to fulfill her destiny as the Princess of Wales, and later Queen of England. Her determination takes her to England where she faces her future father-in-law Henry VII, her timid husband-to-be, his domineering grandmother Lady Margaret Beaufort and meets charming young Prince Harry, who would later become the Prince of Wales and Catalina's husband after the death of Arthur.

The book is built on the premise that Catalina lied when she said her marriage to Arthur was never consummated, hence allowing for the marriage to Arthur's younger brother after his death. As the story goes, Catalina and Arthur were a passionately loving young couple and made great plans to rule England together. The name Katherine was given to her by Arthur, who made her promise, on his deathbed to become Queen of England by marrying Harry.

Katherine, as a historical figure, is obviously a favourite of the author. Throughout the book she is depicted as a woman of strong faith and courage, with hardly any faults. Certainly a contrast to how Anne Boleyn was represented in 'The Other Boleyn Girl'. The last chapter of the book covers the events in 1529, when Henry sought an annulment to their marriage so he could marry Anne instead. Even then, Katherine insisted that she was the rightful Queen of England, holding fast to the promise she made to her true love, Arthur.

'I shall do this for you,' I say fiercely in my mind, to my beloved. 'You wanted this lie. I shall do it thoroughly. If it is going to be done, it must be done thoroughly. It has to be done with courage, conviction; and it must never be undone.'

The Other Boleyn Girl

Author: Philippa Gregory

I actually read this book almost a year ago, after the movie was made but before it arrived on our Malaysian shores (and from the reviews in the papers, heavily sanitised by our dear Lembaga Penapisan Filem).

At the time, Jonathan Rhys Meyers was also ruling the screens as a hip & hot Henry VIII in 'The Tudors', which, judging from the clips on the internet, will never ever make it to Malaysian shores due to the severely shortened airtime post-censorship. However, I had a grand time imagining him playing Henry opposite Scarlett Johansson's Mary Boleyn. Picturing Natalie Portman as the scheming & seductive Anne proved more difficult, and from the trailers, she did not succeed at it either.

As historical fictions go, this was pretty interesting, although it relies heavily on heaving bosoms and the like. It did leave me wondering whether the British aristocracy really were so sexually depraved and morally deprived, what with incest, adultery and homosexuality being the three main ingredients in the making of the road to the English throne. A-Levels History it definitely is not.

Read it if you want to know what 16th century sex habits are, in addition to the fashion and music of that period. If you're expecting romance, you'd be better off with Judith McNaught.