Book Tour -- The Lady of the Rivers

Title: The Lady of the Rivers
Author: Philippa Gregory
Genre: Historical fiction
Pages: Hardback, 439
Published: 2011
Opening Lines: "She sits, this odd trophy of war, as neat as an obedient child, on a small stool in the corner of her cell. At her feet are the remains of her dinner on a pewter platter, laid on the straw."

"Descended from Melusina, the river goddess, Jacquetta always has had the gift of second sight. As a child visiting her uncle, she met his prisoner, Joan of Arc, and saw her own power reflected in the young woman accused of witchcraft. They share the mystery of the tarot card and the wheel of fortune before Joan is taken to a horrific death at the hands of the English rulers of France. Jacquetta understands the danger for a woman who dares to dream.

"Jacquetta is married to the Duke of Bedford, English regent of France, and he introduces her to a mysterious world of learning and alchemy. Her only friend in the great household is the duke's squire Richard Woodville, who is at her side when the duke's death leaves her a wealthy young widow. The two become lovers and marry in secret, returning to England to serve the court of the young King Henry VI, where Jacquetta becomes a close and loyal friend to his new queen.

"The Woodvilles soon achieve a place at the very heart of the Lancaster court, though Jacquetta can sense the growing threat from the people of Engliand and the danger of royal rivals. Not even their courage and loyalty can keep the House of Lancaster on the throne. Henry the king slides into a mysterious sleep; Margaret the queen turns to untrustworthy favorites for help; and Richard, Duke of York, threatens to overturn the whole kingdom for his rival dynasty.

"Jacquetta fights for her king, her queen, and for her daughter Elizabeth for whom Jacquetta can sense an extraordinary and unexpected future: a change of fortune, the throne of England, and the white rose of York."




~ Jacket copy


Thoughts: Wow! What else can I say? I've wanted to read Philippa Gregory for years, but never got around to picking up her books at the local bookstore or library. When I saw the book tour for this book come around, I was quick to jump at the opportunity. And, honestly, I am extremely happy that I did!

This book takes place over the years 1430 - 1464. It follows the major part of Jacquetta of Luxembourg the Dowager Duchess of Bedford and the Lady of Rivers. After living with and befriending Joan of Arc before her death at the hands of the English, the young woman is married to the widowed John Duke of Bedford. Wanting to secure the French lands for his young nephew, Henry VI the King of England, he marries Jacquetta to gain use of her talents as the descendant of Melusina. After his untimely death, the book follows Jacquetta through her secret marriage to John's squire, Richard of Woodville, and the beginning of the War of the Roses.

I read a view reviews on Goodreads that express concern over Gregory's continual use of titles. While I agree that Jacquetta and the queen might not always use titles when conversing together, I found that I appreciated the author continuing to tell the audience the titles. With several royals in England -- and France -- sharing names, I could see myself getting confused.

Since this is the first book I've read by Gregory, I don't have anything else to compare this to. That being said, I really enjoyed this book! It was extremely engaging. The passing of time did not get boggy, and I felt the pacing and flow stayed consistence through the book. Even though they were minor in comparison to Jacquetta, the over characters in the book felt as richly fleshed out as Jacquetta herself.

When I was still in school, I seriously pursued getting at grad degree in Medieval Studies. But, after reading this book, I am ashamed to say that I don't know much about the War of Roses. Considering that this was the war that put the Tudors on the throne, it is really sad that I don't know much about it. However, after reading this book, I am very interested in learning more. In addition, the previous books in this series has made their way onto my wishlist!

Rating:
For: Crazy Book Tours
Tour Info: The list of tour stops

Sinn

1 comment:

  1. I have several of her books on my book shelf. I haven't read ANY of them. I don't know enough about the history I'm afraid I'd get confused...

    ReplyDelete

I comment in the thread. Please subscribe to receive my comments and the things other awesome people have to say ^_^

