by Philippa Gregory (Get the Book)It's every man and woman for themselves in Gregory's latest, which offers reliable royal entertainment about Anne, queen consort to Richard III. Born the younger daughter of Warwick the Kingmaker, Anne sees her position constantly shifting, depending on whether her father is supporting his protege, King Edward IV, or fighting him. Forcibly wed at 14 to the son of the former Lancastrian queen, Margaret of Anjou, Anne is brought low after his death and obliged to serve her proud sister, Isabel, whose life is equally volatile. Their mutual enemy is beautiful commoner queen Elizabeth Woodville, whose large group of upstart siblings and rumored witchery threaten England's stability. Gregory deftly shows how living amid war's brutality can harden one's character, even that of a gentle innocent like Anne who has a mostly happy second marriage to her childhood friend Richard, the king's loyal brother. At the same time, Gregory presents a stark account of woman-as-commodity in late medieval times, with Anne's forceful mother kept in comfortable, strict confinement, her wealth stolen by her daughters and sons-in-law. --Booklist
