Review: The Sisters of Richard III by Sarah J Hodder

Synopsis: This book is the narrative of three women of York, sisters to not one, but two kings of England. Anne, Elizabeth and Margaret Plantagenet were the daughters of Richard, Duke of York and his wife, Cecily Neville, and therefore sisters to Edward IV and Richard III. These women watched from the sidelines as their father challenged England’s anointed king and lost his life, as their brothers fought together for the throne of England and then amongst themselves and as the Plantagenet dynasty fell, making way for the reign of the Tudors.

But they were not just bystanders; they had their own stories to tell. Anne of York was married to the Lancastrian Duke of Exeter who sided against her father and brother, before finding later happiness, albeit briefly, with her second husband. Elizabeth of York married John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk and became the mother of eleven children who would become thorns in the side of the Tudor kings and Margaret of York became Duchess of Burgundy, a hugely influential woman in her adopted kingdom although she never stopped supporting her family back in England. Between them, they witnessed and contributed to one of the most turbulent times in English history yet they have naturally been overshadowed by their more famous brothers. This is their story.

~ ~ ~

The story of the three Yorkists sisters - Anne, Elizabeth and Margaret - as told against the backdrop of the Wars of the Roses. And the story of the sisters is one full of persistence in keeping both the Yorkist cause and that of their family name, alive. With their mother Cecily, these three women were the great survivors of this tumultuous period in history.

Hodder provides the reader with a well-researched tome that covers off the events of the Wars of the Roses, whilst linking the lives of these women to both their family and the events.

That there may have been a perception that they had gone unremarked is only due to the fact that two of their brothers - Edward IV and Richard III - outshone them. However, they did not go completely unobserved - a careful historian or student of history will find all three women,scattered across the pages of numerous tomes. What Hodder does is bring this all under one book cover and puts their lives into context with events as their not only occurred but also how they impacted this particular family.

The keen reader of the Wars of the Roses history will enjoy this as will someone who is coming new into this period. There were many extraordinary women at this point in history - this is the story of three of them (four if you also count in their mother, Cecily).

Review: The Woodville Women by Sarah Hodder

Synopsis: Elizabeth Woodville, queen to Edward IV and mother of the Princes in the Tower.

Elizabeth of York, daughter of Elizabeth Woodville and the first Tudor queen of England.

Elizabeth Grey, granddaughter of Elizabeth Woodville and Countess of Kildare, whose life both in England and across the Irish sea was closely entwined with the Tudor Court.

This is the tale of three generations of women, linked by their name, Elizabeth, and by their family relationship. The story begins in the reign of the great Plantagenet Kings with the life of Elizabeth Woodville and ends in the reign of perhaps England’s most famous dynasty, that of the Tudor kings and queens. Through the life of Elizabeth of York, the first Tudor queen and Elizabeth Grey, cousin to Henry VIII and Mary Tudor, we explore the Tudor court and its dealings with the Earls of Kildare.

From the birth of our first Elizabeth to the death of our last, these three women lived through wars and coronations, births and deaths, celebration and tragedy and between them they experienced some of the most exciting and troubled times in English history. Mother, daughter and granddaughter: individually they each have their own fascinating story to tell; together their combined stories take us on a journey through a century of English life.

Okay - so what did I think. Well, what I had hoped for was a bit more about the Woodville Women - not just three Elizabeths. Whilst it is fairly obvious that there was a lot of research involved, the application could have done with some finessing. It is a very pro-Tudor piece, covering the usual myths, rumours and tropes, interspersed with assumption and supposition.

The first part deals some background including that of the period in which these women lived; Elizabeth Woodville's mother, Jacquetta of Luxembourg; the potential (and I stress potential) household dynamics, with a whole of lot of myth (including the legend of Melusine) and repeated referencing the works of Christine de Pizan. Whilst there is some merit to this introductory chapter, there is much that should have been left out.

The second part looks at mother and daughter - Elizabeth Woodville and Elizabeth Plantagenet - both queens of England, before the final part deals with Elizabeth Grey - though interesting in her own right, a rather curious choice.

Whilst we began with Jacquetta, and followed this with her daughter, granddaughter, and great granddaughter, as I mentioned, I was looking for a few more female family members. The inclusion of Elizabeth Woodville's sisters and nieces would have fleshed this out to present a more rounded overview of this particular familial branch of women. It is clear, however, that these three main women - four if we include, as we should - Jacquetta - managed to navigate the male dominated political world of their own times, to ensure that their place in it would not go unnoticed nor unremarked.

I would suggest that before diving head first into this tome, a little preemptive research of your own would be recommended.