First off, all I have to say is WOW! There are no words to describe how much I enjoyed this book. The emotions alone that this book made me feel are unimmaginable. This is the first book I have read by Philippa Gregory and it was a good choice on my part. I must admit the first chapter was a little too detailed for my taste and I almost didn't read the book because of it. It took much convincing from my mother to push past it as my mother started reading the book shortly after I started and pushed past it herself.

The plot and story line itself was very well thought out, the characters very well grown. The twists and turns the book had taken kept me on the toes and I never knew quite was to expect at each change of time. In my opinion of all the historical romances I've read this is one of my new all-time favourites, and is once again in my opinion a very well written one. This is definately on my re-reading list. I enjoyed it way to much to put it down.

This book was the easiest of the P&T series to get through (so far), as I did not dislike or loathe Anne Neville. I did like Jacquetta & Elizabeth in their books but with the start of a series, there's a lot of background to get through, so they are just slower going & I hated Margaret Stanley so that one took a while as I kept wanting to throw the book across the room!

I felt that Anne & her sister, Isabel, were a bit like Lydia & Kitty from Pride & Prejudice. While they are both able to think for themselves and make up their own minds, they end up believing whatever anyone else tells them and are quite frankly, a bit simple. Due to the fact that the family trees of both of their families were interwoven, the genetic inbreeding is most likely the reason for this.

I know this is a work of fiction, but I think that if the events of this book unfolded close to this in real life, then I think there is a point in history that if one thing was done differently, it would have completely changed Anne's life. That point would have been when she went to the coronation of Elizabeth Woodville and instead of listening to her mother & sister (whom hated the Queen), she had reached out to Elizabeth (& vice versa--as they were both smitten) to be part of her court, her life would have not turned out the painful way it did.

When you read a book that is about real people that existed and there are large gaps in the actual histories about these people, you do wonder 'what if?'. Philippa Gregory does a lot of research for her characters and I think she does a good job of giving us that 'what if?' even if it leaves us still asking questions.

Just coming off of reading the events of the Cousin's War from the viewpoint of Margaret Beaufort and seeing how many people disliked her character, I'm a little surprised to find that Anne Neville is not that much better. You get to see more of Richard, which is interesting to compare to the viewpoints the other narrating women have had of him in the Plantagenet novels past), but Anne herself is just as childish and haughty as Margaret, just without the religious aspect, and with even less control. While Margaret is portrayed to at least have had a hand in the events happening around her, Anne always seems to just be tugged along; the decisions are explained to her, the reasonings walked through for her, and she just gets to be afraid of her enemies and sure of her place, despite the fact that whatever her claim is, she doesn't do much to actively work towards it. For an author who usually makes the women in history seem like players in the game that ignores them, it almost seems like Anne Neville is one character who isn't even a player in her own narration.

Gregory's books can be hit and miss, but I found this one pretty entertaining. It's still got a bit of the supernatural (the reason I skipped her last book about Jacquetta Woodville) but I forgave it for having reminded me of reading Sharon Kay Penman's Sunne in Splendour. If you're interested in the Wars of the Roses period, pick that one up - it's epic.

I've read Gregory's other historical fiction works from this time period. "The Kingmaker's Daughter" is right on par with the other books, an interesting read if you enjoy this period of history. I liked the first two books better but did enjoy this one.