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Wednesday, August 15, 2012

READ THIS: The Kingmaker's Daugher by Philippa Gregory Our Coverage Sponsored By Gabriel's Bar & Restaurant


Gabriel’s Bar & Restaurant is an owner-operated Italian restaurant in New York City, conveniently located near Lincoln Center. As a widely recognized fine dining restaurant, a number of powerful people choose Gabriel’s Bar & Restaurant for their dining enjoyment due to our fresh, flavorful entrees, and world-class service. We have served as a hotspot for some of the most powerful, influential people, ranging from the celebrities we all know and love to important politicians, including President Bush and President Clinton. Peachy has Picked Gabriel's: http://www.whomyouknow.com/2011/10/peachy-picks-gabriels.html We utilize only the freshest, finest ingredients to create each of our delectable dishes. We offer a vast selection of lunch and dinner options that are sure to please even the most discerning of palates. We also have an award-winning wine list, full bar selection, and delectable desserts to provide the perfect complement to your meal. For over 20 years, we have maintained our commitment to offering unforgettable dining options and attentive service. We want to ensure our patrons enjoy the best dining experience possible. Whether you want to relax in our bar with a red apple martini or blueberry mojito, or would like to enjoy our freshly baked breads and pasta in our comfortable dining room, we are confident you will not find a better fine dining experience elsewhere.
Gabriel's
11 West 60th Street
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We at Whom You Know feel it is a holiday when a new Philippa Gregory book is released. This one came out yesterday, so scoot yourself to the closest bookstore so you can pick up your copy, because it is an essential to add to your library.  
Philippa Gregory
 has quite the history in our review column:
We began with: 
The White Queen:
The Red Queen:
Lady of the Rivers:
The Women of the Cousins' War:
& most recently, Changeling:
We absolutely cannot get enough, and warn you of your probable PG addiction once you start.  Peachy had the panel read this as we knew it would be THAT OUTSTANDING.  As the world goes around, everyone knows in many cases, especially in feuding families, there are two sides to every story. Gregory's signature style for getting into the minds of the characters when there is such little history to rely on -because in the past historians have not had the intelligence to record history including women - continues to impress us to a high degree, and especially when she is going from one side to the other as the book series progresses. We love historical fiction on England, and we are enthralled with The Kingmaker's Daughter.  Peachy is transported back in time immediately and can do nothing but turn the page once she starts one of these novels-she won't stop reading.  Our panel raves:

Summer is all about relaxing at the beach, pool or just in your backyard, with a glass a lemonade and book you can't put down. If you are a fan of historical fiction, royalty, romance, scandals and drama then you will love Philippa Gregory's, The Kingmaker's Daughter. Philippa Gregory is a number one New York Times Bestselling Author. One of her most popular books is the award winning, The Other Boleyn Girl. The Kingmakers Daughter is full of suspense, set in the court of Edward IV of England, we meet eight year old Anne Neville. Anne must grow up in the court with her powerful magnate father, Richard, calculating her every move. As Anne gets older she is spun into a web of political power games, lies, fear, deceit, war and love. Anne soon finds herself as her father's daughter calculating her own survival through the court. What will become of Anne and her future, well we can't tell you everything. We can tell you this is a great book, you won't want to put down. Philippa Gregory writes with such great detail, painting beautiful vivid pictures in your mind that you feel transported to a time long, long ago. The Kingmaker's Daughter has been the best read of our summer, now it should be yours too. 

Honestly, this book is great! Since summer is rapidly coming to a close, I have to make the change from reading for fun to reading for work and I was on a quest to find a novel that was entertaining and that would suck me into the story quickly. The Kingmaker's Daughter fit the bill and it was a great read. I love how the characters come to life and you almost forget you are reading about events that happened so long ago. The story is filled with drama, drama, drama and I love it. The characters really come to life and Philippa Gregory owns historical fiction. She is the master of weaving the history through the novel in a way that isn't confusing or intimidating. I literally could not put this book down. If you are looking for a book to read, pick up this one. You certainly will not be disappointed. 

