The Red Queen: A Novel

The White Queen and The Red Queen: Formulaic precursors to Henry VIII series. Danielle Steel does War of the Roses. If you can keep track of the myriad of Elizabeths, Edwards, Edmonds, Richards, and Margarets, you are good. It'd be best to read these two overlapping tales together if you have air or beach time to kill. Otherwise, skip 'em.

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The Red Queen was good but not as good as The White Queen. It really just repeated a lot of information that I read about in The White Queen but it did introduce you to the characters of Margaret and Henry so it is worth the read.

Very interesting history period of which not much is written. It is tough reading, but well worth it. This book can be read by reading, put it down, let the information sink in, and return to reading.

Another great book from Philippa Gregory. A great way to better understand this fascinating era of English royal history and a thoroughly entertaining read at the same time. Looking forward to the next in the series.

love this book because it helped me to see another side of Margaret that I could not see in the White Queen. I understood what Marget meant when she said to her mother (the white queen) that she sent a child to do a womens duty!

This book is hard to put down. If not familiar with England's history, the back-stabbing, infighting, plotting, and romance will keep you up all night trying to figure out the next turn of events. Who knows how the wind will blow!!

This is a stellar peek into a mysterious history from long ago. Philippa Gregory does a stupendous job of following the course of fact while filling in the holes of history in an educated and interesting fashion!

Very interesting tale from the persepective of the woman who desparately wanted to put her son on the throne of England....the opposite type person, yet well described in terms of motivation, from The Lady Rivers book by the same author. Highly rec the series "Cousins' War"...about 5 of them now with more coming out soon.

While enjoyable, I did not feel this one was up to Gregory's usual standard. Perhaps I have become jaded. Don't get me wrong, if you like historical fiction as I do, you will enjoy it but it probably won't be your favorite Gregory novel. I class it as a great vacation novel - readable on a week's vacation.

Having read many of Philippa Gregory's books, this was neither her best (The Queen's Fool) nor her worst (The Other Queen) novel about the Tudor family. That said, I much preferred the last book, The White Queen, to this one. Elizabeth Woodville made a much more dynamic and personable narrator. Margaret comes across as so incredibly cold, ruthless, and overly impressed by by her own piety that I couldn't help but wonder if England wouldn't have been better off if Richard III had won at Bosworth . . .

I have read several of Gregory's books, but this one was a challenge. I could not empathize with Margaret Beaufort - especially the endless praying. I found myself skipping many paragraphs as I was historically aware of the outcome. This story just seemed to go on and on. Generally, I enjoy Gregory's books so I was disappointed.

The book overall is good but my goodness I felt compelled to smack Margret throughout the entire story. I think that the other characters in the book were more interesting and far more likeable then pious Margret. I'm very interested to see how the third book plays out.

The book overall is good but my goodness I felt compelled to smack Margret throughout the entire story. I think that the other characters in the book were more interesting and far more likeable then pious Margret. I'm very interested to see how the third book plays out.

Even though the reviews of 'The White Queen' were less than stellar, I went ahead and read it anyway, and I really enjoyed it. I was looking forward to this book mainly because I've come across Margaret Beaufort in many other novels, but never had a clear picture of where exactly she came from, and what all it took for her to get her son Henry to the throne. Unfortunately, this book was a disappointment. It's not terrible, but Margaret is an incredibly unlikeable woman, which makes reading an entire novel about her seem kind of like a chore.

I knew going into this that Margaret was an EXTREMELY religious woman. Every time she's been mentioned in other novels, it's always remarked about what a pious and Godly woman she is. Well, you will certainly be reminded of it over and over and over again in this book. As well as her fascination/obsession with Joan of Arc. If you read the first book, think 'Melusina the Water Goddess'. Remember how tired you were of hearing about her? It's the same with Joan.

I never, at any point in this book felt sorry for Margaret (except maybe when she was giving birth). I'm not sure if it's how Ms. Gregory wrote her, or if she was actually like this as a person (I'm thinking it's a little of both), but for being so holier-than-thou, she sure was a nasty woman. NOTHING would please this her. Her first marriage was a very good match. Though she was still a child, she just couldn't understand that this was her lot in life. Being born into the family she was, it was her duty to marry young and have children. After being widowed a year later, her second marriage, while to a man twice her age, was a very lucky match. Henry Stafford was extremely caring and patient towards her. He gave her books to read, taught her Latin. He let her run their church on her terms and he was never 'rough' with her in physical terms, though she constantly whined about about how terrible it was to married to him. She was never happy.

