The Kingmaker’s Daughter by Philippa Gregory

The Kingmaker’s Daughter by Philippa Gregory is the first sister story since The Other Boleyn Girl. In this one, Anne Neville and her sister Isabel’s fate is held in the hands of their “Kingmaker” father, the Earl of Warwick.

Book Description

“The Kingmaker’s Daughter is the gripping story of the daughters of the man known as the “Kingmaker,” Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick: the most powerful magnate in fifteenth-century England. Without a son and heir, he uses his daughters Anne and Isabel as pawns in his political games, and they grow up to be influential players in their own right. In this novel, her first sister story since The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory explores the lives of two fascinating young women. 

At the court of Edward IV and his beautiful queen, Elizabeth Woodville, Anne grows from a delightful child to become ever more fearful and desperate when her father makes war on his former friends. Married at age fourteen, she is soon left widowed and fatherless, her mother in sanctuary and her sister married to the enemy. Anne manages her own escape by marrying Richard, Duke of Gloucester, but her choice will set her on a collision course with the overwhelming power of the royal family and will cost the lives of those she loves most in the world, including her precious only son, Prince Edward. Ultimately, the kingmaker’s daughter will achieve her father’s greatest ambition.” – The Kingmaker’s Daughter

My Thoughts

The Kingmaker’s Daughter is a truly exciting and intriguing novel set in 15^th-century England. Gregory is one of the masters of writing for this time period, and this novel doesn’t disappoint at all. The scenes are detailed beautifully and the characters are so well crafted, it feels like you are watching a movie as you read it.

The politics, court intrigue, family bonds and issues, and superstition weaved in magically is the perfect mixture for this novel. The characters really make the book for me, and Anne Neville really holds her own in it even though women don’t hold the same type of power that men do.

This piece of historical fiction is written beautifully, and I highly recommend it for fans of the author and those who are also intrigued by this time in history.

* Thank you to the publisher of The Kingmaker’s Daughter, Touchstone, for providing me with a copy of this book for review. All opinions expressed are my own.