Suspense, intrigue, power struggles, devious plots...this could be the description of a modern blockbuster thriller. But no, it's a story that took place centuries ago, and is chillingly brought to life by Philippa Gregory in her newest book, The Kingmaker's Daugher. The plot in this book centers around Anne Neville, best known for being the wife of Richard of Gloucester - or, as he was immortalized by Shakespeare, King Richard III. Although information about Anne Neville is relatively spotty, Ms. Gregory took the facts that are known about her, and let her imagination do the work of figuring out how the facts might be connected, how those scenes may have played out in the years between 1456 - 1485. The book begins with a young Anne, who, along with her older sister, Isabel, and their mother, has come to the Tower of London to honor the soon-to-be-crowned Queen Elizabeth. Anne and Isabel's father, the formidable Earl of Warwick, is the man known as the "kingmaker," the man responsible for chasing the former king off the throne and for placing his own protegee, the young Edward of the House of York, on the throne. The very evening that they pay tribute to the new queen, Anne and Isabel take turns "playing queen," imagining what it would be like to hold the title. Little can they imagine at some point how much their lives would come to revolve around the very real possibility that they one day could be queen, that the title would be in their grasp. What follows is a tale of incredible ups and downs, highs and lows, as hopes are raised and dashed, then raised again, only to be dashed in some of the most cruel ways imaginable. Nobody is to be trusted; alliances are formed and broken and re-formed within the blink of an eye. Told through Anne's eyes, we see the incredibly difficult role that women in that society were forced to take, as well as the heartache and devastation that went along with tasting royalty. Anne is married off by her father at the age of fourteen, and left widowed and fatherless within a year. How she pulls herself out of the depths of despair by marrying Richard, and the long and winding road that leads to Richard being crowned king make for a suspense-filled, page-turning thriller filled with excitement, heartache, and tears. An enchanting, intriguing tale that is told with remarkable style by a true master of the historical fiction genre.

Every time I sit down with a book by Ms. Gregory, I end up getting pulled in. I was so excited to see her new book, The Kingmaker's Daughter, show up on my door. As with the other books of Ms. Greggory's I've read, I was immediately pulled into this one. I was excited to see that this was another "sister story", much like The Other Boleyn Girl. Anne and Isabel are sisters of the "Kingmaker", the Earl of Warwick, and are used as his pawns since he has no sons to take over the throne. After her father makes war upon his former friends, Anne becomes more fearful. Without giving away anymore of the story, all I can say is this book is a must read. I can't wait to go back and read more from The Cousins' War series. I have already told a friend of mine who loves novels much like this one that she needs to read this book. I highly recommend it! 

***

“When I wanted to be a queen I thought it was a story, like the legends,


I thought it was all about beautiful dresses and handsome knights. Now I see that it is pitiless.


It is a game of chess and Father has me as one of his pieces.”



#1 New York Times bestselling author PHILIPPA GREGORY brings the court of King Edward IV—and its rampant rivalries, loves, and hatreds—to vibrant life in THE KINGMAKER’S DAUGHTER (On-sale August 14, 2012; A Touchstone Hardcover; 978-1-4516-2607-0; $26.99), a new stand-alone novel in her sweeping Cousins’ War series.

In Gregory’s first sister story since The Other Boleyn Girl, the devastating years of strife commonly known as the Wars of the Roses are seen through the eyes of Anne Neville, who with her sister Isabel must brave ever-changing fortunes as daughters of the mighty and ruthless Earl of Warwick.

At the York court of Edward IV and his beautiful queen, Elizabeth Woodville, young Anne is at first dazzled by the handsome royal family whose quest for the throne was bolstered by the Warwick wealth and armies. Yet intimacy and friendship quickly turn into something more sinister, as Anne’s father’s power is eclipsed by the queen’s ambition for her own grasping family. Powerful offices and opportune marriages are granted to Woodville kin, and the king inflicts one final insult when he bans the marriage of his brothers, George, Duke of Clarence, and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, to Anne and Isabel. 

Anne grows ever more fearful and desperate when her father arranges a high stakes secret marriage and then wages war against his former allies. Her will is at a breaking point when she is left widowed and fatherless, with her mother in sanctuary and Isabel married to the enemy. Anne manages her own escape by marrying Richard, Duke of Gloucester, but her choice will set her on a collision course with the overwhelming power of the royal family and place the lives of those she loves best in peril. Anne must now determine her own fate in a final bid to protect her only son and realize her father’s greatest ambition.


PHILIPPA GREGORY is the author of several bestselling novels, including The Other Boleyn Girl. She studied history at the University of Sussex and received a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh. 

THE KINGMAKER’S DAUGHTER


By Philippa Gregory


On-sale August 14, 2012


Touchstone, an imprint of Simon & Schuster


978-1-4516-2607-0


$26.99 Hardcover

For more information about Philippa Gregory and her novels:

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