There were times when I actually laughed out loud, like whenever she would talk about how unfair if was that she wasn't the Queen of England. How she deserved above any other woman to be Queen. How God had chosen her for great things. I was SO pleased when someone (her 3rd husband, Thomas Stanley) finally said what I had been thinking all along, that he thinks much of it is just Margaret hearing only what she wants to, and that maybe it's her own voice telling her she's destined for greatness. Really, the whole 'Chosen by God to do great things' theme began to run thin.

Also, because Margaret spent much of her early years in the country, nothing really happens TO her, it all happens AROUND her. Battles that were won or lost, secret plans that were hatched, they all come to us in quick little blurbs since Margaret was never in the thick of things. I think one would really need to know this time period to be able to fully understand everything that's happening. Some major events are passed over in just a paragraph or two. Those unfamiliar with the times will miss quite a bit. And when Margaret finally DOES get to court, the chapter jumps 10 years, and she speaks of it in past tense, like it was nothing!

*Sigh*...I could go on, but I'll stop here. Overall, I was very disappointed with this book. Even though there were parts of 'The White Queen' that were irritating and repetitive, it had some action to it. I felt like people were doing things and stuff was happening. This, this just felt like a whiny old woman constantly complaining about why nothing ever works out for her. Why God, who supposedly chose her for great things, would ignore her for so many years. By the time she finally gets everything she felt she deserved, I just didn't care anymore.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

I am so glad that I am reading the books in their order. It gives me a better understanding of the story. Basically, we follow the same events that took place in the second book (The White Queen) but in this book we look at the events from a different perspective. From God's perspective and his will! Lol, of course not, God has nothing to do here but our heroine, Margaret Beaufort thinks that all her desires, wishes, and ambitions are god's well. How convenient it is to use God's name or will as an excuse to do all rights and wrongs. This is what our heroine Margaret was doing and many other people from our times still do like George W. Bush when he was asked why he invaded Iraq he said: "because God told me to do so!".

I think most of the negative ratings for this book are because of the main protagonist and not because of the writing or the story. I loved this book and the writing. I still think the main characters of the first and second books were more likable to the readers than this one. I did not hate her, but I did not root for her. Yes, I have felt the hardships that she went through at young age, but I think one of the main reasons why Margaret turned up like this because of her mother. Her mother was a lady with a mission and the daughter turned up like her unknowingly!

I think the last 25 pages might not appeal to some readers as it focuses on the final battle between Richard and Henry Tudor. I think those are the only pages we d0nt read things from Margaret's perspective until the end where she is informed about the battle result.

The book is really good. I advise you to read it but only after reading both The Lady of The Rivers and The White Queen. Reading them in this sequence gives you a much better understanding of the story.

After reading the first book of this series, I was looking forward to reading the second book. I have always admired Margaret Beaufort and have read a number of biographies of her life. There was nothing admirable about her in this book to interest me. This book was boring!

In The Red Queen, her second entry in The Cousin's War series, Philippa Gregory turns her attention to Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII. She begins with Margaret, of the Lancaster family, as a devoutly religious pre-teen. Even at age 10, Margaret prides herself on her "saint's knees", red and painful because she spends so much time praying, and longs to enter a religious order. Her own mother, though, has other plans for her. At the age of just 12, she's married off to Edmund Tudor, who is twice her age, in the hope that she'll bear an heir for the Lancasters.

She does, having baby Henry at just 13, after a long and painful labor that might have compromised her reproductive system, since she never gave birth again. Her husband is already dead in the Wars of the Roses, and she's married again, at 14, to Henry Stafford. Her son, though, remained in the custody of his uncle Jasper. This second marriage lasted until she was nearly 30, when her husband died in further Wars of the Roses skirmishes. She married one last time, to Thomas Stanley, whose significant forces eventually helped turn the tides against the Yorks, leading to Henry VII's ascension to the throne.

For my money, The Red Queen is a much more successful outing than its predecessor, The White Queen, and the difference is based in characterization. While Elizabeth Woodville wasn't given much of a personality, with Gregory relying on vague witchiness to give her some flair, Beaufort has a will like iron. Denied the religious life she craved, she turns that fanatical devotion to ensuring that her son becomes king. She's given the occasional moment of doubt and a thwarted long-distance love affair with her brother-in-law Jasper Tudor to keep her from being entirely one-dimensional, but her determination and unwillingness to compromise on her vision of glory for her only child creates a vivid character that anchors the book. Margaret definitely believes in fate. I was initially a little hesitant about this series given the weakness of The White Queen, but this book, although it's hardly high literature and probably takes significant liberty with the actual record as Gregory tends to do, was an enjoyable read and I'm looking forward to reading the following entries in the series.

