This was certainly a bloody time in history with the constant battles for the crown and the right to rule England and for Elizabeth the precarious and uncertain role she would play in all of this saw both her way of life and her family constantly in danger and often hung in the balance of power-hungryrelatives even before her father died. Whilst this book is a fiction in as much the story is told from the viewpoint of Elizabeth herself, it is also very much steeped in historical fact. Having been given the opportunity to read the latest detailing the life of Elizabeth of York, who is someone I know very little about I just couldn’t say no.

To include a lot of this extraneous information, Weir again and again resorts to the same literary device: someone overhearing a conversation between others.I have always meant to pick up one of the many books written by Alison Weir as they deal with an interesting time in history.

This, I believe, made the book feel overly long.

Weir includes a lot of detail about the politics and shifting allegiances associated with the Wars of the Roses, some of which have little or no impact on Elizabeth’s interests or life.

As though the narrator suddenly became omniscient, with the language and sensibilities of an adult. But then Weir would include information or observations that would not be possible coming from a five-year-old. I think Weir was trying to maintain Elizabeth’s child-appropriate perspective, like referring to “Mother” (instead of Queen Elizabeth Woodville) and “Grandmother” ( Jacquetta Woodville).

When Elizabeth is still a child, I felt the narrative kept shifting.

Elizabeth of Yorkīut Weir, an historian by training, was compelled to include a lot of additional historical detail that felt superfluous to Elizabeth’s story and made the book feel long and in some places clunky.

If the author had stuck with just that, I’d have given this book four or five stars.

The traumas of her childhood, uncertainties surrounding prospective marriages, marriage to Henry, and threats to the legitimacy of their claim to the throne are all handled believably. Weir’s account of Elizabeth’s life is solid and comprehensive. Elizabeth (1486-1503) the daughter eventually becomes the wife of King Henry VII and together they found the Tudor Dynasty, ancestors of all English monarchs since 1509. I would rate this one 3.5 stars.ĮLIZABETH OF YORK, THE LAST WHITE ROSE is a fictional account of the life of the oldest daughter of King Edward IV of England and his wife, Elizabeth Woodville. Generally I’m a fan of Historian Alison Weir’s fiction (I LOVED her six-novel series about the Six Tudor Queens of King Henry VIII) but I found more flaws (especially during Elizabeth’s early years) in this book, the first of Weir’s new Tudor Rose series.

Elizabeth of York by Alison Weir