Historical Fiction

I just finished a novel by the author of the immensely popular "The Other Boleyn Girl" and I found it lacking in many ways. This novel, "The White Queen", set in the time of the War of the Roses is told by a character whose fate is known. I personally prefer the historical novel to have an unknown or relatively unknown protagonist tell the tale. There can be little suspense otherwise. This also gives the author more freedom in personal opinion and interpretation, as with the Poe book mentioned in the last blog post. It could just be me and my current state of mind, but I could not form any loyalty or sympathy for this Elizabeth since all the plotting, intrigue and casting of spells done against her and her family was no more or less than what she and her own family were up to...dog eat dog on the royal level. I love historical fiction for the insights into life in those times. And one of the things this novel brings up is life for women and how it all hinges on marrying the right man and how his fortunes progress. Our own time saw a change after the feminists brought women the ability to work and support themselves but this 'golden age' may be endangered by the economy of this decade. In a few hundred years, the historical fiction of the period from 1970 to 2010 may seem like a dream to those depending on others once again. What do you think??