Quite often my wife and I will read a book and then, a couple of years or so down the road we will then listen to it on CD while working on jigsaw puzzles each morning or while making a trip in the car. And so it was with this particular novel. We both like this author and both Enjoy the writing style of Philipa Gregory. At our age we more or less know the story but have forgotten enough that it is almost like reading the book for the first time. On the other hand, we are still able to retain enough of the story that we can work on our puzzle or drive and have a light conversation at the same time.

The quality of the CD was excellent.

Historical novels; and I must stress at this point that this work is a novel, not a scholarly work examining this period of British history, are not a genre that I am overly comfortable with nor do I read that many of them, ergo I have a limited number of like books to compare this one with. I have read a few books by Alison Weir which I enjoyed very much and I must say that despite some trepidation, I also enjoyed this work also.

This of course is the second book in what I believe is a trilogy. I have not read the first book but I found myself immediately drawn into the story and feel that this is probably a good stand alone novel. I like Gregory's prose and enjoy her writing style and to be frank, her historical data is no better nor is it any worse than most of the books in this genre I have read. When reading a historical novel you have to remember the old saying "that nothing ruins a good story like the truth." That being said, I did not find any glaring errors...but then I am not a historian; only a reader of history, so what do I know?

This basically is the story of Margaret Beufort, heiress to the red rose of Lancaster, who is obsessed from a very early age (she was first married at 13 and a mother at 14) with placing her Lancaster son, Henry on the thrown of England. And when I say obsessed, I mean obsessed. Not only is this a power hungry spoiled little girl, but she in convinced she is God's instrument of earth and all that she does is guided by God. If nothing else, this book is a wonderful study in nasty ruthlessness.

The author has done a wonderful job of creating one of the most unlikable, ruthless and mean female protagonist I have ever encountered in literature. I got to sort of liking Margaret before the end of the book because of her compete ruthlessness and ability to place her drive to put her son on the thrown before anything else. This was one focused woman!

I also enjoyed reading of this time in history as viewed almost exclusively through the eyes of a woman and seeing an interpreting events through her eyes and mind. Also, after reading this work, I am extremely grateful that I was not a woman who lived during these times, highborn or not. Now I say this because the author (and this is one of the weaknesses of the book as far as I am concerned), viewed and interpreted events though the eyes of a woman of our time, rather than one born at the time these events took place. I am not sure just how women in Margaret's situation actually felt about things because we have very few historical documents or writings form women of that time; everything was, for the most part, written and recorded by men.

Now there was one other aspect of the book that somewhat annoyed me; Margaret was obsessed with Joan D' Arc and actually felt that she was her at times. I felt the author probably road that pony a little hard throughout the book. That was of little moment though and was a minor distraction...only slightly annoying at times.

Overall I enjoyed the read and quite likely will go back and read the first in this trilogy and then the last...later on down the reading road.

This was a library find.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

Young Margaret Beaufort of the Lancaster lineage of English royalty finds herself a pawn when she is betrothed and married to Owen Tudor at age twelve and transported to Wales to fulfill her duties as a wife. In quick succession, she becomes the mother of a son, Henry, and then a widow, yet is still not allowed to make her own choices for her life or the life of her son. As she is married off again to a man not of her choosing and her son is being raised by a follower of the York faction, Margaret never falters in her support of her absent son nor the Lancaster cause to regain the throne of England.

As the first book in the Cousins War series focused on the struggles between the Houses of York and Lancaster from the York viewpoint, this one recounts events leading up to the rise of Henry Tudor from the Lancaster perspective.

The historical character of Margaret Beaufort as described in this book is an unlikable one who is obsessed with her harsh version of the Roman Catholic faith and her Lancastrian clan, in that order. While the description of her forced marriages and limitations placed upon her self-determination by the standards of the times and her place in the royal hierarchy brings some sympathy from the reader, her overly devout and humorless demeanor makes her much less so.

The historical details of events and battles are accurate, but the author tends to let her fantasies take control when inserting what-ifs such as the possibility of one of the Tower Princes escape to the continent. When sticking to the facts, the book is a good overview to a very complex series of events that saw the throne of England passing back and forth between and within competing factions, families, and personalities.

Recommended for those who enjoy reading historical fiction with mostly accurate history.

Wow. Phillipa Gregory is such a gifted story teller. In this novel she has vividly brought to life one facet of The War of the Roses told through the eyes and thoughts of Margaret Beauford, mother of Henry VII and grandmother to Henry VIII.

This era in history and the Tudor dynasty that follows has become a topic of interest to me over the years and I am saddened it was not expanded on during my history classes.

I am a fan of history and to have now become a fan of Phillipa who brings history to life like this is amazing. For anyone who has not read her work...

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR???? You will not be disappointed!

