The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory

I have been a big fan of Philippa Gregory since first discovering her book THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL at a local garage sale. She writes in such a way that her stories seem to suck the reader in from the very first page. The care she has for each book that she writes is definitely shown by the research she does. She tries her hardest to write each character in as realistic a light possible, and that is what makes her an amazing historical fiction writer.

THE KINGMAKER'S DAUGHTER basically tells the story of Anne Neville. A girl who experiences much including loss, treachery, defeat, and victory throughout her journey to the throne. Her voice is the narrative of each page, and her thoughts are the driving force.

The story begins with Anne as a nine-year-old girl witnessing the crowning of a new King and Queen of England. The reader finds her, in those beginning pages, completely in awe of Elizabeth Woodville, a woman with a meager past who captured the King's heart. However, that awe is soon short-lived when Queen Elizabeth starts to show her true colors in order to try and secure her family's place as royalty. She consults her husband, King Edward, in many treacherous acts in order to gain familial domination throughout England and its surrounding neighbors.

Anne, and her sister Isabel, soon become pawns in their father's game to overthrow the current King and his tyrannic Queen in order to place one of his own on the throne. However, unlike her sister, Anne is brought from one side of the battle to the other becoming first an ally, then an enemy, and back again. She longs to be able to decide her own fate on her own terms, but soon finds that this is much harder to do than one might think.

I quite enjoyed this book. Just the fact that it was Anne's own point of view made it seem more real to me. It was as if I were her, fighting for my place in a world full of people willing to lie and kill just to be able to rule. It was as if I were the one losing so much for my chance to be Queen.
One of Philippa Grepory's best.