Three generations of women: Elizabeth Woodville, Elizabeth of York and Elizbeth Grey.

Hodder digs deep into the record to go back multiple generations of Elizabeth Woodville's family, on both the paternal and maternal line, showing how she wasn't as low born as her enemies tried to make her out to be. Hodder tracks her rise from minor nobility to queen, and fairly paints a portrait of a woman who worked hard to try and help those she loved as well as having to deal with so much criticisms.

As we see her story play out we learn more and more about her eldest daughter, Elizabeth of York, who then goes on to be queen of England herself, thanks largely in part to her own mother's finagling. Hodder rejects previous portrayals of Elizabeth of York as powerless and in a cold marriage, showing just how close she and Henry VII grew and what she was able to do for the people around her.

And then, as we get into the reign of Henry VIII, Hodder explores the often overlooked life of Elizabeth Grey, granddaughter of Elizabeth Woodville and niece to Elizabeth of York. Due to this Elizabeth's marriage to the Earl of Kildare, she gets sucked into the violent bog of Irish politics, but she never just goes along with events, always working hard to protect her family and to try and keep them safe.

Hodder does a good job finding specifics about the lives of each woman, and when the record is sparse, she takes a wider view at what most women of the era were going through, showing both the lives of these specific women, but also showing how England changed in so many ways over these three generations. A fascinating study of the era and of this family.