England’s War of the Roses was characterized by broken loyalties, betrayal, and the desperate, espionage-heavy fight of the assumed heirs to the British throne against one another. In Philippa Gregory’s The Red Queen, Margaret Stanley NEE Beaufort dedicates her life to putting her Plantagenet son, Henry Tudor, on the throne that was alternatively held by the Plantagenets and Yorks. Gregory, a renowned historian in the area of British history and monarchies, bases her writing on excellent historical research, using letters, documents, and diaries to piece together the lives and struggles of the main characters. The Red Queen centers on the titular character Margaret Beaufort, whose son, through her Plantagenet relatives and her first husband’s patrilineal descendancy, was in line for the throne of England - the boy who would become Henry VII. The Red Queen is set in the mid-1400s during the violent battle for the throne. Gregory covers the subject with both historical accuracy and a fiction writer’s flair for intrigue, drawing the reader into the sights and sounds of Wales, London, and the English countryside while teaching the reader how history played out, leading up to the Battle of Bosworth Field and the ignominious death of Richard III. In reality, Politics haven’t changed much since then. In governments around the world, those in power vie for control, willing to do whatever it takes to achieve supremacy. Gregory successfully captures the realities of 15th Century England while providing a mirror in which we can see our own modern systems of government.

The Red Queen follows the life of Margaret Beaufort, who, from her early days as a young, supremely devout Catholic, intends to dedicate her life to God. Contrary to her youthful aspirations, she is married off at age 12, according to her noble station, to an older nobleman, Edward Tudor of Wales, Earl of Richmond, with the task of producing a male heir. This task accomplished with the difficult birth of Henry Tudor, her husband Edward is shortly after killed in battle, and infant Henry becomes the ward of his uncle, Jasper Tudor, who serves as Henry’s mentor through his early life and preparation for the battle to secure the throne. Widowed yet still a teenager, Margaret is married off again, this time to Sir Henry Stafford, a cautious man whose reticence for war offends Margaret Beaufort, whose primary objective is to pave the way for her son to ascend to the throne of England. Eventually, Stafford, too, is wounded in battle and succumbs to his injury. Now an adult, Margaret takes steps to secure her own advantageous and convenient marriage to an English nobleman close to the throne, Thomas Stanley, Lord High Constable, a man known for strategic political maneuvering and dealing double. Through espionage, divided loyalties, and malicious plotting, Margaret, in hopes that her husband will remain politically true to her -yet never knowing for sure- continues to work to bring her son to England to defeat the Yorkist King Richard III.

Gregory's tale of Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, is fascinating it its treatment of a proud, fanatical mother: From the age of ten, Beaufort believes herself another incarnation of Joan D' Arc, destined to fulfill God's will and see her son on the throne of England. In sharp contrast, Beaufort is bedeviled by the rising fortunes of Elizabeth Woodville, the commoner wife of Edward IV. Woodville's marriage allows her the luxury of what Beaufort so deeply covets. With untiring tenacity, Beaufort spends hours on her knees in chapel, waiting and praying for the knowledge of God's will as politics evolve around her. Not once does she waver, even when God fails to speak, waiting patiently and fervently for her destiny. The ongoing Cousin's War between the houses of York and Lancaster pits family against family, new plots ever in the making. Yet Edward is a beloved king, the people grown tired of the ambitions of the two warring families.

As the years pass, Beaufort endures through three bloodless marriages, the last, to Thomas, Lord Stanley, purely a political union that will ultimately serve in furtherance of Margaret's goals for Henry as king of England. In the last great battle pitting York against Lancastrian, Henry is successful in bringing down the House of York with the death of Richard III, joining the white and the red rose in marriage to Woodville's daughter, Elizabeth. Margaret Beaufort is finally able to claim the title of queen mother. Unlike the worldly and selfish Woodville, Beaufort never ceases to count the faults of others, blinded to her own weaknesses, so confident is she of God's purpose. This sense of mission and determined arrogance make Beaufort, in the end, a most formidable woman.

While as a reader I much prefer the more passionate characters Gregory has written of so brilliantly, she has a perfect sense of the mettle of Margaret Beaufort and the religious fervor that drains her protagonist of compassion or kindness, as fanatical as any religious figure in English history. Margaret endures separation from her son and the lack of a loving union in her singular goal, more frightening in her tenacity and vision than her enemies, and heartless. As cold as stone, Beaufort takes her place in history. Gregory clearly enjoys wearing the skin of this unusual woman, albeit one bereft of warmth or humility. Luan Gaines/2010.

