Okay, so the book "The Lady of the Rivers" by Philippa Gregory isn't totally about a queen militant, but I just adore that term. It stirs up vivid pictures of a medieval woman behaving 'badly'. That image, for some reason, is very appealing to me!
Gregory's latest historical fiction adventure is told by Jacquetta Woodville, an eyewitness and major player in the War of the Roses. She is also the mother of Gregory's White Queen, Elizabeth Woodville. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Jacquetta is a fascinating character all on her own.
I enjoy reading historical fiction and between Sharon Kay Penman and Philippa Gregory, I can satisfy my itch to explore the 'what ifs' surrounding these figures and the aspects of their lives that didn't survive to fill the pages of a history book. Both ladies write about medieval women behaving badly, they capture the vigor of the more than one queen militant, and wonder about the powers swirling near the throne.
2 comments:
One of these days I'm going to have to read some Gregory. She graduated from the same university that I did. (Univ. of Edinburgh)
I alternate between her and Penman. I think Penman writes with more historical detail and she does love her battle scenes. Gregory focuses more on her character's internal development. Both authors do a wonderful job of crafting strong, interesting women characters based on their historical counterparts.
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