Blood Sisters

Product Description

How the Wars of the Roses were won & lost by the political & dynastic skills of the royal women: this is the true story behind Philippa Gregorys dramatic novels about fiery Queens & the perils of power. After archaeologists unearthed the remains of Richard III in a Leicester carpark his pivotal era is once again ripe for valuation. The events of the Wars of the Roses are usually described in terms of the men involved: Richard Duke of York Henry VI Edward IV & Henry VII. But the reality as Sarah Gristwood shows was very different. These years were also packed with womens drama &
- in the tales of conflicted marriages & monstrous births
- simmering with female politics. In this completely original retelling acclaimed author Sarah Gristwood sheds light on a neglected dimension of English history: the impact of Tudor women on the cataclysmic civil war. She examines Cecily Neville the wife of Richard Duke of York who was deprived of being queen when her husband died at the Battle of Wakefield; Elizabeth Woodville a widow with several children who married Edward IV in secret & was crowned queen consort; Margaret Beaufort mother of Henry VII whose ambitions centred on her son & whose persuasions are likely to have lead her husband Lord Stanley previously allied with the Yorkists to play his part in Henrys victory. Until now the lives of these women have remained little known to the general public. Sarah Gristwood tells their stories in detail for the first time. Captivating & original this is historical writing of the most important kind.