Young, religious Margaret Beaufort felt she was destined for greatness, maybe as an abbess in a nunnery. To her dismay, her mother married her to a man she did not know, and she was shipped off to live in remote Wales. Once she gave birth to a son, her mother reminded her that she was still bound for greatness. Her son will make her the mother of the king. During the difficult and trying times of York rule, she waited, prayed, and planned. She did what she had to do in order to make her dream come true.

This well-written historical fiction brings the reader up close to the difficulties of those ruthless days when power and force determined the ruler. It was also a time when women had no say but were treated as property. In this book, Margaret’s character shines through. These well-developed characters really add another dimension to understanding and to being able to identify with historical characters of a completely different time and place. Very well written!

I wasn't exactly sure I wanted to read this book after finishing The White Queen. While reading that book, I found myself already disliking Margaret Beaufort almost every time that she was mentioned. I was shocked when I started reading this novel and I liked her.

After about 100 pages, the fluffy feelings toward her disappeared and that familiar loathing feeling returned. There's something that is purely despicable about any character who describes the children of her enemy as being young and trembling next to their mother, which gives the reader the impression that they are innocent, before describing them (on the same page) as "little traitorous boys who wept for their defeat." She is describing children who are about 7 and 10 years old as traitors. She is mocking them. She continuously criticizes anyone who doesn't live up to her "righteous" standards. What kind of standards must someone have to vilify a child?

The annoying obsession of The White Queen was Melusina. This book also has a character with her own annoying obsession. Instead of a pagan goddess, she is obsessed with Joan of Arc. It starts as a simple childhood obsession, but becomes a lifelong one. She fangirls over Joan throughout the whole book, and even prays to her. She wants to be Joan of Arc. As a child, she dreams of becoming a nun. Then she wants to be a warrior for God once she has heard the tales of her heroine Joan of Arc. She decides while in childbirth that she is like Joan in delivering a future monarch, though Joan's delivery wasn't through childbirth.

There are definitely times when Margaret deserves sympathy. Being neglected as a child, suffering through months of marital rape from a husband who is more than a decade older than her, and being treated like an object or a pawn because of her gender makes it very, very easy to feel bad for the girl. Her judgmental attitude lessens that sympathy, though. And her near-constant whining makes her insufferable to read about. It's awful that a person who should be an easy-to-admire character (because of all that she has been through) ends up being no more than an amalgam of several negative tropes. Her joy for learning and desire to be independent is not able to triumph over that self-righteous, snide attitude that she embodies.

Other than my issues with how contempt-worthy I find the main character, I find myself truly torn about my feelings toward the book and the author. As with the first book of this series, I enjoyed the first part of the book. I felt there was too great of an emphasis on her obsession. I constantly wanted someone to go ahead and develop some Thorazine to give her so that she would calm down. I didn't like that this book (like the last one) had times where it would suddenly switch from 1st person to 3rd person. With that respect, the one thing I can be glad of is that this one didn't have nearly as much of that as the previous one did.

Though it was mostly an easy read, I can't understand why people are so enamored with this author. Her stories may be accurate from a historical standpoint (or as accurate as one can expect in a work of fiction), but her style isn't really any greater than most of the writers out there. She's quite average and seems to capitalize on the drama and scandal of dramatic and scandalous families. She doesn't really create much conflict, and sometimes I wonder if she should be writing these as biographies instead of as works of fiction. There is nothing truly extraordinary about the stories of hers that I have read so far.

Historical novels; and I must stress at this point that this work is a novel, not a scholarly work examining this period of British history, are not a genre that I am overly comfortable with nor do I read that many of them, ergo I have a limited number of like books to compare this one with. I have read a few books by Alison Weir which I enjoyed very much and I must say that despite some trepidation, I also enjoyed this work also.

This of course is the second book in what I believe is a trilogy. I have not read the first book but I found myself immediately drawn into the story and feel that this is probably a good stand alone novel. I like Gregory's prose and enjoy her writing style and to be frank, her historical data is no better nor is it any worse than most of the books in this genre I have read. When reading a historical novel you have to remember the old saying "that nothing ruins a good story like the truth." That being said, I did not find any glaring errors...but then I am not a historian; only a reader of history, so what do I know?

This basically is the story of Margaret Beufort, heiress to the red rose of Lancaster, who is obsessed from a very early age (she was first married at 13 and a mother at 14) with placing her Lancaster son, Henry on the thrown of England. And when I say obsessed, I mean obsessed. Not only is this a power hungry spoiled little girl, but she in convinced she is God's instrument of earth and all that she does is guided by God. If nothing else, this book is a wonderful study in nasty ruthlessness.

The author has done a wonderful job of creating one of the most dislikeable, ruthless and mean female protagonist I have ever encountered in literature. I got to sort of liking Margaret before the end of the book because of her compete ruthlessness and ability to place her drive to put her son on the thrown before anything else. This was one focused woman!

