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mrsbooknerd's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely LOVED this book. So much so that it can only be written in capitals and underlined.
There was such a wonderful balance between the politics of the time and the budding romance between Anne and Richard. At no point did I get bogged down with long political descriptions or tactical battles, I was allowed to enjoy the romance alongside the rising and almost constant political tension.
Now I know that this is a work of fiction, but I felt so sad when I read that Anne Neville only lived until she was 28, largely because she was written as such a vitally strong character, and with such a strong love for Richard that I just hate knowing that it was cut short - As a die-hard romantic I believe that they were deeply in love regardless of the lack of historical evidence...
I also like to believe that Richard's life as King - and his 'crimes' were as a result of losing Anne..? I told you, I'm asickening romantic.
600+ pages and it just wasn't long enough!
There was such a wonderful balance between the politics of the time and the budding romance between Anne and Richard. At no point did I get bogged down with long political descriptions or tactical battles, I was allowed to enjoy the romance alongside the rising and almost constant political tension.
Now I know that this is a work of fiction, but I felt so sad when I read that Anne Neville only lived until she was 28, largely because she was written as such a vitally strong character, and with such a strong love for Richard that I just hate knowing that it was cut short - As a die-hard romantic I believe that they were deeply in love regardless of the lack of historical evidence...
I also like to believe that Richard's life as King - and his 'crimes' were as a result of losing Anne..? I told you, I'm a
600+ pages and it just wasn't long enough!
gabby_reades's review
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
duchessofreadin's review against another edition
4.0
She was a wealthy heiress, in love with the friend from her childhood. The love story between Anne Neville and Richard Plantagenet always makes the reader feel as though they are living through the story themselves, and trying to envision the places and people that weave through this story.
When her father, the Earl of Warwick, declared war on the King of England, everything changed overnight. They were forced to leave their home in England and try to find refuge elsewhere. Anne Neville mourned the loss of her love and the bright future that she had envisioned. Now she could only dream about what could have been.
As their journey continues and the Neville family seeks refuge among the French court, hoping for enough support to go back and finish the war in England. The Earl of Warwick, is determined to get what he wants at all costs, including his daughter's happiness. Anne finds herself betrothed to the Lancastrian Prince, Edward, on who all hopes are pinned as he is the heir of the former King of England. Thrust into a marriage she detests, Anne does what she can to keep her courage and strength as they wait for news of the war in England. When the news finally arrives it is not good. The Earl of Warwick was killed in battle, and the Duke of Clarence deserted the Earl back to his brother's side, leaving the Lancastrian force weakened. Throughout it all, Anne can only think of Richard and what he must be going through and whether or not he still loves her. After the final defeat of the Lancastrians and the death of Edward, Anne contemplates the future. Now a widow, she goes to live with her sister and the Duke of Clarence. After a forced servitude where Clarence was determined to keep her from Richard in order to keep the entire Neville inheritance, she is rescued, and once again finds herself back with her true love.
Their story is a true Cinderella experience. It has everything from love and war, to death and rebuilding. The strength of these characters lend a different take to the man that most have dubbed the most evil man in England. Anne and Richard deserved their happiness, however brief their happiness was. I loved this read, and think others will too.
When her father, the Earl of Warwick, declared war on the King of England, everything changed overnight. They were forced to leave their home in England and try to find refuge elsewhere. Anne Neville mourned the loss of her love and the bright future that she had envisioned. Now she could only dream about what could have been.
As their journey continues and the Neville family seeks refuge among the French court, hoping for enough support to go back and finish the war in England. The Earl of Warwick, is determined to get what he wants at all costs, including his daughter's happiness. Anne finds herself betrothed to the Lancastrian Prince, Edward, on who all hopes are pinned as he is the heir of the former King of England. Thrust into a marriage she detests, Anne does what she can to keep her courage and strength as they wait for news of the war in England. When the news finally arrives it is not good. The Earl of Warwick was killed in battle, and the Duke of Clarence deserted the Earl back to his brother's side, leaving the Lancastrian force weakened. Throughout it all, Anne can only think of Richard and what he must be going through and whether or not he still loves her. After the final defeat of the Lancastrians and the death of Edward, Anne contemplates the future. Now a widow, she goes to live with her sister and the Duke of Clarence. After a forced servitude where Clarence was determined to keep her from Richard in order to keep the entire Neville inheritance, she is rescued, and once again finds herself back with her true love.
Their story is a true Cinderella experience. It has everything from love and war, to death and rebuilding. The strength of these characters lend a different take to the man that most have dubbed the most evil man in England. Anne and Richard deserved their happiness, however brief their happiness was. I loved this read, and think others will too.
bec_wheels's review against another edition
5.0
The forgotten story of one of England's Queens who life was impacted by the men around her.
rosannelortz's review against another edition
4.0
“This was my favorite read of the entire year.”
