Skip to main content

'The White Queen' by Philippa Gregory




Typical family drama; War between brothers, stories of heroism and a twist of supernatural elements makes it an amazing book to read!!

It is a fictionalized account of War of Roses that was held in 15th century England between Yorks and Lancaster. The plot is layered with different genres like romance, war and mystery. The protagonist, Elizabeth Woodwille, marries the crown prince Edward in the start of the novel and thus, begins a never ending pursuit of power. The king lost the war, he may have been killed, no one knows, but wait; after a couple of pages he is back to power; and he lost again. The characters are very detailed and Melusina, the water goddess, keeps adding notorious twists to the plot. The book also laments the misogyny of the times, by highlighting the plight of women and its strong women characters. 

Caution: Be patient if you get stuck in the storm of people changing their loyalty towards others for power because 'no war ever ends'. This book is one my re-read ones because I think it will always have something more to leave the readers wonder about.

Comments

Other posts:

'And Then There Were None' by Agatha Christie

It is a great mystery novel that keeps you on your toes. Ten people, random strangers, are summoned to a remote island by its mysterious millionaire owner for a lavish party. None of them knows the owner personally except his name, Mr U.N Owen. The expectation of a good vacation turns into their worst nightmares when a gramophone message charges all of them with murder. Among them, a Doctor operated while drunk and a super-rich star ran over his car on a pedestrian and never got caught, all of the people have committed a murder for which the law could not punish them( I hope you people don't have such a secret. If yes, please surrender).  You can't lie in the face of death. Terror mounts when one by one, they start getting killed according to a weird rhyme painted in their rooms. Here is the fact, there are only ten people on the island, and all of them were murdered by a human. Then who is the killer? Only the dead bodies can tell. One thing is for sure. By the weekend, there ...

To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee

To Kill a Mocking Bird undoubtedly is one of the best books of all time. It revolves around a six-year-old girl Scout and his father, Atticus, a lawyer. Their life is intertwined with Tom, a black. Tom is falsely accused of raping a flirtatious white girl, Mayella, and Atticus is appointed to defend him. But racism, gender roles, and discrimination are so deeply entrenched in society that Tom is already assumed guilty because of his colour. Even the case is just for the namesake to convict him. Even as an Indian, I was disgusted by thinking of discrimination existing in our society. But hope for the better is exhibited through Atticus, who actually tries to prove Tom innocent. For this, he is threatened by a mob and even looked down upon by his own family. But he keeps on fighting and inspires the reader to do the right thing even if the whole world turns up against him. He also imbibes courage and good traits in his children. I absolutely loved six-year-old Scout portraying courage an...

Book Review: 'All The Light We Cannot See' by Anthony Doerr

"Open your eyes and see what you can do with them before they close forever." War Stories have a different place in my heart. All the suffering and pain, I wonder whether it is worth it. Everybody loses the war in the end. All The Light We Cannot See is one such story. Not a great one, but a good one indeed. Set in the time of World War 2, the story is the coming together of two worlds. It shuffles between the world of Marie-Laure, a young girl in Paris, and Werner, a German boy, at a time when both the countries are at war. Marie-Laure, who became blind early in her childhood, lives with her father in Paris. He works for the National Museum of History in charge of its numerous locks. The other world belongs to Werner, a German boy and an orphan. Enthused by science since childhood, he is very skilled at repairing radios and was appointed to the brutal Hitler Army to detect and destroy the enemy's broadcasting messages.  With Germany's invasion of Paris, Marie-Laure a...