Tag: Sarah J. Hodder

Book Review: “The Woodville Women” by Sarah J. Hodder

On By hmalagisiIn Book Reviews1 Comment

61772589Three women in one family who shared the same first name saw England change over a tumultuous century. They saw the end of the Plantagenet dynasty and the rise of the Tudors while on the sidelines of great battles. Through heartaches and triumphs, the women of the Woodville family became princesses and queens that would transform the political landscape of England forever. These three women, Elizabeth Woodville, Elizabeth of York, and Elizabeth Grey, were incredible examples of what it meant to be medieval royal women. They are featured in Sarah J. Hodder’s latest book, “The Woodville Women.”

I want to thank Pen and Sword Books and NetGalley for sending me a copy of this book. I have read other books by Sarah J. Hodder about women from the Woodville family, so when I heard about this title, I wanted to see what new information she would share with her audience.

We begin our adventure into the Woodville family by exploring the matriarch of this rather extraordinary family, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, the future wife of Richard Woodville. For a woman of Jacquetta’s status to marry a man well below her rank was unheard of in medieval Europe, but their union would change history during the tumultuous time known as the Wars of the Roses. Their daughter, Elizabeth Woodville, would marry a Lancastrian soldier named Sir John Grey of Grosby, but when John died, she caught the eye of the young Yorkist king, Edward IV.

During King Edward IV’s reign, Elizabeth Woodville, now queen of England, showed her true strength. As a mother to a large family, including the infamous Princes of the Tower, and her eldest child Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Woodville fought for her children’s rights, even after her beloved husband’s death. Elizabeth of York would follow in her mother’s footsteps and become Queen of England when she married the victor of the battle of Bosworth Field, Henry Tudor, the patriarch of the Tudor dynasty.

The woman who proved the most fascinating character in this particular book for me was Elizabeth Grey, the daughter of Thomas Grey and Cecily Bonville. Elizabeth Grey would marry Gerald Fitzgerald, 9th Earl of Kildare, who she met at the Field of Cloth of Gold. They would live in Ireland and have many children together, but things were not smooth sailing as Kildare’s rivalries would lead to rebellions in Ireland and land him in the Tower of London a few times. Although Kildare had a rocky relationship with King Henry VIII, Elizabeth Grey was cordial with her royal relation.

Hodder was able to tell the stories of these three women in an illuminating way that reminds readers of the tales of Elizabeth Woodville and Elizabeth of York while giving new insights into their lives and telling the story of Elizabeth Grey. This book was engaging and informative, just like Hodder’s previous books. If you want a book that tells the thrilling tales of Elizabeth Woodville, Elizabeth of York, and Elizabeth Grey, you should check out “The Woodville Women” by Sarah J. Hodder.

Book Review: “Cecily Bonville-Grey- Marchioness of Dorset: From Riches to Royalty” by Sarah J. Hodder

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60261127._SY475_In history, the stories of women closest to those who sat on the throne tend to shine a bit brighter than others. Their tales give us great insight into how their respective countries were run and how dangerous it could be to marry someone with royal blood in their veins. However, some of the tales get lost in the annals of the past, only to be discovered much later. One of those tales is the story of Cecily Bonville- Grey, the wife of Thomas Grey Marquis of Dorset. In her own right, an extremely wealthy woman, her marriage into the Grey family would help define the succession issue during the late Tudor dynasty. Her story is finally told in Sarah J. Hodder’s latest book, “Cecily Bonville-Grey- Marchioness of Dorset: From Riches to Royalty.”

I want to thank Chronos Books for sending me a copy of this book. I have previously read and enjoyed Hodder’s other books, The Queen’s Sisters and The York Princesses, so I knew I wanted to read it when I heard about this title. I will be honest, I have only heard about Cecily Bonville-Grey from another book about the Grey family, but it was a brief mention, so I was looking forward to reading more about her life.

Cecily Bonville- Grey was the only child of William Bonville and his wife Katherine, the daughter of Richard Neville. Cecily’s uncle was none other than Richard Duke of York. The Bonville men were loyal to King Henry VI, but when the king fell ill, the Bonvilles decided to switch their loyalty during the Wars of the Roses to the Yorkist cause. It was a risky move that would cost William Bonville his life, but in the end, Katherine and Cecily both survived the turmoil of the time. Katherine would marry William Hastings, and Cecily would marry Thomas Grey Marquis of Dorset.

Cecily and Thomas had a large family, and their connection with Richard III and Henry VII would be both rewarding as well as dangerous. With the threats from men like Perkin Warbeck, who wanted to steal the throne from Henry VII, men like Thomas Grey Marquis of Dorset would prove invaluable to refute their claim. Yet it was a double-edged sword as Thomas was often considered a threat to Henry VII. Thomas would die in 1501, leaving Cecily a wealthy widow in need of a second husband, and the man she chose was Lord Henry Stafford. This second marriage allowed the Grey family to flourish and become genuine contenders for the throne, even though that was not Cecily’s intent.

The story of Cecily Bonville- Grey is a delightful read. Sarah J. Hodder shone a light on a woman whose family tends to outshine her. I found Cecily’s story fascinating and gives readers a better understanding of how the transition from the Plantagenets to the Tudors affected those families closest to the throne. Suppose you want another fabulous book about a forgotten woman who lived in the 15th and 16th centuries. In that case, you should check out “Cecily Bonville-Grey- Marchioness of Dorset: From Riches to Royalty” by Sarah J. Hodder.