I saw one reader comment just that about The Virgin Widow, at that time the next title in my to-read pile. High praise indeed, thought I, with a little bit of cynicism–slogging through The Other Boleyn Girl tends to jade your perspective on life. My one hope was that Anne O’Brien’s book would be satisfactory enough to justify a hiatus in the Marcus Didius Falco series. After all, I do have three more Lindsey Davis books waiting on the shelf, and I know those ones are going to be plums….
The Virgin Widow is the story of Anne Neville, the daughter of Warwick the Kingmaker, and is set during the tumultuous and confusing Wars of the Roses in the fifteenth century. The story picks up after Warwick’s abortive plot to place George, the Duke of Clarence, on the throne, and shows the Earl and his family fleeing to France to escape the wrath of the York king, Edward IV. Anne witnesses her sister Isabel (George’s wife) give birth to a stillborn child aboard ship and finds herself plunged into the uncomfortable world of adulthood.
Once in France, Anne becomes a pawn in her father’s hands as he attempts to regain power. Since George is no longer useful, Warwick looks to the house of Lancaster and realigns himself with the exiled Margaret of Anjou (whom he once ousted from the English throne along with her husband Henry VI). He prepares to organize an invasion of England in Margaret’s name and negotiates a marriage between Anne and Margaret’s daughter Edward. At this time Anne is just fourteen years old. In her early years she had been betrothed to the York king’s brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester. O’Brien uses flashbacks and Anne’s own thoughts to paint a picture of the young girl growing attached to Richard and forced to give up her love for him when her father switches sides by supporting George’s rebellion. With all hopes of an alliance with Richard dashed, Anne must reconcile herself to marriage with the handsome but cruel Edward. The marriage turns out to be even worse than expected. Margaret of Anjou forbids the couple to consummate the union so that she can have it annulled later on when it no longer serves her purpose. Despised by her mother-in-law and mistreated by her volatile husband, Anne harbors romantic dreams of Richard, the man she could not have.
At this point in the book I was pretty unhappy with the portrayal of the main characters. Richard (as painted by Anne) was all goodness, light, unicorns, and fairies–nothing like the devious Crookback of Shakespeare’s plays. Margaret was a one-dimensional villainess. To top things off, O’Brien threw in an incestuous relationship (without any historical basis) between Edward of Lancaster and his mother–just in case the reader didn’t already understand that these people are evil! I was starting to be as put off with the liberties taken in this book as I was by the plot line of The Other Boleyn Girl.
But when Anne gets a chance to return to England, the story takes a turn for the better. Travelling in Margaret’s entourage, she learns the bittersweet news that her husband has been killed–by Richard’s hand. With her father dead as well–and attainted as a traitor–Anne must make her own peace with the York king if she wants to survive. Anne’s interest in Richard is tempered by the realization that he can be a cold-blooded killer, and also by the fact that he seems to have lost interest in her. Warwick’s estates are forfeit, but Anne is still an heiress in her own right, thanks to the inheritance she will receive through her mother. The king assigns her to the care of her sister Isabel and the newly forgiven George, and she hopes to find a little peace now that the war and her marriage are over.
But Richard’s cryptic message–”Do not let them force you to join a covent!”–warns Anne that things are not so simple. If Anne should take the veil, Isabel will receive all of her mother’s lands. Her mercenary guardians are not above using force to keep Anne from her inheritance. There is only one man in England powerful enough to take on the Duke of Clarence–and Anne is not even sure if she still loves him enough to take the “way out” that he offers….
Anne O’Brien admits in her Author’s Notes that she went into this novel intending to romanticize the relationship between Anne Neville and Richard, Duke of Gloucester.
"Is there any evidence of personal affection between Anne and Richard? Although there is no evidence of an attraction between them during their upbringing at Middleham or afterward, when their marriage was mooted, equally there was no evidence that it did not exist. It was my choice to make it more than a dynastic marriage and to write The Virgin Widow as a romance."
This is a bold decision to make, and a little implausible if one knows the later history of the couple that is not included in the book. After Richard becomes king, it is rumored that he tried to poison his wife Anne so that he could marry his brother’s daughter and consolidate power. Not exactly the happily ever after the book offers. Of course, those rumors could all be part of the Tudor propaganda put out by Henry VII. It’s hard to say for certain.
But despite the historical implausibility of the romance, the romance in The Virgin Widow was very well done in a literary sense. I liked it. I was rooting for them. I especially enjoyed the complexity that O’Brien weaves into Richard’s character in the second half of the novel as Anne comes to realize that he is no longer the innocent boy she once knew. If you’re looking for historical accuracy, this is not the book for you. But if you’re looking for romance with a historical setting, you might well consider this to be your “favorite read of the year.”
I saw one reader comment just that about The Virgin Widow, at that time the next title in my to-read pile. High praise indeed, thought I, with a little bit of cynicism–slogging through The Other Boleyn Girl tends to jade your perspective on life. My one hope was that Anne O’Brien’s book would be satisfactory enough to justify a hiatus in the Marcus Didius Falco series. After all, I do have three more Lindsey Davis books waiting on the shelf, and I know those ones are going to be plums….
