It’s no easy task to want to write a novel about a historical figure particularly when there might be perhaps little written evidence of what this character is like, which might give the author a little more freedom in how to bring them to life but it has to be balanced with historical insight as well.

To include a lot of this extraneous information, Weir again and again resorts to the same literary device: someone overhearing a conversation between others.Alison Weir vividly brings to life the dangerous times that Elizabeth of York lived through from childhood to create a compelling portrait of a fascinating part of 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 the last white rose