Book Review: “The York Princesses: The Daughters of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville” by Sarah J. Hodder

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54363954The life of a medieval princess was not a life of luxury that we often see in fantasy films. It can be filled with lovely gowns and castles, but it can change in an instance. Take, for example, the lives of the daughters of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. One minute their father was King of England and life was comfortable; the next minute, they were in the sanctuary, hoping and praying that they would be able to be reunited with their father one day. Their lives were planned out for them when their father was alive, but when Edward IV died unexpectedly in April 1483, the princesses found their world taking another turn. We know what happened with the eldest daughter, Elizabeth of York, as she married Henry VII and became the first Tudor queen, but what about her sisters? In her second book, “The York Princesses: The Daughters of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville”, Sarah J. Hodder explores what happened to Elizabeth of York and her sisters once the House of York fell and the Tudors became the new dynasty.

I would like to thank Chronos Books for sending me a copy of this book. I have read Sarah J. Hodder’s previous book, “The Queen’s Sisters” and I enjoyed it. When I saw that Hodder was going to release this book, I knew that I wanted to read it.

I knew quite a bit about Elizabeth of York as she was the eldest child of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville and the wife of Henry VII. Hodder knew that she was the most popular of the princesses so she gave a brief overview of her life and moved onto the sisters who do not get enough attention. For those who are not familiar with this family, the other sisters are Mary, Cecily, Margaret, Anne, Katherine, and Bridget. Although Elizabeth’s sisters did not win a crown, it does not mean that their lives were not exciting.

To make sure that the sisters’ stories were told in an equal manner, Hodder dedicated a chapter to each one of their tales. From the youngest who died shortly after they were born to those who lived to see Henry VIII crowned King of England. The men who they married ranged from those who backed the Yorkist cause, leading to a very awkward family clash, to those who proved extremely loyal to the young Tudor dynasty. The sisters would never share the joys and heartbreaks that Elizabeth experienced as a mother (especially Bridget of York who would become a nun), but they were eyewitnesses to dramatic changes in England’s history.

I found it remarkable that Elizabeth accepted her sisters with open arms after she became Queen of England, even when their husbands disagreed with Henry VII. Elizabeth supported her sisters and their families whenever she could.

Hodder tells the story of strong family bonds that connected these sisters through the good times and the bad. You can tell that Hodder was passionate about the subject she was writing about as this book was very well researched. It is often difficult to tell the stories of siblings of monarchs as their sibling who sits on the throne tends to overshadow them, but Hodder brought the stories of the York princesses into the light. “The York Princesses: The Daughters of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville” by Sarah J. Hodder may be small in size, but it is full of information for those who want to know more about this extraordinary royal family.

Book Review: “The Queen’s Sisters: The Lives of the Sisters of Elizabeth Woodville” by Sarah J. Hodder

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49550323._SX318_SY475_The story of the Woodville family has fascinated those who study the Wars of the Roses for centuries. Their mother Jacquetta of Luxembourg married Richard Woodville because she loved him, even though he was the chamberlain of her late husband. Jacquetta and Richard had numerous children, notably Elizabeth Woodville, who would marry the first Yorkist king, Edward IV. Elizabeth and her brothers are often talked about when discussing the Woodville children, however, Elizabeth had several sisters who married relatively powerful men. The stories of the sisters are rarely told, until now. Sarah J. Hodder has decided to take on the task of exploring the lives of these hidden figures in her debut book, “The Queen’s Sisters: The Lives of the Sisters of Elizabeth Woodville”.

I would like to thank Chronos Books for sending me a copy of this book. As someone interested in the Wars of the Roses, I wanted to read more about the Woodville family, so this book caught my eye.

Hodder has a chapter for each of the sisters; Jacquetta, Anne, Mary, Margaret, Jane, Katherine, and the possible seventh sister, Martha. The order of chapters is important because it is the order of which they were born. There is no chapter strictly dedicated to Elizabeth Woodville since there are several biographies dedicated to her alone. Instead, Hodder has chosen to show how Elizabeth’s shift in her social standing, from a widow of a Lancastrian knight to a Yorkist queen, affected the lives and marriages of her sisters. They may not be as famous as their sister, but their stories are equally as fascinating as Elizabeth and her royal life. They are filled with struggles and triumphs, strong loyalty and betrayals. These sisters and their stories present a window into what it meant to be a woman during the Wars of the Roses and beyond.

This book is best described as a series of “bite-sized biographies” as each chapter is only a few pages long. Since women were rarely recorded in medieval history, unless they were royal women, not much is known about different aspects of the sisters’ lives and their feelings about their husbands, as Hodder explains several times in this book. Hodder does her best to use what evidence and facts that we have of these sisters to tell their tales. The only real problem that I had with this book was that I wish it was a bit longer because I wanted more of their stories.

Overall, I found Hodder’s debut book enjoyable, easy to read, and rather intriguing. She truly brought these sisters out from behind Elizabeth’s shadow and into the light so that we can better understand this dynamic family. Their children and grandchildren would go on to serve Richard III and the Tudors. This book is definitely for those who understand the basics of the Wars of the Roses as Hodder mentions members of the nobility and future royals who would either benefit or fall because of the Woodvilles. If you are compelled to learn more about the hidden figures in the Woodville family, I encourage you to read, “The Queen’s Sisters: The Lives of the Sisters of Elizabeth Woodville” by Sarah J. Hodder.