Point of View

White Princess is told in the first-person point-of-view through a single narrator. By following Elizabeth of York, the reader gets the story from someone directly involved in both sides of the novel’s conflict. Her marriage to Henry places her close to the Tudors, while her York heritage puts her in the center of their ambitions for the crown. This allows the author to share any important information from both sides of the conflict.

However, the closeness to Elizabeth means the author can also withhold information from both the reader and the narrator. The reader only knows whatever Elizabeth knows. Elizabeth only knows what others tell her. Many major plot points – such as her mother’s connection to the rebellion and the potential existence of her brother, Richard – are hidden behind other characters. They are all show through Elizabeth’s bias.

Thankfully, Elizabeth is a...