I also enjoyed reading of this time in history as viewed almost exclusively through the eyes of a woman and seeing an interpreting events through her eyes and mind. Also, after reading this work, I am extremely grateful that I was not a woman who lived during these times, highborn or not. Now I say this because the author (and this is one of the weaknesses of the book as far as I am concerned), viewed and interpreted events though the eyes of a woman of our time, rather than one born at the time these events took place. I am not sure just how women in Margaret's situation actually felt about things because we have very few historical documents or writings form women of that time; everything was, for the most part, written and recorded by men.

Now there was one other aspect of the book that somewhat annoyed me; Margaret was obsessed with Joan D' Arc and actually felt that she was her at times. I felt the author probably road that pony a little hard throughout the book. That was of little moment though and was a minor distraction...only slightly annoying at times.

Overall I enjoyed the read and quite likely will go back and read the first in this trilogy and then the last...later on down the reading road.

This was a library find.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

I've become very interested in British History. The history is particularly interesting as it pertains to the monarchs. The Red Queen, Margaret Beaufort, was never actually a queen, but was the mother of Henry VII. Margaret was of the House of Lancaster, opponent of the House of York in the War of the Roses (also known as the Cousin's War because the opponents were actually cousins). Margaret dedicated her life to protecting her son, certain that he had been chosen by God to be King of England. The backdrop to this book is one of the most complicated and mysterious periods of British history. I recommend that you read The Lady of the Rivers, The White Queen, and The Kingmaker's Daughter as companions to this book, as they are all intertwined. I have not, as yet, read the latter two books, but they are on my list. This book is well written and well researched, but it is a work of fiction. I get a little amused when I read a review of a work of fiction where people point out historical inaccuracies. Keep in mind that a novel is meant to entertain. If we also learn a bit of history, that's just a bonus. If you wonder if an event really happened, research it. That makes reading these novels even more instructive.

This book was so tiresome, and I kept counting the pages until it was over. Margaret Beaufort is not a nice person at all, though some of the other characters are nice, like Jasper Tudor, her second husband Henry Stafford, and even little Henry Tudor. Lord Stanley, her last husband, has wit, and is probably exactly like he was in real life. He and Margaret are perfect for each other. I just didn't think that the way Margaret thought was realistic. The book gets better in the second half, when Margaret starts to get involved in actual important events that happened during that time period, but even then, it seems that for a woman who supposedly made so many things happen, she did very little in the book.

The funniest part has to be when Margaret Beaufort is seriously considering *marrying* Richard of Gloucester, though he is 8 years younger than her. She sends a man to sound him out. "He is to remind him that though I am eight years his senior, I am still slim and comely and not yet thirty years old; some would say that I am pleasing." Wow. And again: "My steward is to emphasize that I am devout, and that no woman in England prays with more fervor or goes on more pilgrimages, and that though he may think this is nothing (after all, Richard is a young man and from a foolish family), to have a wife who has the ear of God, whose destiny is guided by the Virgin herself, is an advantage. It is something to have a woman leading your household who has had saints' knees from childhood." Yeah, I can just imagine what Richard would think. "What a nutcase!"

I am so glad I found this series and this author. It's my new mission to read all of Philippa Gregory's books---I love her blend of history, rumor, and fiction. She combines these elements into a compulsively readable novel that I find impossible to put down.

I think the mark of a great author is their ability to make you care about a character whom you don't really like. I did not like Margaret, the heroine and narrator of The Red Queen, but I found myself rooting for her time and again. I wanted her to realize her goal of putting her son on the throne, and I wanted her to find love, or at least, find happiness.

The story starts with Margaret as a ten-year old girl, who prays constantly. She has visions of Joan of Arc, and wants to be a saint, or at least an abbess. Margaret is thrilled to discover that she has saint's knees (worn, wrinkly knees achieved by kneeling in prayer for hours on end). She fasts every week and on holy days and spends many hours each day in prayer.

Margaret is dismayed to learn that she will be married when she turns twelve, and is expected to produce an heir for the Beaufort house and the Lancaster line to the throne. She dedicates her life to putting her son on the throne, stopping at nothing (even ordering the murder of children!) to make Henry the king.

Margaret fancies herself a holy woman, high above all others, including Queen Elizabeth, due to her fastidiousness, education, prayer habits, life of sacrifice and superior birth. Her high opinion of herself got old sometimes, but I had to admire her unflinching dedication to her cause. The thing I found humorous is that she commits these atrocious acts and believes them to be done in the name of God. I found her entire mindset to be very ironic.

