Cassandra Reads

I got a copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley, for review

This book spans over 50 years of British history, from the War of the Roses (called, at the time, the Cousin's War) to the death of Henry VII in 1509. This timeframe isn't something I'm very familiar with. I'd heard of Henry VIII (I think everyone has), but I'd never really thought about his parents before. In light of my lack of knowledge, this review isn't going to focus on the facts laid out in this book but on the writing style.

This book is an in-depth look into the life of Elizabeth of York. It's very easy to read and has enough detail of the England of the time to explain some of Elizabeth's actions without the information being too much. Elizabeth was a archetype of what a Medieval Queen should be. She was devout, kind, compassionate, and was well connected: her father had been the King before Henry VII (aside from a takeover by her Uncle), which lead many to believe that she was the real Queen and he was King only though her.

The one thing I didn't like about this book was the foreshadowing of Elizabeth's death. I know she's been dead for centuries, but don't offer hints to when she's going to die. I kept waiting for it to happen and it make me lose focus on what I was trying to read, since I was too focused on when Elizabeth was going to die. I wouldn't have been all that surprised by her death even without the foreshadowing, although she died young. Her death affected me more than I thought it would. She'd be dead now regardless of when she died, but it still got to me. Part of that is Elizabeth herself, since she's the focus of this book and who she was got to me. A lot of that is Alison Weir's writing, since Weir makes Elizabeth come to life with her writing.