The Dragon and the Rose

A stand-alone historical romance dealing with the life of Henry Tudor up to the coronation as queen of his wife, Elizabeth Woodville. Much less misogynistic than the Stephen series. It follows the standard trope of the evil nature of Richard III, although the author acknowledges this is mostly Tudor propaganda. The book is about the growing love between Henry and Elizabeth from their political marriage dictated by expediency to a genuine partnership.

It was interesting to compare it to the later The Serpent Garden by Judith Merkle Riley which was set in the early years of Henry VIII’s reign.

Um. The first third is wonderful - the story of Henry VII, who I've been aware of _only_ as the one who defeated Richard III, from his birth and upbringing in Wales to how he got to Brittany, and how and why he eventually agreed/decided to attempt to take the throne of England. It's fascinating, and since it's Roberta Gellis I believe it's reasonably accurate. Then he wins, defeats Richard and becomes king, and marries Elizabeth of York - and the story degenerates into a muddy mess of plots and counterplots, confused motivations, refusal to admit to feelings because it would make them (both Henry and Elizabeth) vulnerable...ick. Even the end is...kind of pointless - he decides to grant what he thinks is her wish; she really doesn't want show more it, but gives in because he's trying to give her a gift. Book ends. Um. Right. I'm glad I read it; I won't get rid of it, since it's an ebook and doesn't take up any material space, but I doubt I'll reread. Or possibly, I'll read up until he becomes king, then skim the rest. It's likely that the story as presented is accurate - their lives really were that muddy, ugly mess - but I don't need to dive into it myself. show less

Nice novelization of the lives and marriage of Henry VII (of the Lancasters) and Elizabeth of York.