I would recommend this book to fans of Philippa Gregory and fans of historical fiction.

Just One Gripe:
Margaret was a supremely unlikable character. The fact that The Red Queen takes place at the same time as The White Queen, made me want to go back and read Elizabeth, The White Queen's story again. My second gripe is that the ending felt rushed.

The Best Thing About This Book:
It's hard to define, but there is a compulsively readable element to Gregory's work which makes it impossible for me to put her books down.

I really wanted to like this. I enjoy historical fiction not to be confused with historical romance. The reading style is easy and I was able to complete the book in a few days.Unfortunately as I read I found the story becoming more and more fantasy and lighter on historical fact.
1. While it is a small thing, the word desert is used twice in the novel, both times incorrectly and it jars the reader from the narrative. I do not care for sand in my dessert. The editor should have caught the error.
2. My dissatisfaction continued with the inserted romance of Jasper Tudor and Lady Margaret for which there is no historical basis, and the later implication that there was a budding romance between Richard of York and his niece Elizabeth again with no historical basis.
3. The figure of Joan of Arc was considered to be a heretic during the period of the Wars of the Roses. The idea that Margaret Beaufort was obsessed with her leaves the reader with a feeling of "What?"
4. Several events are moved around from the established historical timeline which is unsettling for anyone who has studied the period.
Margaret Beaufort is a less than sympathetic figure to begin with. Her time required her to be as ruthless as any man to achieve her goals. The Red Queen portrays her as a religious zealot with few redeeming qualities.
I am glad I did not pay full price for this and it will be going back for resale. I have read The Other Boleyn Girl by the author and was left with the same feeling of too much fantasy and not enough historical grounding.

"The Red Queen" is the second Philippa Gregory novel in the "Cousins Wars " series. it is preceded by "The White Queen" which tells the story of Elizabeth Woodville wife of Edward IV. Elizabeth was the first commoner to be crowned as queen of England.
The Red Queen tells the story of Margaret Beaufort a very complex woman. Margaret was thrice wed: to Edmund Tudor and Henry Stafford and Lord Stanley. She was used as a pawn by her ambitious family who married her off to rich and powerful nobles. Yet Margaret was a keen politician in her own right! A deeply pious woman she fought hard to achieve the kingship for her son Henry VII the father of Henry VIII. Margaret is called the red queen because she represents the red rose of Lancaster in their cousins war against the white rose bearing York family.
Gregory is able to get inside the head of Margaret as she carefully leads us through the complex political jungle of the bloody fifteenth century. This book will keep the pages turning and the wheels spinning in your head as we see a strong woman who let no one stand between her son's ascension to the throne. The book ends with an exciting account of the decisive battle of Bosworth Field in which Richard III was killed by Henry VII. This battle in 1485 ended the War of the Roses.
Philippa Gregory does her homework and writes her romantic historical fiction tomes with skill and excellence. Recommended for general readers and fans of "The White Queen" BBC series running on the Starz Cable network.

The Red Queen is the second book by chronological order as well as the second by publication date in the Cousins’ War series. This book overlaps the events in The Lady of the Rivers. The key character in this book is Margaret Beaufort, a religious young girl who wishes nothing more than to go into a convent, if she cannot follow the footsteps of her idol, Joan of Arc. To her dismay, she is married to a much older man, Edmund Tudor, and has her first and only child in a difficult birth at 14. She continues to have visions of grandeur either through the gaze of royalty or religion and is a fierce advocate for her son. Initially frustrated by her use as a political pawn through marriage, she eventually uses her wits and assets to her own ends in the battles between the Lancaster and York forces. While she is not a likeable character, and is at times delusional, the reader is hard pressed not to be at least a little impressed with her sheer determination. This was an interesting addition to the series and I look forward to the next book.

I put my name on a waitlist at the library for The Red Queen and it took over six months for the book to become available. I was, therefore, expecting a spectacular novel. Instead, I found the book to be a disappointment.

The book follows the life of Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII. Margaret, as a young teenager, is forced to marry Edmund Tudor. Soon after the marriage, Margaret becomes pregnant and survives an agonizing childbirth to Henry VII. During her labor, Margaret learns that her mother has given instructions that the baby's life should be spared at the expense of her own. Edmund died before Henry's birth, and Jasper Tudor, Edmund's brother, becomes Henry's guardian after Henry's birth. Margaret marries twice again but never gives birth to another child. The novel describes Margaret's loveless marriages and the strategic gameship she uses to get her son to the throne.

