Sarah J. Hodder

Cecily Bonville-Grey was one of the richest women of her time, inheriting the Harington and Bonville fortunes as a young child.

In 1474, at the age of fifteen, she married Thomas Grey, the eldest son of Elizabeth Woodville from her first marriage to Sir John Grey. When Thomas was created Marquis of Dorset a year later, Cecily became the Marchioness of Dorset alongside him.

During the Wars of the Roses and the emergence of the new Tudor dynasty, Cecily was witness to many of the events that unfolded and her own story is intertwined with many of these events. Yet she remains relatively unknown. This is Cecily's story.

Whether Queen or commoner, the lives of women throughout history is a fascinating study.

Elizabeth Woodville, 'The White Queen', managed to make the transition from commoner to Queen and became the epitome of medieval heroines - the commoner who married a King.

When she became the wife of Edward IV her actions changed the life of her entire family. Vilified both by their contemporaries and by many historians since, the Woodville family were centre stage during the reigns of Edward IV and Richard III. Elizabeth Woodville became the ancestress of future Kings and Queens.

This book takes a fresh look at the lives of Elizabeth's sisters. Each sister has their own story to tell and they may not have achieved the dizzying heights that their sister did, but they are all fascinating women.

This is the tale of three generations of women, linked by their name, Elizabeth, and by their family relationship. The story begins in the reign of the great Plantagenet Kings with the life of Elizabeth Woodville, queen to Edward IV and mother of the Princes in the Tower, and ends in the reign of perhaps England’s most famous dynasty, that of the Tudor kings and queens. Through the life of Elizabeth of York, the first Tudor queen and Elizabeth Grey, cousin to Henry VIII and Mary Tudor, we explore the Tudor court and its dealings with the Earls of Kildare. From the birth of our first Elizabeth to the death of our last, these three women lived through wars and coronations, births and deaths, celebration and tragedy and between them they experienced some of the most exciting and troubled times in English history.