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    The White Princess
    The White Princess
    The White Princess
    Audiobook19 hours

    The White Princess

    Written by Philippa Gregory

    Narrated by Bianca Amato

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    About this audiobook

    From “queen of royal fiction” (USA TODAY) Philippa Gregory comes this instant New York Times bestseller that tells the story of the remarkable Elizabeth of York, daughter of the White Queen, and mother to the House of Tudor.

    When Henry Tudor picks up the crown of England from the mud of Bosworth field, he knows he must marry the princess of the enemy house—Elizabeth of York—to unify a country divided by war for nearly two decades.

    But his bride is still in love with his slain enemy, Richard III—and her mother and half of England dream of a missing heir, sent into the unknown by the White Queen. While the new monarchy can win power, it cannot win hearts in an England that plots for the triumphant return of the House of York.

    Henry’s greatest fear is that somewhere a prince is waiting to invade and reclaim the throne. When a young man who would be king leads his army and invades England, Elizabeth has to choose between the new husband she is coming to love and the boy who claims to be her beloved lost brother: the rose of York come home at last.

    Editor's Note

    Between loyalty & love…

    The penultimate book in the popular Cousins’ War series, “The White Princess” begins with the conclusion of the War of the Roses, as Elizabeth struggles between loyalty and love — with the fate of England in her hands.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateJul 23, 2013
    ISBN9781442361560
    Author

    Philippa Gregory

    Philippa Gregory, CBE, is one of the world’s foremost historical novelists. Her books include The Other Boleyn Girl, The White Queen, and most recently Dawnlands. A recognized authority on women’s history, she graduated from the University of Sussex and received a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. She is a fellow of the University of Sussex and Cardiff University and an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London. In 2020 she was made a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her services to literature and charity. Philippa is a member of the Society of Authors and in 2016 was presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Historical Fiction Award by the Historical Writers’ Association. She is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and in 2018 was awarded an Honorary Platinum Award by Nielsen for achieving significant lifetime sales across her entire book output. 

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    Reviews for The White Princess

    4/5

    426 ratings36 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I love this series but this is probably my least favorite book of this series so far. I can usually count on any Philippa Gregory book to be well written and entertaining even if, as so many say, they are only loosely based on actual history. Gregory's books usually highlight all of the secrets, scandal, and struggles of the monarchy and they make me want to find out more about these fascinating and often tragic rulers.

      The White Princess focuses on the court of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York at what Henry believes is the end of the Cousin's War. For some reason, this time, I was underwhelmed by the characters. It seemed that all of the dynamic players in this saga were mostly secondary characters in The White Princess. Henry's devout and powerful mother Margaret and Elizabeth's wily and resourceful mother Elizabeth were the real forces to be reckoned with. Henry and Elizabeth were very much overshadowed their more charismatic parent and ended up sounding ineffectual and even rather pathetic. My inability to connect with or empathize with Elizabeth diminished my enjoyment of her story.

      One thing that I noticed about Gregory's characters is that, when writing about the relationships between two sisters, they seem to always be shown as extremely antagonistic with the sisters being barely cordial to one another yet still loyal to their house. I found this to be true with Anne and Mary's relationship in The Other Boleyn Girl as well as with Anne and Isabelle in The Kingmaker's Daughter and actually remarked on the similarities between the two in my review of The Kingmaker's Daughter. I was a little disappointed to see this same theme repeated in The White Princess.

      Overall, The White Princess is good, it's not great, and definitely not what I was expecting. My friend who is a huge fan of The Cousins War series and has been dying to read this newest book even said that each time she begins reading The White Princess, she ends up falling asleep. I'm hoping the next book (will there be another in this series?) will be much stronger and more what I've come to expect from Gregory.
    • 4/5
      I found this book awesome -- easily one of Philippa Gregory's best. Although I still haven't read two books in this series (I am definitely going to re-read this once I get to those), I thought this novel did a fine job of tying up many of the loose ends that exist in the series in exciting, dramatic ways.

