The Women of the Cousins’ War is a non-fiction book which is written by three historians. The Cousins’ War is more commonly known as The Hundred Years War. Philippa Gregory has written the first section which is about the little known Jacquetta of Luxembourg who lived from 1415-16 to 1472.  She became the Duchess of Bedford and would have had a high profile in royal circles. She was related to both royal houses, Lancaster and York, but there was no biography of her. Philippa Gregory trawled through many documents to fill in the gaps that had been left about Jacquetta’s life. She was around at the same time as Joan of Arc, and may have met her.

The second section of this book is about Elizabeth Woodville, 1437/38 to 1492, and it’s written by the historian David Baldwin. I think Elizabeth Woodville is well-known to anyone with an interest in English history, it has always been a puzzle as to how she managed to get Edward IV to marry her at the drop of a hat (she was a widow much older than Edward and with two sons of her own, plus a large voraciously ambitious extended family). It’s no wonder that witchcraft was suspected by some! I think it’s safe to say that Elizabeth was very good at managing people.

The last section of the book features Margaret Beaufort, 1443-1509, and it’s written by Michael Jones. He describes Margaret as being intelligent, courageous and astute. It seems that she was the opposite of the men in her family whose behaviour left a lot to be desired. Margaret’s childhood was a tough one for this reason and I suspect that nobody would have thought that she would with the birth of her only son who became Henry VII, found the Tudor dynasty and towards the end of her life was known simply as the King’s Mother and had her own regal signature.

I enjoyed all three of these biographies. I was struck by the women’s longevity, especially considering that Eizabeth Woodville churned out  babies at the rate of one a year for over a decade, with seemingly no ill effects. Maternity care seems to have gone backwards when you consider how many women died from infection after giving birth in Tudor times!

The book has some interesting photos of portraits and statues and has lovely endpapers, The Lady and the Unicorn, Musee National du Moyen Age, Paris.