[Books] The Cousins' War #4 - The Kingmakers Daughter by Philippa Gregory

Goodreads

August 12 - 15, 2013

Synopsis

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.

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.

Review

An evocative and intriguing book that I enjoyed much more than the rest of the series, so far. 

Anne Neville is the kingmakers daughter, and of course her fathers favorite. She has been trailing behind her mother and sister for almost her entire childhood up to her first marriage. She has done nothing but follow orders all her life. Well, that's how I see her. 

Among the three leading ladies in this series so far, Anne's story seems to be my most favorite. I felt her fear, her love, her anger and her sadness. For some reason, her story affected me most among the other leading ladies of the series. 

Anne's mother, Anne; they really like reusing their names huh, is a coward. Of course, she was fearful as to what would happen to her now that her husband has been declared a traitor against the current King Edward IV and has also died in battle. I would be too, but I wouldn't leave my daughter alone with the enemy. I would stay by her side, and protect her with my life. I say again. She's a coward and she expects to be forgiven by her daughters? 

The love story between Richard (kings brother) and Anne; Thankfully they stopped reusing their names. I'm getting really confused . I honestly fell for the actor who plays Richard in the TVSeries. I like their love story, it seems true, but I hear that Richard never really loved Anne, and just married her for her money. It's a mystery. 

Now, lets talk about Richard trying to seduce his niece. Let's take a moment to just say that its nasty to freaking seduce your niece... Seriously!! gross... I didn't understand the entire scope of this plan of seducing Elizabeth of York. Some say that Richard fell in love with Elizabeth of York, and some say it was just a lie. I seem to have felt Anne's jealousy towards Elizabeth, but she seems to understand the reason behind the whole plan of seducing the niece so that she won't marry the enemy. She understands it, but I don't!

The ending of the book is what seemed to have a really big affect on me. It was a simple heart warming ending. I felt both sad and happy for Anne. 

In conclusion to this slightly long review, I really really enjoyed this book. It is my current favorite of the series so far. I have a feeling I won't enjoy The White Queen as much And again I say, The Kingmakers Daughter is an evocative, intriguing, heart warming novel and I recommend this series to anyone who enjoys medieval dilemma with a pinch of romance. This book will be all I think about for the next couple of days.