The Wise Woman

by Philippa Gregory

Book Overview

#1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory weaves an unforgettable tale of a young woman's sorcery and desire in Henry VIII's England, where magic, lust, and power are forever intertwined.

Growing up as an abandoned outcast on the moors, young Alys' only company is her cruel foster mother, Morach, the local wise woman who is whispered to practice the dark arts. Alys joins a nunnery to escape the poverty and loneliness...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416590889
• ISBN13: 9781416590880
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 528 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.9" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

The Wise Woman

This story is the fight between good and evil. The main character seems childish and confused. She surcombs to evil and bits the hand that feeds her. The main character tends to lie in very bad circumstances and blames those who have helped her. At the end evil takes over and leaves the reader thinking what happened.

The Most Spellbinding Phillipa Gregory Book!

Having already read The Other Boleyn Girl, The Queen's Fool, The Virgin's Lover and Earthly Joys, I hardly thought this one would compare. How wrong I was! I was so captivated by Alys', the main character's, plight. I was at first outraged and then empathetic of her decisions, remembering she was a mere immature seventeen year-old. How can anyone fault her - given the medieval times this story would have taken place. I was captivated by the politics, religion (which were both one and the same), witchcraft, and especially the sexuality, which was quite descriptive (dare I say Hot?) The end of the story was the biggest surprise of all. So tender and moving were the last pages, I re-read them and teared up both times. I immediately wrote this review, my first ever.

Page turner every step of the way

While this book is not like her other historical fictions, it is still one of the best books I have read in a long time. I loved it so much I bought one for my Mom, Aunt and best friend, all of them also loved it. This book is a little twisted, but in a very real way. You can completely relate with the main character as she makes one bad decision after another that leads her down a trail of witchcraft, seduction, betrayal and deciept... The historical information is there but more importantly and more outstanding is the fantastic tale that is woven from the day a little girl takes her first steps alone all the way to the final leap as she realizes what is truely important... I don't understand why those other two reviews were so bad. If you like Anne Rice or Wilbur Smith's writing you'll love this. All the great story writing of both without the overly boring descriptives that can drag on in Rice's work or the lack there of in Smith's.

A selfish, lying, unfaithful, scheming, ambitious 16 yr old!

I loved this book. What a real character, full of flaws. What a pretty 16 year old nun who suddenly finds herself in the real world in the time of Henry VIII might actually do. Not mature enough to make good decisions, selfish and wicked enough to wish people harm and definitely immature enough to not realize that there is a reaction to every action. Well done. I have waited a year of reading two books a month to find a book like this! Thank you Ms. Gregory for the tale of a central character so full and rich I stayed up all night reading to finish it.

not so smart for a wise woman

This is a brilliant dark story of a young girl and her quest to live like a queen. She wants the prize of 'lady of the house' and will stop at nothing to get it. She uses her power to reach for her dreams, only to realise that the prize wasn't hers. She is a false woman, and slowly becomes entrapped in her own lies.Despite the bleakness of the story and the wickedness of Alys, I still liked her! She felt she was destined for an important role, and went out to claim it. She sought love and didn't know what to do with it when she had it. As l was approaching the last few pages of the story I was wondering how on earth it could end, I was so looking forward to the birth of her child etc. I am currently making my way through all of Philippa Gregory's books. Her novels, both historical and comtemporay are always so vivid and the endings never fail to be anything but thought provoking. Keep writing, because l will certainly keep reading!

Compelling, frightening historical fiction

This book is extremely dark - its subject matter is pretty bleak and the characters are often rather twisted... but it is nonetheless a riveting read. The Wise Woman tells the story of Alys, an orphan who has been shuffled from house to house throughout her childhood. Alys' first home is with Morach, her town's local witch. Morach is cruel to Alys, and Alys soon finds refuge in the local nunnery. As she prepares to take her final vows, the nunnery is burnt to the ground. Alys flees the fire - leaving her sisters in Christ to burn to death - and is forced to start her life anew. Her travels lead her to the castle near her home, working as an apothecary to the lord of the manor. There she meets the lord's attractive son, discovers her own witchy powers... and finds herself sorely tempted to break her vows. This book is a fscainting story, very well told... the only downside is the sexual imagery is very explicit, and often rather perverse. If you can overlook that... this book is great!