      Reading this book was a fascinating, fun experience. If you like Philippa Gregory and any of the novels in The Cousins' War series, this is a must read.

      As usual, Gregory's new book was a pageturner -- I was hooked for two days straight.

      FYI, I was lucky enough to win my copy through the Goodreads first reads program.
    • 4/5
      Interesting but a little bit repetitive and long winded
    • 2/5
      This story was just okay. By the end of it, I found myself siding with crazy Henry! Elizabeth acts so ignorant and dull! She has no backbone and I wanted to pull my hair out by the end of the book!!!
    • 4/5
      Ms. Gregory's Cousins' War series continues with this tale of Elizabeth of York, the young woman who married Henry Tudor after Richard III was killed at the battle of Bosworth. Henry VII was not secure on his throne and felt that having a York connection would help him with the people but nothing could help him in the personality department. He grew up in exile, ruled by a domineering mother who felt that her son was the God ordained King of England and she would do anything to see him on the throne.This novel assumes that Elizabeth and Richard were lovers and that she was in deep mourning when forced to marry Henry for the good of her family and the good of the country. Let's just say they weren't the best of friends and leave it at that. Ms Gregory manages to create the atmosphere of mistrust and fear that has always been associated with the reign of Henry VII as so many were looking to return the house of York to the throne either through remaining family members (Warwicks) or the rumored return of the sons of Edward IV, long thought to have disappeared from their imprisonment in the Tower of London. One intriguing possibility for young Richard to have survived is presented. This leads to the sad tale of Perkin Warbeck - the pretender that came to England looking to claim the throne.I enjoyed most everything about this book except The White Princess herself. She seemed to be almost a non-entity. Almost every sentence out of her mouth was a question, repeating back what was just said to her. It about drove me batty. She seemed almost incapable of a thought of her own. She was indecisive and almost cardboard. I don't know why Ms. Gregory chose to portray her this way - history indicates she was not a strong woman but nothing indicates she was stupid. It was a disappointment when the rest of the book was enjoyable.As always Ms. Gregory's books offer views that vary from other historical points of view. It is, after all historical fiction and a story to be enjoyed, not history.
    • 4/5
      I was a little concerned when I began this fifth book in the Cousins' War series because I had not read any of the previous books. However, Gregory's writing style sucked me right into this story of Princess Elizabeth of York who was the lover of her uncle Richard III and the bride of Henry Tudor. I was drawn into the worldview of this young woman who knew from the beginning that she was a pawn to be played out as those in power wanted. Elizabeth was torn between her mother who was constantly scheming to bring a York prince to power and her new loyalty to her Tudor husband and her own Tudor children. While I didn't at all like Henry Tudor who was suspicious and paranoid, I could understand how he came to be that way. He seemed to think of himself as a usurper and surrounded by enemies (and his actions acted as a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy as he created even more enemies due to his suspicions and harsh penalties). Elizabeth tried to guide him to be a better king but couldn't overcome the influence of his mother. Henry's obsession with eliminating any York heir to the throne dominated the book. While Elizabeth's brothers Edward and Richard were assumed to have died in the Tower, no bodies were found and the pretenders were constant. Adding to the confusion, Elizabeth's mother might have been able to smuggle her younger son Richard out of the Tower and send him to safety making the possibility of a real York prince a reality. Elizabeth is torn between her vows to Henry and her heart's desire to have her younger brother be alive. The writing was exquisite and the story was compelling. I couldn't stop reading. Fans of historical fiction are right to have made Philippa Gregory's books so popular. This won't be the last that I read.
    • 5/5
      Loved it. My favorite narrator. very detaile and beautifully written. I love this author
    • 5/5
      What a Wonderfull telling of that period in ry
      Another audio to listen too again and again
      Thank you to every one
