Book Review: The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory

Title: The Kingmaker's Daughter (The Cousins' War #4)
Author: Philippa Gregory
Release Date: August 14th 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Source: Received from the publisher via Booksellers NZ

In The Kingmaker’s Daughter, #1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory presents the riveting story of Anne Neville, her sister Isabel, and their ever-changing fortunes.

The Kingmaker’s Daughter is the gripping and ultimately tragic story of the daughters of the man known as the “Kingmaker”, the most powerful magnate in England through the Cousins’ Wars. In the absence of a son and heir, he uses the two girls as pawns in his political games, but they grow up to be influential players in their own right. In this novel, her first sister story since The Other Boleyn Girl, Gregory explores the lives of two fascinating young women.

At the court of Edward IV and his beautiful queen, Elizabeth Woodville, Anne grows from a delightful child brought up in intimacy and friendship with the family of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, to become ever more fearful and desperate when her father makes war on his former friends. Her will is tested when she is left widowed and fatherless, with her mother in sanctuary and her sister married to the enemy. Fortune’s wheel turns again when Richard rescues Anne from her sister’s house, with danger still following Anne, even as she eventually ascends to the throne as queen. Having lost those closest to her, she must protect herself and her precious only child, Prince Edward, from a court full of royal rivals.

My Thoughts

Admittedly I haven't read a Philippa Gregory novel for quite some time but it didn't take long for me to remember why I love her books so much.
The vividly rich way with which Philippa Gregory lovingly describes her settings, characters and their stories is simply beautiful - she carries the reader back to those times, bringing to life what would otherwise be vague moments of history left mostly forgotten the past 600 plus years, and The Kingmaker's Daughter is another prime example of her wondrous writing.

Anne Neville is a fiercely loyal daughter to her father, an obedient servant to her mother and fiercely protective towards her sister. But when pushed aside one too many times and left abandoned and betrayed by those charged with her care, Anne turns to herself for salvation; and in doing so discovers that she can make her own future.
The story of Anne Neville is one of great determination born of an upbringing filled with broken treaties, forced alliances and deceit  - an almost constant life of uncertainty.

Written with Philippa Gregory's unique vibrancy, the scenes painted so clearly and colorfully in ones mind's eye, that you are immediately swept into this harsh and contrived world of royalty and politics. While many subplots and other historical figures play a large role in the telling of Anne's story, the author keeps true the book title by following Anne from her lowest of low points, to the fruition of her father's ultimate dream - a Neville on the throne.

I have always enjoyed Philippa Gregory's fictional retelling of actual events in history, her characters are always vibrant and charismatic even when forced to do unspeakable acts.
Philippa Gregory skilfully weaves her stories into books I have come to cherish; they  are some, if not the best factual historical novels I have read - she is a master storyteller.
The Kingmaker's Daughter is decadent 4 Star read.