Search

Categories

'70s (1) '80s (1) '90s (1) 1 skull (7) 100 followers giveaway (2) 14 (1) 1980's horror (1) 2 skulls (21) 2011 in review (1) 2012 (1) 3 skulls (29) 3 stars (1) 4 skulls (33) 4 stars (1) 5 skulls (50) 5 stars (1) 50 books in 2011 (1) 5skulls (1) 80s nostalgia (1) a court of mist and fury (1) a court of thorns and roses (1) a local habitation (1) a perfect blood (1) a rush of wings (1) abuse (1) adam nevill (1) adam neville (1) adrian phoenix (2) adults only (3) after the ending (1) alice's adventures in wonderland (1) alien invasion (1) alien invation (1) aliens (3) aliens: earth hive (1) ally condie (2) alma katsu (1) amanda ashby (1) amy lukavics (2) anastasia (1) andrea cremer (1) ania ahlborn (3) annie walls (1) antarctica (1) antebellum (1) anthology (1) apocalypse (2) apocalypse watch 2012 (9) arc (2) ashfall (1) audio book (8) author interview (3) autobiography (1) award (3) bag of bones (1) batman (1) bdsm (5) beast fable (1) beautiful creatures (1) beautiful darkness (1) beauty and the beast (2) becca fitzpatrick (1) bentley little (1) best of 2011 (1) bethany griffin (1) beverly kills (1) biography (1) bird box (1) bisexuality (1) bite club (1) black magic sanction (1) blog award (1) blog layouts (1) blogoversary (2) blood rights (1) blood rights vampires kristen painter (1) blood rites (1) bloodfever (1) bloody mary (1) bob marley (1) Book Beginnings (2) book blogger hop (5) book challenge (7) book club (1) book review (146) book review suzanne collins (5) book review urban fantasy (2) book reviw (1) book tour (6) brenna yovanoff (1) brian asman (1) brian keene (1) brother (1) bullet for my valentine (1) business (1) c.e. murphy (1) caitlin r. kiernan (1) cameron dokey (1) cameron roubique (1) campy horror (2) Candace Welsh (1) cannibalism (1) carrie ryan (3) carrie vaughn (2) catching fire (1) catholic (1) catriona ward (1) cenobites (1) censorship (1) charlaine harris (2) charlene teglia (1) charlie higson (1) cherie feather (1) cherokee nattion (1) Chic and Sassy Designs (1) children of paranoia (1) china (1) chivalry (1) chris wooding (1) christopher moore (1) cinder (1) cinderella (2) civil war (1) claimed by the wolf (1) claire thompson (1) classics (3) clive barker (1) cold (1) comedic horror (3) comfort food (1) comfort foods (1) comic (2) coming of age (1) commenting (1) contagious (1) contemporary (3) conversation (1) cooking (1) courtly lover (1) Courtney Crumin and the Night Things (1) courtney summers (1) coyote (1) coyote blue (1) craig johnson (1) crime fiction (1) crime thriller (1) crossed (1) crossover (1) crow (1) cuckoo song (1) cyborg (1) D/s (1) dan wells (1) dana fredsti (1) Daniel Volpe (1) dante (1) dare (1) dark fantasy (2) darkfever (1) dathan auerbach (1) daughter of smoke and bone (1) daughters unto devils (1) David Clement-Davies (1) david hahn (1) david oliver relin (1) david tischman (1) days of blood & starlight (1) dd barant (1) dead (1) dead beat (1) dead light (1) dead on the delta (1) dead until dark (1) deadly night (1) dean koontz (2) dearly departed (1) death masks (1) deliverance (1) demon hunts (2) demon possession (2) demonic (1) demons (3) devil (1) diana rowland (3) DID (1) dirty little secret (1) disaster (1) disco deathtrap (1) discount armageddon (1) discussion (1) disliking a book (1) disqus (1) DMC: Devil May Cry (1) DNF (1) dnf skull (2) dreamfever (1) dresden files (3) duncan ralston (1) dust and decay (1) dying bites (1) dystopian fiction (7) e-book (1) e.l. james (3) eat slay love (1) edgar allan poe (1) education (1) elissa wall (1) elizabeth reuter (1) ellen potter (1) Emily Lloyd-Jones (1) England (1) erin a craig (1) ernest cline (1) erotica (10) even white trash zombies get the blues (1) exorcism (1) extreme horror (1) f. paul wilson (1) fae (6) faefever (1) faeries (2) fahrenheit 451 (1) fairies (1) fairy tales (3) fantasy (5) feed (1) female protagonist (1) fiction (8) fiction with zombies (5) fifty shades darker (1) fifty shades freed (1) fifty shades of grey (1) fighting to survive (1) film tie-in (1) final girls (1) fire baptized (1) first days (1) first days: as the world dies (1) flds (1) flesh and bone (1) follow friday (36) following (1) fool moon (1) Fragile (1) frances hardinge (1) FrankenDom (1) frostbitten (1) frozen (1) funny (1) furiously happy (1) gabriel's inferno (1) gabriel's rapture (1) game reboot (1) gargoyle (1) garth ennis (1) garth nix (1) geek (1) georgina kincaid (1) gerald's game (1) gfc (1) ghost hunters (1) ghost shadow (1) ghost story (4) ghost trackers (1) ghost walk (1) ghostland (1) ghosts (1) giveaway (7) godsmack (1) google reader (1) gothic (3) government (1) Grady Hendrix (3) grant wilson (1) graphic novel (8) grave peril (1) graveminder (1) greg mortenson (1) grim (1) guest post (3) gypsies tramps and thieves (1) halfway to the grave (1) Halloween (1) hammer of thor (1) haunted asylum (1) haunted house (4) heather blake (1) heather graham (2) Heather Morris (1) heavy metal (1) hellraiser (1) henry james (1) high school (1) hillybilly (1) historical (1) historical fiction (4) history (3) holiday (1) Holocaust (2) home before dark (1) horns (1) horror (37) horror/urban fantasy reading challenge (12) horror/urban fantasy reaing challenge (1) horrorstör (1) howard chaykin (1) humor (1) hush hush (2) IKEA (1) imm (1) in my mailbox (1) in the blood (1) infected (1) internet blackout (1) irresistibly sweet blog award (1) isaac marion (1) islam (1) isolation (1) it takes a witch (1) jane was here (1) jason hawes (1) jaye wells (1) jeaniene frost (6) jeff hirsch (1) jeffery deaver (1) jennifer blood (1) jenny lawson (1) jesse petersen (3) jim butcher (10) jodi lynn anderson (1) joe hill (2) jonathan maberry (3) joseph spencer (2) josh malerman (1) jrr tolkien (1) juneau (1) k (1) kami garcia (2) karen marie moning (5) kate williams (1) Katherine howe (1) katie alender (1) kelley armstrong (1) kenya wright (1) key west (1) kim harrison (3) kindle (1) kitty and the dead man's hand (1) kitty and the silver bullet (1) kitty thomas (1) kresley cole (1) l. frank baum (1) laini taylor (2) Lale Sokolov (1) late night (7) Laura André (1) Lazy Sunday (1) leaving (1) lee hunt (1) lee roland (1) lesbian (2) lia habel (1) liebster blog award (1) liesel hill (2) limerick (1) Lisa Unger (1) lit rpg (1) little red riding hood (1) living dead in dallas (1) lolita (1) longmire (1) lost and forgotten languages of shanghai (1) lovecraftian (1) madeline sheehan (1) mages (1) magic (1) malice (1) man fuck this house (1) margaret stohl (2) marilyn mason (1) marissa meyer (1) mark of the demon (1) married with zombies (1) masque of the red death (1) matched (1) matched series (1) matt baglio (1) matt shaw (1) MC (1) Melissa Marr (1) mental illness (2) meteor (1) Michael Vey the Prisoner of Cell 25 (1) middle east (1) midnight blue-light special (1) mike mullin (1) mike pace (1) mira grant (1) Mockingjay (1) monstrumology (1) monthly wrap-up (2) moon called (1) motorcycle (1) movie casting (1) movie review (1) muisc (1) my book boyfriend (3) my life as a white trash zombie (1) my wishlist saturday (1) mystery (11) mythology (2) naomi novik (1) native americans (1) nazi germany (1) necromancy (1) neil gaiman (3) nerd (1) new adult (2) new blog (1) new orleans (1) new year (1) night huntress series (1) nightlife (1) nightshade (1) non-fiction (4) nos4a2 (1) nyc (1) old kingdom series (1) on my wishlist (1) one grave at a time (1) opinion (1) order of the gash (1) pakistan (1) pale demon (1) parallel dimensions (1) paranormal (2) paranormal romance (11) partials (1) pass slowly (1) patricia briggs (2) paul kane (1) percy jackson (1) persistence of vision (2) peter clines (1) peter straub (3) philippa gregory (1) pinterest (1) plague town (1) podcast (2) podiobook (1) poison princess (1) police (1) political thriller (1) post-apocalyptic (10) post-WWI (1) promo (2) promo blitz (3) proven guilty (1) PSA (1) puppy (1) quote (1) r (1) R.A.K. (1) rachel morgan (1) random acts of kindess (1) ravenhurst (1) ray bradbury (1) ray chen smith (1) re-read (1) reading challenge (2) ready player one (1) red-headed stepchild (1) resident evil 6 (1) retelling (6) retellings (3) review (7) rhiannon frater (3) richard paul evans. 