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed listening to this book, hard to put down!
    • 3/5
      Philippa Gregory has established herself as the queen of historical fiction without doubt. I have read all of the cousins war and have found that I still enjoyed ‘The White Queen’ the best of all. I did find that all the books in the cousins war were very repetitive and could be overlong. The reason being is that anybody who has read them will know is that the books tell the same story albeit it told from the point of view from each queen. Then out comes the brilliant tv series ‘The White Queen’ which combines all the books together.The White Princess I was looking forward to as it was moving on forwards with the story of Elizabeth of York and her marriage to Henry Tudor. Again the book is full of historical facts with fiction thrown in for good measure. The first part of the book I loved. The last half of the books harped on heavily about the princes in the tower and Henry Tudors battle with the pretenders and Perkin Warbeck. This section of the book was way too long and I was flicking through very quickly as I was getting really bored as again the book was becoming very repetitive. This section of the book could have been dealt with a lot more quickly and the book would then have been more enjoyable.There is no doubt that PG is a great author and historian and I do like to watch her when she appears on tv and will look out for more book by her. Perhaps she could leave the Tudors alone for a while and write a stand alone book or can we expect next ‘The Red Prince’ and go through all the same tales again !
    • 4/5
      I found this book heartbreaking and fascinating. I enjoy how Philippa Gregory weaves history with fiction, giving her own take on the unconfirmed history that we may never know the truth.I have become intrigued by the history surrounding not just The War of the Roses but Tudor court as well. What has pulled me into this series is that it’s focusing on the women rather than the men. Showing women like Elizabeth of York, showing that she was not just a meek woman, but that she had her own blood of iron.In some ways, I found her braver than the men she was surrounded by. Keeping a mask in place for not only her own safety, but that of what remained of her family and her children.Used for 52 Books in 52 Weeks Reading Challenge 2023 prompt #35- A Book You Meant to Read Last Year.
    • 2/5
      So this book has Henry forcing himself on Elizabeth to be sure she is fertile. Why? Her mother had 12 children, her Grandmother had even more. The Woodvilles were a very fertile family. The complaint about the family by their enemies was there were so many of them. Henry is portrayed as a horrible man. Elizabeth comes across as a naive fool. Sure her young cousin would not act as a traitor, but he is an obvious pawn for her husband's enemies. What is dramatic is chosen over what is historically accurate.All the historical evidence we have leads most historians to believe Henry VII and Elizabeth of York had a good marriage of people who cared about each other.
    • 2/5
      It is the time of Henry VII in English history and his marriage to Elizabeth of York. The underlying story is of the Princes in the Tower and in particularly Richard Duke of York and the trouble he brought to Henry's reign.
      This is one of my favourite periods of history but I found the book uninteresting and the characters one dimensional.
      I gave it 2 stars because to my surprise I actually got to the end.
      I think I will go back to reading historical non-fiction.
    • 4/5
      The insecurity of Henry VII depicted in this book really got to me. The book is well written for historic fiction, I just think the author may be more favorably bias toward Richard III and depicted Henry VII in a paranoia state of mind.
    • 5/5
      I found this 5th book in the Plantagenet and Tudor novels to be just as intriguing as the others have been. Once again, the back stabbing, switching of loyalties, and execution of those who threaten a king's power, no matter how small, never ceases to amaze me. From my own reading, what actually happened to the characters when they were alive is correctly depicted in this book. Of course we don't know how they felt or dealt with the hard situations they had to face, but the author has done a commendable job of writing a story that seems realistic to me. I believe that the prevailing theory about the princes in the tower is that they were definitely killed there, and the author doesn't propose that theory in this book, but an alternate idea of what happened at least to Prince Richard is interesting.
