It’s been years since I last read anything by Philippa Gregory, so I decided to try her latest novel, Royal Witch. It’s the story of Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of Gloucester, a woman who has appeared as a secondary character in other books I’ve read (including Gregory’s own The Lady of the Rivers), although this is the first one I’ve read that focuses on her specifically.
We first meet Eleanor in 1421 as a young woman of twenty arriving at Westminster Palace to become a lady-in-waiting to Jacqueline, Countess of Hainault. Jacqueline has taken refuge at the English court after being betrayed by members of her own family who have seized her lands. She is looking for help to regain them and marries Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, in the hope that he can provide the military support she needs in Hainault. Humphrey, however, is having problems in his own country – although he has been named Protector of England until his baby nephew, Henry VI, is old enough to rule, he faces opposition in government from his Beaufort rivals.
As the daughter of a minor nobleman, Eleanor arrives at court wanting nothing more than to marry well, but once she grows close to the strong and determined Jacqueline and sees what it’s possible for a woman to do, she starts to believe she should be aiming higher. She turns for help to Margery Jourdemayne, known as the Witch of Eye, but if it becomes known that Eleanor has been meddling in the dark arts, it could lead to her downfall rather than her glory.
I enjoyed Royal Witch; I love this period of history and it was good to see it through the eyes of a woman I haven’t read very much about. The events taking place in England are significant because they lead directly to the Wars of the Roses and the founding of the Tudor dynasty, but I also found Jacqueline interesting to read about – her campaign to reclaim her lands forms a big part of the first half of the novel and I kept thinking that maybe Gregory should have just written Jacqueline’s story instead of Eleanor’s! Eleanor’s own story doesn’t really start to gain momentum until halfway through the book when she sets her sights on the throne of England and begins to set her plans in motion.
Gregory often seems to enjoy making her heroines as unpleasant as possible (like Margaret Beaufort in The Red Queen); Eleanor is another example of this – she’s ambitious, vain, selfish and vindictive, with few, if any, redeeming qualities. Despite this, it’s impossible not to feel for her when she is rejected by the man she loves, Owen ap Maredudd, who chooses another woman over her, an incident which is the source of a lot of her anger and resentment in the second half of the novel. You may already know who Owen is and who he marries instead, but if not I’ll let you find out for yourself! As Eleanor plots revenge on Owen and his new lover, her outward actions become more cruel and her inner thoughts more bitter, which makes her both an entertaining narrator and quite a chilling one as well. Not even the young king is safe from her plots and machinations.
Margery Jourdemayne is another interesting character. She’s portrayed mainly as a herbalist and fortune teller who becomes caught up in Eleanor’s scheming, along with the astrologer Roger Bolingbroke, leading to accusations of witchcraft, treason and necromancy. This is the climax of the story which everything that comes before was building towards, but we have to wait a long time for it – and that’s my only real criticism of the novel; it often felt longer than it really needed to be and the earlier sections could probably have been condensed to improve the pacing. Otherwise I found this very enjoyable and I wish more authors would write about lesser known Plantagenet women rather than the Tudors!
Thanks to HarperCollins for providing a copy of this book for review via NetGalley.
That’s the first I’ve ever heard of Eleanor having any interest in Owen, but Philippa Gregory does tend to make things up! I’ve had this on pre-order – I always say that I’ll never read any more of PG’s books, but I always end up reading them anyway, and it was half price 🙂 – and I think it’s coming tomorrow.
I hope you enjoy it. I’m sure at least half of the book was completely made up, but I’ve learned not to expect too much accuracy from Philippa Gregory! She’s a good storyteller though and I do usually find her books entertaining!
I didn’t get to her event at Henley Literary Festival but I saw plenty of people clutching copies of this book. Like you, I’ve not read one of her books for a while. As for a book being slightly too long, I feel like that about a lot of books these days. (I’ve come to appreciate brevity.) Perhaps editors of successful authors are reluctant to challenge them…or perhaps they did and it started off even longer!
I don’t mind a book being long if it feels necessary, but in this case I think it could easily have been shorter without losing anything important. Apart from that I enjoyed it!
At some point I felt that Gregory wasn’t putting as much effort into her books, so I quit reading her. I agree that she isn’t one to stick to historical accuracy.
What annoys me is that she doesn’t explain that she’s made things up. A lot of authors change a few bits, but explain in an afterword that they did so to suit their own plot, but she doesn’t!
Yeah, I know. And I fear that some readers will think she’s sticking to the truth.
I think that’s why I stopped reading them as well. It’s been more than ten years since I read one of her books.
Me too. I used to always look for them, but now I don’t pay any attention to what she has out.
Like you, I havnen’t read anything by Philippa Gregory for years but I was looking at this one in Waterstone’s this morning and was quite tempted by it. I think it will be a book that I try to get from the library though.
I enjoyed it, but yes, probably best to borrow rather than buy if you’re not sure!
I’m somehow yet to read anything by this author but I have seen a few adaptations of her work. This sounds really interesting, especially with a less than likeable lead who becomes increasingly bitter throughout. And of course I’m curious to see how things turn out give the accusations involved. Lovely review.
I hope you have a chance to read one of her books soon. This could be a good one for you to start with as I’m sure you would like the witchcraft and dark magic aspects. The unlikeable narrator is quite entertaining as well.
Thank you, I’m sure you’re right about those elements working for me – the word witch in the title instantly caught my eye after all. I’ve had her Tudor and Plantagenet books on my TBR for ages too so I’m definitely not short on options.
I haven’t read any Gregory for a while now (although I do have quite a few unread – of course!)… I’ll look out for this one when it shows up in paperback. I might even schedule some of books I already own for a read too!
I enjoyed her series about the Wars of the Roses but this is the first of her books I’ve read for about ten years. I think it’s definitely worth looking out for!
I can’t believe I’ve still not actually read any Philippa Gregory. Growing up I had such a historical fiction phase, but as an adult I’ve barely touched any historical fiction! I must change this and have at it again! This sounds like a great one to start with 🙂 Thanks for a fab review! xo
I love historical fiction and the good thing is it’s such a huge genre covering so many different types of books there should be something for everyone! Philippa Gregory would be a great place to start.
Absolutely – I think I’ll really enjoy her books – just need to pick one up 😀 xo