Blog Tour + Review : The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory

Title : The Lady of the Rivers
Author : Philippa Gregory
Expected publication: October 18th 2011 by Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group




*Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC!

Jacquetta, daughter of the Count of Luxembourg and kinswoman to half the royalty of Europe, was married to the great Englishman John, Duke of Bedford, uncle to Henry VI. Widowed at the age of nineteen she took the extraordinary risk of marrying a gentleman of her house-hold for love, and then carved out a life for herself as Queen Margaret of Anjou's close friend and a Lancaster supporter - until the day that her daughter Elizabeth Woodville fell in love and married the rival king Edward IV. Of all the little-known but important women of the period, her dramatic story is the most neglected. With her links to Melusina, and to the founder of the house of Luxembourg, together with her reputation for making magic, she is the most haunting of heroines.

The Lady of the Rivers follows Jacquetta as a young woman and later on as the wife of the Earl of Rivers and the mother of sixteen children, including Elizabeth from one of the author's previous book. The book offers a glimpse into the magical world with witch craft, tarot cards, the Wheel of Fortune, charms, herbs, second sight and the mythical Lady Melusina.


Jacquetta is a powerful and interesting lady. It's refreshing to read about such a strong woman in
times when women weren't valued as much as men.  The others depended a lot on Jacquetta and she even participated in making some important decisions.


The Lady of the Rivers is a wonderfully written book. Although I have to admit, I would've liked to skip a few parts in the book simply because of the lack of action. The author offers a lot of details but sometimes it was just too much information for me. I lost track a few times but I still enjoyed reading it. You don't need to know about these historical events to truly enjoy the reading experience.

The Lady of the Rivers is Philippa Gregory's third book in the Cousins' War series and let's all hope it won't be her last! I look forward to reading the first two books, The White Queen and The Red Queen.  The Lady of the Rivers is a perfect read for those historical fiction lovers out there.

4 out of 5 stars!

If The Lady of the Rivers sounds like a book you might enjoy, click here to read an excerpt.




Watch Philippa Gregory as she talks about Jacquetta from The Lady of the Rivers.



For more information, visit the author's website and Simon & Schuster's book page.

There's an amazing contest going on right now for Canadian residents. The grand prize is two tickets to Philippa’s Toronto event, a gift certificate to The Windsor Arms hotel for high tea for two and two sets of Philippa’s Cousins’ War series of books. There are two runner up prizes which consist of a fantastic loose leaf tea starter kit from David’s Tea and signed copies of Philippa’s Cousins’ War series of books.  You can enter the giveaway  here.