    • 4/5
      It's a little disappointing that the white princess isn't as strong of a character as her mother and grandmother. She's not entirely a pushover but compared to the other women she's very meh. She does her best though and it's one of the sadder books of this whole series.
    • 3/5
      Great perspective on those around the king, reminded me a lot of The Constant Princess.
    • 2/5
      One of the more engaging of this series.
    • 4/5
      The story of Elizabeth of York, the wife of Henry VII, the first Tudor on the throne after defeating the Yorks at the Battle of Bosworth. Henry must marry Elizabeth in an effort to unify the country. This is the story of their marriage. Henry is controlled by his mother, Margaret Beaufort who gave birth to him at a very early age. Margaret's goal in life is to see Henry on the throne of England.Elizabeth is the daughter of Elizabeth Woodville, the beautiful wife of Edward IV who was on the throne. The story is a bit too long with details of Henry's obsessive fear and paranoia. Always unsure on the throne, he sees plots against him in all directions including from his wife. Although Henry and Elizabeth do for a while seem to come to terms and actually have an affection for each other, his fear is overwhelming. The marriage produces four children including Arthur who does succeed Henry, but Henry VIII is the most famous. A typical Gregory novel; a good read, but this one does drag on a bit.
    • 3/5
      3.5 stars. It was interesting to see how Philippa Gregory continued her story from The White Queen, When Elizabeth Woodville sent a pauper to the Tower instead of Richard Duke of York and sent her youngest son out into sea, hoping that he would find safety with her sister Margaret. I wasn't sure how she was going to make that play out in this book, but she did a pretty good job keeping up with it. Though usually Philippa Gregory's lack of adherence to fact bothers me, this time it was made interesting because I wasn't sure of how the book would turn out. I thought that the resolution of the plot set up in The White Queen was pretty well done, but besides that I didn't much care for the book. Elizabeth of York was portrayed as a rather passive character and in a series that focuses on the women of the Cousins' War, I did not appreciate her portrayal.
    • 5/5
      The story is about Elizabeth Princess of York, who is commanded to marry (1486) the new usurper to the throne of England, as a tie (of peace) between the Houses of York and Lancaster. intricately woven is the mystery of the Two Princes of the Tower, and Henry's fear of his throne being taken from him. An awesome account of a monarch's fear that his throne will be usurped, as he did to another, treachery or treason. King Henry VII and his Queen Elizabeth of York. Wonderful story telling and insight into the conditions during the War of the Roses. Henry, as portrayed in the story, is an arrogant spoilt brat coddled by his mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, his father of the House of Tudor. Throughout the book are the comparison of the Tudor attitude of kingship (inbred by Lady Margaret Beaufort) and Elizabeth of York's recollections of her Father, the true King of England. Much of the story, reflects on Henry's fear of an usurper to the throne and Elizabeth's indifference to gossip and truth, for the sake of peace between husband and wife.to me, the book abruptly ends during the winter of 1499, after the execution of the two prisoners of the tower, and Henry's withdrawal from court. Elizabeth died in February 1503, shortly after the birth of Katherine Tudor, who also died. Some say Henry died of a broken heart in April 1509, (maybe) but from the story, i believe from guilt.
    • 2/5
      One of the most monotonous novels I have ever read, turgid and thoroughly unenjoyable. I found myself skipping over paragraphs, and longing for the end. A real slog of a read.
    • 4/5
      History tells us that Henry VII and Elizabeth of York's union appears to have been happy. They were married within a year of his 1485 coronation and had seven children. He did not remarry after she died, aged 37, in 1503. Philippa Gregory imagines a woman torn between loyalty to her husband (and her children) and her hopes that her brothers might have survived the Tower to topple him. Elizabeth's brothers, Edward V and Richard of York, have been missing and presumed dead for some time. Richard III put them in the Tower of London, supposedly to protect them, as he took the throne. They disappeared, and historians have all sorts of theories about what became of them.