The Virgin Widow is the story of Anne Neville, the daughter of Warwick the Kingmaker, and is set during the tumultuous and confusing Wars of the Roses in the fifteenth century. The story picks up after Warwick’s abortive plot to place George, the Duke of Clarence, on the throne, and shows the Earl and his family fleeing to France to escape the wrath of the York king, Edward IV. Anne witnesses her sister Isabel (George’s wife) give birth to a stillborn child aboard ship and finds herself plunged into the uncomfortable world of adulthood.
Once in France, Anne becomes a pawn in her father’s hands as he attempts to regain power. Since George is no longer useful, Warwick looks to the house of Lancaster and realigns himself with the exiled Margaret of Anjou (whom he once ousted from the English throne along with her husband Henry VI). He prepares to organize an invasion of England in Margaret’s name and negotiates a marriage between Anne and Margaret’s daughter Edward. At this time Anne is just fourteen years old. In her early years she had been betrothed to the York king’s brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester. O’Brien uses flashbacks and Anne’s own thoughts to paint a picture of the young girl growing attached to Richard and forced to give up her love for him when her father switches sides by supporting George’s rebellion. With all hopes of an alliance with Richard dashed, Anne must reconcile herself to marriage with the handsome but cruel Edward. The marriage turns out to be even worse than expected. Margaret of Anjou forbids the couple to consummate the union so that she can have it annulled later on when it no longer serves her purpose. Despised by her mother-in-law and mistreated by her volatile husband, Anne harbors romantic dreams of Richard, the man she could not have.
At this point in the book I was pretty unhappy with the portrayal of the main characters. Richard (as painted by Anne) was all goodness, light, unicorns, and fairies–nothing like the devious Crookback of Shakespeare’s plays. Margaret was a one-dimensional villainess. To top things off, O’Brien threw in an incestuous relationship (without any historical basis) between Edward of Lancaster and his mother–just in case the reader didn’t already understand that these people are evil! I was starting to be as put off with the liberties taken in this book as I was by the plot line of The Other Boleyn Girl.
But when Anne gets a chance to return to England, the story takes a turn for the better. Travelling in Margaret’s entourage, she learns the bittersweet news that her husband has been killed–by Richard’s hand. With her father dead as well–and attainted as a traitor–Anne must make her own peace with the York king if she wants to survive. Anne’s interest in Richard is tempered by the realization that he can be a cold-blooded killer, and also by the fact that he seems to have lost interest in her. Warwick’s estates are forfeit, but Anne is still an heiress in her own right, thanks to the inheritance she will receive through her mother. The king assigns her to the care of her sister Isabel and the newly forgiven George, and she hopes to find a little peace now that the war and her marriage are over.
But Richard’s cryptic message–”Do not let them force you to join a covent!”–warns Anne that things are not so simple. If Anne should take the veil, Isabel will receive all of her mother’s lands. Her mercenary guardians are not above using force to keep Anne from her inheritance. There is only one man in England powerful enough to take on the Duke of Clarence–and Anne is not even sure if she still loves him enough to take the “way out” that he offers….
Anne O’Brien admits in her Author’s Notes that she went into this novel intending to romanticize the relationship between Anne Neville and Richard, Duke of Gloucester.
"Is there any evidence of personal affection between Anne and Richard? Although there is no evidence of an attraction between them during their upbringing at Middleham or afterward, when their marriage was mooted, equally there was no evidence that it did not exist. It was my choice to make it more than a dynastic marriage and to write The Virgin Widow as a romance."
This is a bold decision to make, and a little implausible if one knows the later history of the couple that is not included in the book. After Richard becomes king, it is rumored that he tried to poison his wife Anne so that he could marry his brother’s daughter and consolidate power. Not exactly the happily ever after the book offers. Of course, those rumors could all be part of the Tudor propaganda put out by Henry VII. It’s hard to say for certain.
But despite the historical implausibility of the romance, the romance in The Virgin Widow was very well done in a literary sense. I liked it. I was rooting for them. I especially enjoyed the complexity that O’Brien weaves into Richard’s character in the second half of the novel as Anne comes to realize that he is no longer the innocent boy she once knew. If you’re looking for historical accuracy, this is not the book for you. But if you’re looking for romance with a historical setting, you might well consider this to be your “favorite read of the year.”
book_dragon88's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
districtreads's review against another edition
4.0
These books are my guilty pleasure. Sometimes you just need historical fiction that takes wild creative license chock full of romance. This did the trick.
athenany's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book a lot. It started off strong, then dragged a bit, but then picked up and got really exciting. Despite knowing full well how the story ended in history I found myself eagerly anticipating how the author would handle it from a literary standpoint. I really enjoy her work and will continue to seek her novels out.