Review of Royal Witch (Plantaganet and Tudor #1) by Philippa Gregory

The historical fiction-writing gift that is Philippa Gregory entertwines the richly imagined stories of three women in fifteenth century England, offering unapologetic ambition, genius manipulation, revenge plots, dark arts, and drastic comeuppances in this fascinating novel.

It's 1420 and Eleanor Cobham (a real figure, about whom little is known), in a terrific initial scene, willfully misunderstands her dying mother's last wish for her, rejecting the nunnery and heading to the royal court.

She arrives at the court of Henry V hoping to simply marry well despite her common upbringing and lack of dowry. But she soon learns she has a knack for the ins and outs of court intrigue, understanding the layers of betrayals, motivations, and powerful moves.

Working in a countess's household, Eleanor learns how to efficiently bend a man to a woman's will, how to manage men's outsized egos, and how to wield power without seeming to pull the strings.

Eleanor rises through the ranks, grasping for more and more control and ultimately becoming Duchess of Gloucester--until she is accused of treason, witchcraft, and summoning the devil in order to kill a king, and she may lose all that she's built.

Philippa Gregory builds a richly imagined proposed story for Eleanor, although little is known of Eleanor's actual life details. Most mentions of her, as with so many females in history, including medieval times, are focused upon her husband. (She is, notably, referred to in Shakespeare's historical play Henry VI, Part 2, as a ruthless striver.) Within the novel Gregory also entertwines the stories of two more women from history whose stories are only vaguely sketched through history, Countess Jacqueline of Hainaut, who here is Eleanor's happenstance mentor, and Margery Jourdemayne, a midwife and healer who was accused of witchcraft.

Eleanor is unapologetically ambitious, cutthroat, and conniving. She is largely unsympathetic, yet I found myself rooting for a woman to outsmart all of the men who underestimated and aimed to control her. Gregory doesn't force a redemption arc for the singleminded, relentless, ruthless Eleanor, yet after a horror of a reckoning toward the end of the book, she eventually demonstrates valuable reflection that seems plausible.

Philippa Gregory is so talented at bringing historical fiction, and particularly strong female characters, to life.

I received a prepublication audiobook of this title courtesy of Libro.fm and William Morrow.

The audiobook was fantastic; Gemma Whelan narrates (side note: she's the actress who played Yara Greyjoy in Game of Thrones) and also recorded a Q&A with Philippa Gregory that follows the author's note at the end of the book. All of this was fascinating extra material.

More Books to Check Out

I'm back in the Philippa Gregory world, baby!

Philippa Gregory is the author of forty novels, including more than thirty historical fiction works. I haven't read a book by her in many years, but I loved The Other Boleyn Girl, The White Queen, The Queen's Fool, and The Boleyn Inheritance.

You might also check out these Bossy historical fiction reads.