      As The White Princess opens, Elizabeth of York is mourning the death of her lover Richard III (rently found under a parking lot in Leicester). This may seem far-fetched given Richard was Elizabeth’s uncle and had incarcerated her brothers in the Tower where they met their end. The author is pursuing a story line that has been suggested by a historical document. I imagine none of us really know whether Elizabeth and Richard III were lovers so the constant references in the book bordered on annoying.

      We are party to Elizabeth’s innermost thoughts as she matures from naive girl to fully-fledged and complex woman whose fidelity is tested to an increasing degree as time moves on. Henry, paranoid and emotionally frigid, lives in the shadow of his indomitable mother, Margaret Beaufort, whose years of relentless efforts have put him on the throne. I really enjoyed seeing both Margaret and Elizabeth's mother, Elizabeth Woodville, return to scheme on behalf of their children. I enjoyed both the White Queen in 2009 and the Red Queen in 2010.

      Elizabeth was the daughter of a king (Edward IV); the sister of a king (Edward V); the niece of a king (Richard III); the wife of a king (Henry VII); and the mother of a king (the infamous Henry VIII). She also is the grandmother of indomitable Queen Elizabeth I. What a great story and a fascinating look at the beginnings of the Tudor reign.

    • 4/5
      When starting another Gregory audiobook narrated by Bianca Amato, it is like welcoming an old friend back into my life for awhile. She truly has a way of embracing the characters and bringing them to life. The story of young Elizabeth was no different, as we find ourselves wishing the best for the young woman who has so many odds stacked against her.We learn early on of the love affair Elizabeth had with the late Richard III, and realize that her marriage to Henry is a political move to appease her parents. Henry has fought against everything Elizabeth held dear, her father, family, and even her lover. He, in some way, is responsible for all of their deaths, but in order to secure his crown, Henry did what needed to be done.Now that Henry has the crown and a beautiful bride at his side, one would think that he would not feel the threat of betrayal. But that is not the case, especially with his mother Margaret dictating his every move and somehow controlling his thoughts. When the possibility of a York heir returning to England arises, everything Henry and his mother have worked for could be lost. This was a very passionate novel as Elizabeth pines for her lost love, but then also embraces the open arms of her new king and husband. Just when she thinks there may be hope for a real relationship with her husband, his mother intercedes, reminding him what is at stake. Since Elizabeth is a York heir herself, her motives can never be trusted.I think this review sums up the novel pretty good and overall it was an enjoyable experience. With themes of love, honor, family, and royalty, you may enjoy this book as much as I did. I don't hesitate in recommending this novel for either personal leisure or as a book club selection.
    • 2/5
      I sadly have to give this a lower rating than all of Philippa's other books. Let's break down my reasons.

      1. I have read in many books that King Henry VII loved Elizabeth of York and never cheated on her or raped her. Philippa's portrayal of Henry and Elizabeth was very poor. Henry loved Elizabeth and Elizabeth loved Henry. No, they may not have loved each other right away, but that love emerged and stayed. Henry never took a mistress like Edward did. So Lady Katherine from Scotland probably would not have turned Henry's head and he would not have slept with her.

      2. Elizabeth was portrayed as a rather dumb woman. I would imagine that Elizabeth did not act like this especially with the upbringing she had from both King Edward and Elizabeth Woodville. I think for love of Henry she would have told him the things she knew and not just constantly stated she did not know about everything she was asked. I noticed that in both this novel and The Constant Princess, Elizabeth was shown as weak and let her mother in law basically boss her around. Yes, I could see Lady Margaret trying, but I do not think Elizabeth would have let her succeed. Elizabeth would have probably worked out a compromise with Lady Margaret to keep them both happy. Plus I have read that Lady Margaret did love Elizabeth.

