Today is my turn on the blog tour for Elizabeth Of York: The Last White Rose. My review is written with thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me on the blog tour and to the publisher for my copy of the book.

Blurb:

Mother. Survivor. Queen.

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AN ENGLISH PRINCESS, BORN INTO A WAR BETWEEN TWO FAMILIES.

Eldest daughter of the royal House of York, Elizabeth dreams of a crown to call her own. But when her beloved father, King Edward, dies suddenly, her destiny is rewritten.

Her family’s enemies close in. Two young princes are murdered in the Tower. Then her uncle seizes power – and vows to make Elizabeth his queen.

But another claimant seeks the throne, the upstart son of the rival royal House of Lancaster. Marriage to this Henry Tudor would unite the white rose of York and the red of Lancaster – and change everything.

A great new age awaits. Now Elizabeth must choose her allies – and husband – wisely, and fight for her right to rule.

Review:

Elizabeth Of York: The Last White Rose is set during The Wars Of The Roses – a period in history I don’t know much about. As a result, I found this novel very interesting. The book comes in at over 600 pages so lt is clear that the author is very knowledgeable about her subject and she uses her knowledge to create a compelling story from which I learnt a lot although at times the length felt a little overwhelming. 

The novel is written from Elizabeth’s perspective, beginning when she is a young child and continuing into her adulthood. Weir very cleverly adapts her portrayal of Elizabeth to suit her age so that we always see things through her eyes. She’s not someone you read much about in traditional history books so I  enjoyed seeing things from her viewpoint as it helped me to understand how the characters would have been feeling in response to the political developments of the time. There are also some emotional moments and I was really able to empathise with the characters. I loved being taken back to the period and the writing is so descriptive that I felt I was living it with her. There were also lots of supporting characters and although at times, it was difficult to keep up as they all had similar names (not the author’s fault) I enjoyed the way the author depicted Elizabeth’s relationship with them. 

I listened to the audio version of the novel and I appreciated the way the narrator brought the daily routines of the court and the various battles to life. 

Elizabeth Of York: The Last White Rose is available from Amazon.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here: