Holly's Book Corner

The Lady of The Rivers

by Philippa Gregory

Rating:  5/5
 

Pages: 497

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK ltd

Publication Date: 2011

ISBN: 978-1-84737-459-2

Summary (via Goodreads)

 

Jacquetta, daughter of the Count of Luxembourg and kinswoman to half the royalty of Europe, was married to the great Englishman John, Duke of Bedford, uncle to Henry VI. Widowed at the age of 19, she took the extraordinary risk of marrying a gentleman of her household for love, and then carved out a new life for herself.

Review

Sooo....If you have read the first two books so far you already will know that Elizabeth Woodville aka The White Queen married for love. And she isn't the only member of her family who did this. Jacquetta, her mother, also married against custom to a man from lower birth than herself in an era when marriages were for extending the families prospects, not for true love.

Book Three of the Cousins War series follows Jacquetta throughout her life from her first marriage and time abroad to her scandalous love affair with the charming and sweet Richard Woodville, her future husband. For me, this book is a classic fairy-tale which tells a real-life account of forbidden love. Full of passion and even some magic, The Lady of the Rivers brings to life the woman who shocked her contemporaries and stood her ground for the man she fell in love with.

I know what you are probably thinking about my review so far...soppy, but I can't help it. For me Richard Woodville is a character who you can't help but love to read about and by mid way through the book you will find yourself routing for their marriage.

Right, so for the actual review itself, now I've finished gushing about romance and true love. Philippa Gregory brings to life a woman who is not actually that well known in history and shows how, through determination and in this case, a bit of magic, Jacquetta became mother to the Queen of England. I think the rumours that surrounded her as a historical figure for being a witch and using this to make her daughter a Queen is one of the reasons she is such an interesting character to read about. either way whether you believe in magic and witchcraft or not she is undoubtedly one the main reasons Elizabeth Woodville married Edward IV.

I think any fan of strong female characters would love this series overall as each book tells the life and story of the women behind the Cousins War. however, this book in particular is a personal favourite of mine just because, as has already been established, I'm a bit of a romantic and I really admire Jacquetta for what she did, turning against her family wishes to marry a man in her service when she could have married any number of rich men instead.