3 skulls (1) richelle mead (3) rick riordan (1) rick yancey (3) riley sager (1) rob thurman (1) robbie dorman (1) Robin L Rotham (1) rockabilly (1) romance (2) rosamund hodge (1) rosemary and rue (1) ruiyan xu (1) rumpelstiltskin (1) rusty fiischer (1) ryan c. thomas (1) s. evan townsend (1) s.g. browne (1) salem witch trials (1) sandman (1) sara gruen (1) sarah j maas (2) sarah kernochan (1) schools (1) sci-fi (7) scott sigler (2) sean mcdonough (1) seanan mcguire (4) seether (1) serial killer (1) sexuality (1) shadowfever (1) shaman (1) Shawn Sarles (1) sherlock holmes (1) sight (1) silk (1) simon holt (1) sinnful 2¢ (3) slasher (4) slasher horror (2) slavery (1) slippage (1) smallpox (1) song (1) SOPA (1) Soulstice (1) soundtrack (1) speculative fiction (1) spinning silver (1) stacey jay (1) stacking the shelves (1) stalker (1) steampunk (2) stephanie meyer (1) stephen ayers (1) stephen king (3) Stephen King project (1) steve perry (1) stolen innocence (1) stop online piracy act (1) storm born (1) stylish blogger award (1) submission (1) succubus blues (1) succubus on top (1) summer knight (1) summer reads (1) supernatural (1) supernatural suspense (1) susan beth pfeffer (3) susanne winnacker (1) suspense (3) sylvian reynard (2) T (1) taking on the dead (1) tami jackson (1) TAPS (1) TBR pile (1) tears don't fall (1) teaser tuesday (39) technical difficulties (3) ted naifeh (1) texas chainsaw massacre (1) the auction (1) the babysitters coven (1) The Bone Collector (1) the car thief (1) the cold dish (1) the dark and hollow places (2) the dead and the gone (1) the dead girls of hysteria hall (1) the dead-tossed waves (2) the demon of renaissance drive (1) the divine comedy (1) the donner party (1) the eleventh plague (1) the enemy (1) the forest of hands and teeth (2) the game (1) the haunted (1) the hobbit (1) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (1) the house of salt and sorrows (1) the hunger (1) the hunger games (2) the isle of blood (1) the jazz cage (1) the kneebone boy (1) the lady of the rivers (1) the last house on needless street (1) the monstrumologist (1) the other life (1) the physick book of deliverance dane (1) the replacement (1) the rite: the making of a modern exorcist (1) the sandman (1) the sight (1) the summer i died (1) the taba convention (1) the taken (1) the talisman (1) the tomb (1) the vampire of new york (1) the women in the walls (1) the wonderful wizard of oz (1) theme song saturday (65) Theme Thursday (15) theodore weesner (1) theories (1) this is not a test (1) this world we live in (1) three little birds (1) thriller (6) tiger lily (1) toby venables (1) tomb raider 2013 (1) tomes of the dead: viking dead (1) top ten tuesday (1) trevor shane (1) trickster god (1) truth or dare friday (2) twilight (2) undead (1) undeniable (1) underneath (1) unrate (1) update (6) updates (1) urban fantasy (54) vacation (1) valentine's day (1) vampires (10) vanyel ashkevron (1) versatile blogger award (1) vicki pettersson (1) video game review (3) video games (1) vikings (2) viper moon (1) vladimir nabokov (1) volcano (1) voodoo (1) waiting on wednesday (1) war of southern independence (1) war of the roses (1) warm bodies (1) water for elephants (1) werewolf (1) werewolves (4) western (1) what maisie knew (1) whispered truth (1) white night (1) winner (2) winners (1) witch (2) wrong turn (1) wyoming (1) YA (17) YA adventure (3) ya comedic horror (1) YA contemporary fiction (1) ya dark fantasy (1) YA dystopia (1) YA fantasy (6) YA fiction (22) YA historical fiction (1) ya horror (6) ya issues (1) YA mystery (1) YA paranormal romance (2) ya post-apocalyptic (14) ya retelling (1) ya retellings (1) YA romance (4) ya sci-fi (1) YA series (14) YA supernatural (1) YA supernatural romance (2) YA suspense (2) YA urban fantasy (2) ya with zombies (1) yellowstone national parl (1) zombie month (12) zombie music and movies (1) zombie queen of newbury high (1) zombies (24) zombies don't cry (1)

Archives

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Grab my Badge

Sinnful Books
 

Follow Me!

Follow on Bloglovin
Follow on Bloglovin

Followers

Linky Followers

Reading Addiction Blog Tours

Contributors

My Photo
"If you’re a freak like me, Wave your flag! If you’re a freak like me, Get off your ass! It’s our time now, To let it all hang out!" I am a recovering English major, closet bibliophile, breve addicted, zombie lover with a rockabilly and heavy metal fetish.
MyFreeCopyright.com Registered & Protected