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The Virgin Widow (2010)

by Anne O'Brien(Favorite Author)

3.8 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0451231295 (ISBN13: 9780451231291)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

NAL Trade

review 1: Probably really a 3 1/2 star book. It was nice to get the story of Anne Neville, not a character who is normally featured in history since she was not a king or queen for a long period of time. I liked the continuation of the story from childhood to adulthood and how the love story evolved, but felt the book was a little wordy at some points. Certainly does not portray a good portrait of Edward of Lancaster, nor his relationship with his mother which according to this book, was questionable. I did like the final resolution for Anne though the afterword was sad. :-(
review 2: After reading a couple of Anne O'Brien's other works when the opportunity arose to get this one I jumped at it as I have thoroughly enjoyed her work before and this book is no exceptio... moren, it's totally enjoyable!In recent years there have been a few books about Anne Neville and her part in the War Of The Roses, most notable probably Philippa Gregory's The Kingmaker's Daughter, which I read and enjoyed too. I must admit that I actually prefer this version of the tale.The book takes place in the period of Anne's life running up to her marriage to Richard Of Gloucester and as Anne's real life is a bit of a mystery the author has the opportunity to tell the tale in the way she wants and I appreciate that she had chosen the more romantic approach in this instance.I like this approach for Anne as she probably had a pretty rough life leading up the marriage to Richard. She was pawn to her father's ambition for himself and his family, betrothed several times for political reasons, firstly to Richard of Gloucester, who she has loved since she was a child and then to Edward of Lancaster who she is forced to marry and has no feelings for whatsoever and who has none for her, he still thinks of his new wife as his enemy. She's emotionally tortured my the circumstances she finds herself in, over and over by both her new husband and his mother until she finds herself alone with no family, no husband and no support whatsoever after Edward of Lancaster's premature death. Anne is placed into the household of his sister Isabel and her husband, Richard of Gloucester's turncoat brother George of Clarence and Anne is kept as a virtual prisoner and treated as an enemy of York because of the marriage she never wanted and the inheritance she is entitle too that Clarence wants for himself. Eventually Richard of Gloucester, still in love with Anne, manages to free her from her emotional bondage and marries her, leaving her free to love and be loved. In general her early life was just an emotional roller-coaster and she deserved so much better but that was the life of women back then, they were often treated as objects and used to further the ambitions of their family and forced into marriages they didn't want but had absolutely no choice over. Both Anne AND Isabel Neville were use in this way and both women suffered for it, granted Isabel only had the one betrothal and marriage to deal with but her husband does not seem to have had much interest in her except for producing his heirs.Unfortunately history shows that Anne only lived to be 28 years old, dying too young, and while her marriage to Richard of Gloucester was generally a very happy one it has been shown that when Richard become King Richard III and Elizabeth Woodville's eldest daughters returned to court that Richard became very attached to his niece, Princess Elizabeth of York and not in way that a wife would appreciate. This fact taints the love story between Anne and Richard but doesn't feature in this book and makes to romantic story more poignant.The book is the classic tale of true love conquering all and of the constancy of the love held between Anne and Richard, how circumstance never changed the way that they ultimately felt about each other.Anne O'Brien is a very talented author and had written this story very sympathetically, maybe is not as historically accurate as it could be but so little is known of Anne Neville's life that any author writing about her has to use a certain amount of poetic license to make her story into a book. Anne treats the subject matter in a way that makes it intriguing and interesting to read and not harsh and ugly like it really was, some books needs the ugly side to make them work but in this instances I think the author took the right approach and made it work.In conclusion, if you like historical romances like those of Philippa Gregory or Elizabeth Chadwick then Anne O'Brien's books are definitely the books for you as they are too good not to read. She makes the books her own and even though these authors often choose to write about the same women from history they all treat there subjects in a different manner so while you may have read another book about Anne Neville do not dismiss another book by another author on the same subject or you may miss a treat of a book!Would I recommend this book, YES I most definitely would! It's a fantastic book, an easy read and very enjoyable indeed! less

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