      Overall this book was not as enjoyable as the previous Cousin's of War novels or the Tudor Court series. Which is a pity because I was really looking forward to reading about Elizabeth of York.
    • 3/5
      “The White Princess” is set from 1485-99 and is told from Elizabeth of York’s point of view. Elizabeth is famous for being daughter of Edward IV, niece – and alleged lover – of Richard III, wife of Henry VII, mother of Henry VIII, and grandmother to three Tudor monarchs.Yet despite her “fame”, she is portrayed in this fictional account as a queen wielding no power who knows hardly anything. A large part of the story features her husband or mother-in-law asking her questions to which Elizabeth invariably answers, “I don’t know.” This proves a little tiresome after a while, as repetition tends to do in literature.Repetition, in fact, is a weakness of this novel. After a good opening, the story gradually becomes ever more one-dimensional. Elizabeth will repeat whatever someone has just said to her as a question: “He’s here.” “He’s here?” Henry VII is forever fretting about “the boy” who he fears is Elizabeth’s brother Richard; the youngest of the princes believed to have been murdered in the tower.It’s obvious to the reader that “the boy” *is* Richard, especially when Elizabeth or her fanatically religious mother-in-law will almost speak his name when they knows they mustn’t. Thus it seems silly that Elizabeth refers to him as “the boy” during her narration, as there’s no doubt in the reader’s mind that it’s Richard, especially to those who’ve read “The White Queen”.As with the aforementioned title, this tome, and the other books in the series, there are the constant reminders of who’s who. Granted, there are several people with the same name, but the way Elizabeth continually gives individuals their full title, or names them and adds who they are to her or who they are married to, makes the work feel more like a children’s novel.Perhaps the silliest thing to accept is Elizabeth’s belief – or prediction – that Henry will lose a son, a grandson, and that the Tudor line will die out with a girl – or to be more exact, a Virgin Queen. Elizabeth even describes a well-known (but not in the 1400s) portrait of Elizabeth I. I realise that the author has included supernatural elements into this series, and like other readers I am ready to suspend belief regarding this, but the above-mentioned prediction by Elizabeth is too silly. Elizabeth, who is forever stating “I don’t know” when asked questions about recent or present events, knows what’s going to happen 100 years into the futureOn the plus side, the author does create a fifteenth-century atmosphere with her writing. She made me sympathise for “the boy” – aka Perkin Warbeck, aka Richard Duke of York – and even more so for Edward of Warwick, whose life was on the most part wasted because of his name.
    • 3/5
      Not as good as previous books in this series. Elizabeth of York doesn't seem to have actually DONE anything, just hovered around the edge of history - daughter of Edward IV, Wife of Henry VII, mother of Henry VIII - you would think she would be an exciting and powerful character but she doesn't come across that way at all. Nothing seems to happen in this story except the endless chasing of the 'pretender' (perhaps Richard, one of the Princes in the Tower) across Europe. I was quite glad to get to the end of this book!
    • 4/5
      I would normally say that I do not like historical fiction, but Phillipa Gregory manages neither to be too heavy on the fact or too heavy on the fiction. She manages to write a character that I can believe and through this a court and life that I find to be entirly believable and absorbing. My only complains is that I must get the history in order as this is a book 5
    • 5/5
      Philipa Gregory never disappoints! I always love her books; they are engaging and entertaining while making you feel you are right in the heart of the time period. A great book to carry you away to a faraway time in a faraway land.
    • 3/5
      I love this series but this is probably my least favorite book of this series so far. I can usually count on any Philippa Gregory book to be well written and entertaining even if, as so many say, they are only loosely based on actual history. Gregory's books usually highlight all of the secrets, scandal, and struggles of the monarchy and they make me want to find out more about these fascinating and often tragic rulers.

      The White Princess focuses on the court of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York at what Henry believes is the end of the Cousin's War. For some reason, this time, I was underwhelmed by the characters. It seemed that all of the dynamic players in this saga were mostly secondary characters in The White Princess. Henry's devout and powerful mother Margaret and Elizabeth's wily and resourceful mother Elizabeth were the real forces to be reckoned with. Henry and Elizabeth were very much overshadowed their more charismatic parent and ended up sounding ineffectual and even rather pathetic. My inability to connect with or empathize with Elizabeth diminished my enjoyment of her story.

      One thing that I noticed about Gregory's characters is that, when writing about the relationships between two sisters, they seem to always be shown as extremely antagonistic with the sisters being barely cordial to one another yet still loyal to their house. I found this to be true with Anne and Mary's relationship in The Other Boleyn Girl as well as with Anne and Isabelle in The Kingmaker's Daughter and actually remarked on the similarities between the two in my review of The Kingmaker's Daughter. I was a little disappointed to see this same theme repeated in The White Princess.

      Overall, The White Princess is good, it's not great, and definitely not what I was expecting. My friend who is a huge fan of The Cousins War series and has been dying to read this newest book even said that each time she begins reading The White Princess, she ends up falling asleep. I'm hoping the next book (will there be another in this series?) will be much stronger and more what I've come to expect from Gregory.