The Lady of the Rivers

Although i read the book, i was excited when the book came out on audible. An English married duchess marries her squire, Richard Woodville is a tale of one of the greatest romances of the age, although it shocked many of her peers. Their union produces Elizabeth Woodville, queen to Edward iv and their children influence the course of history. A fantastic novel.

I found this a very enjoyable story, just as I would expect from Philippa Gregory. I am interested in history and a good fictional account makes it easier to remember characters and events than a strictly factual one. Of necessity, there is more of this story that is imagined than her Tudor series, since the records are sparser, but I trust Philippa Gregory to be faithful to known fact and make reasonable interpretations. This story is engaging and entertaining and led me to do some research of the period once I felt I had a basic understanding. One thing I would have liked more of is period detail to explore the experience of life at this time more deeply. As for the narration, I know that good narration is very hard to achieve and I feel that Clare Corbett did quite well. The narration is clear, smooth and pleasant to listen to, which are the most important factors.

I actually really enjoyed the story of this, the latest in Philippa Gregory's 'Cousins War' series. It was interesting, entertaining and, unlike in both the previous books in this series, I liked the 'heroine'. However I found that as an audiobook my enjoyment was completely ruined by the lacklustre and uninspired narration. Little effort was put into different character voices, the only inflection was a sort of whimsical, wishy-washy huskiness and the occasional mispronunciation drove me demented! It really destroyed my ability to enjoy the story and I will be religiously avoiding this narrators other works although I still look forward to more from the author.

I have now read/listened to nearly all Phillipa Gregory novels and I love them all.

I've always been a huge fan of Philippa Gregory and fell upon this one after having recently read both the White Queen and the Red Queen which were great reads. However, this one disappointed and I'm still not sure why. It read more like a vague fairy tale with a few battles thrown in and although the historical points are always well made I felt that it was a little thin in places. Sorry.

Loved The Cousins' War series. I felt that this book should be the first in the series not the last.

From the outset, my enjoyment of this book was marred by the reader, whose constant plaintive intonation and inflexion at the end of every sentence made the whole novel seem like a dirge, even the lively parts.

Apart from that, which is quite a big consideration, if you don't expect a great historical novel, this is an enjoyable listen. There is little period detail but at least it is the War of the Roses seen through a female character and an insight into how difficult it was to be an educated woman at a time when any learning in a woman could be construed as witchcraft. It has no depth or insight of character or plot and is too romantic for my taste but was easy to listen to whilst gardening and doing complicated knitting. I would listen to another book by the same author, but I would chose a time when I wanted something undemanding and definitely read by another voice.