Inspiration - The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory

:The Lady of the Rivers is #1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory’s remarkable story of Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford, a woman who navigated a treacherous path through the battle lines in the Wars of the Roses.

Descended from Melusina, the river goddess, Jacquetta always has had the gift of second sight. As a child visiting her uncle, she met his prisoner, Joan of Arc, and saw her own power reflected in the young woman accused of witchcraft. They share the mystery of the tarot card of the wheel of fortune before Joan is taken to a horrific death at the hands of the English rulers of France. Jacquetta understands the danger for a woman who dares to dream.

Jacquetta is married to the Duke of Bedford, English regent of France, and he introduces her to a mysterious world of learning and alchemy. Her only friend in the great household is the duke’s squire Richard Woodville, who is at her side when the duke’s death leaves her a wealthy young widow. The two become lovers and marry in secret, returning to England to serve at the court of the young King Henry VI, where Jacquetta becomes a close and loyal friend to his new queen.

The Woodvilles soon achieve a place at the very heart of the Lancaster court, though Jacquetta can sense the growing threat from the people of England and the danger of royal rivals. Not even their courage and loyalty can keep the House of Lancaster on the throne. Henry the king slides into a mysterious sleep; Margaret the queen turns to untrustworthy favorites for help; and Richard, Duke of York, threatens to overturn the whole kingdom for his rival dynasty.

Jacquetta fights for her king, her queen, and for her daughter Elizabeth for whom Jacquetta can sense an extraordinary and unexpected future: a change of fortune, the throne of England, and the white rose of York.

A sweeping, powerful story rich in passion and legend and drawing on years of research, The Lady of the Rivers tells the story of the real-life mother of the white queen.

Review:

Philippa Gregory, the well-known Queen of historical fiction, returns with another wonderful journey into the fascinating, though at time treacherous, times of the Cousins' War. This time, Gregory takes on the fairly-unknown Jacquetta, the long-time friend of Lancaster queen Margaret of Anjou and mother of Elizabeth Woodville, the wife of York king Edward, and main subject of "The White Queen."

According to interviews and other conversations with Gregory I've read, her initial inspiration for the novel came during her research on Elizabeth Woodville, thus she decided to hold off on the previously planned third book, The White Princess, and make a small detour with Jacquetta's story. However, when Gregory went to research more thoroughly into Jacquetta's life, she found that virtually no research had been done, and that the only way for her to find the information she needed, was to conduct her own research into original source documents, which not only led to the creation of The Lady of the Rivers, but also to the creation of The Women of the Cousins' War, a non-fiction exploration of the three ladies Gregory has written on so far in the series.
Jacquetta is quite possibly the most fascinating woman Gregory has explored thus far. Born into a well-to-do family in Luxembourg, Jacquetta grew up knowing that she was descended from the water goddess Melusina and related to much of European nobility. Married off to the Duke of Bedford, the English regent of France, Jacquetta finds a scholarly intellectual of a husband, though the two share no bonds of love. After her husband's death, Jacquetta dares to fall in love with a lowly squire, Richard Wooville, and the pair marry in secret. Once the couple returns to England, Jacquetta carves out a place for herself at the court of Henry VI, and becomes a close friend to Queen of Anjou.

After The White Queen, I was somewhat tired of the constant discussion of Melusina and medieval witchcraft, and was honestly not too excited to see that Gregory chose to have this same discussion again in Lady of the Rivers. Thankfully, it was not as large of a piece of the book as in White Queen, but I was still a little tired of it. Despite this, reading about Jacquetta's life felt like I was opening up a door to an unknown and unexplored life of passion, triumph, love and politics. I was particularly intrigued by the opening (though it likely never happened), when, as a young woman, Jacquetta meets Joan of Arc while visiting her uncle. Spending time with Joan had a profound impact on Jacquetta, introduced her to the horrible realities of life, and somewhat foreshadows Jacquetta's own destiny.

Though it was a little sad to see Jacquetta becoming such close friends with the Lancasters, while knowing from The White Queen how she completely and somewhat shamelessly switches side later, Gregory weaves together another fascinating tale with her lovely, signature prose that's sure to please historical fiction fans.