Philippa Gregory does a poor job developing the characters in the book. Margaret, who narrates the book, appears as a one-dimensional woman who is only interested in becoming the mother of the English king. Even assuming this was Margaret Beaufort's lifelong obsession, Gregory could have enhanced Beaufort's character by describing the thoughts of the characters closest to Margaret, such as her husbands or servants. Gregory does even less to develop the characters of Henry, Jasper, or Margaret's husbands.

Furthermore, Gregory poorly describes the reasons for and the details of the fights that ensue between the cousins. She failed to make it clear which cousins were fighting each other in the different wars and how the outcome of each war affected Henry's claim to the throne. It would have been advisable for the family tree diagrammed in the front of the book to have included details about the generations past Margaret Beaufort, since characters from these generations made up the characters in Gregory's book.

I expected more from The Red Queen. I expected an interesting book, but instead I ended up struggling to finish the book. I expected to learn about the rise of Henry VII but still am unsure how Henry was able to lay claim to the throne. Furthermore, I expected to learn about an interesting woman but instead learned nothing more after reading 300+ pages of the book than I did after reading its first fifty pages.

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory
The Cousin's War. Book Two.

Margaret Beaufort is the mother of Henry Tudor and she never doubts, not even for a second, that Henry is the rightful heir to the throne and the true King of England. The Red Queen begins in the Spring of 1453 when Margaret is betrothed to the King's half brother, Edmond Tudor, (a man almost 3 times her age) at age 9. She marries at 12 and gives birth to a son, her only child, when she is 14. She is promptly widowed.

Margaret Beaufort is a devout Catholic and a deeply religious woman who has a vision that her son will be King one day and that the House of Lancaster will be restored to the throne. Margaret Comes of age during the Cousin's War between the Lancasters, Yorks and Tudors. The York's wrested control of England away from their cousin, mad King Henry VI. Edward of York reigns as King with his sons and his brothers, George and Richard as future heirs. Margaret duty is to put her son on the throne and the odds are against her but she knows God is on her side. Even though God is on Margaret's side, she truly creates her own destiny and that of her son, by ruthless cunning, scheming and sacrificing her own happiness.

After Philippa Gregory wrote The White Queen about Queen Elizabeth of York she wanted to tell the other side of the story in the Cousin's War (also known as The War of the Roses) and she wrote Margaret Beaufort's story in The Red Queen. I truly am addicted and in love with reading Gregory's books about this period in history. So far I have read three book is this series.
The Lady of the Rivers
The White Queen
The Red Queen
The next book in the series for me is The Kingmaker's Daughter about the Neville girls Isabel and Anne who married King Edward of York's brothers, George and Richard.

I adore Philippa Gregory and her historical fiction novels. I can't get enough of history told from the perspective of the women and the political intrique behind the rulers who wear the crown. History is told and written by the winners and so often women voices are left out of the historical narrative. Philippa Gregory recreates that written historical record with meticulous research and shares English history from a different point of view. I always learn so much when I read Gregory and she makes it interesting and memorable. It is not like learning history from a textbook, it is definitely more fun than that. She has written more than 20 books on English history based in the Tudor period and The Cousin's war period.

Write on Philippa Gregory!

In all honesty, I was tempted to give up on this book. The magical and captivating character of Elizabeth Woodville made The White Queen a joy to read. I devoured each section and could hardly put it down. The opposite is true with The Red Queen. I really struggled. The sanctimonious, whiny, selfish, and narcissistic Margaret Beaufort is just a giant put off. If it weren't for the worry of missing something in this book that might be referenced in the future series books, I would've probably abandoned it. That takes a lot from me. I don't bail on books easily or lightly. Strictly based on the main character, I would've bailed. The historical time frame helped redeem it. I'm obsessed with all things Tudors and this is their matriarch.

It opens just before her first marriage to Edmund Tudor. All she cares about is her blasted "saint's knees" from praying so much. It's all she goes on about is how she has saints' knees and she wants to be a Mother Superior of her own order. She's obsessed with Joan of Arc, and honestly, I think she blows Joan of Arc's position out of proportion. She wants people to comment on her piety and she goes to great lengths to advertise how pious she is. She flaunts it and baits people to comment. In this ambitious time of England, no one cares about how much you pray. Everyone cares about which house you support: York or Lancaster. Margaret is from the Lancaster house and is the heir apparent to it. This doesn't jive in this male dominated world. She laments at not being well-educated though she is much more educated than most girls of the time. This is a world that a woman is only good for the sons she will bare.

At twelve, she is married off to Edmund Tudor, half-brother of the current King of England, Henry VI. She constantly complains that he does his husbandly duty and doesn't allow her to pray 24/7. She complains that he's constantly away with his brother Jasper. She complains that she's in the middle of nowhere in Wales. She complains about the language, the staff of the household, the food, anything and everything to anyone and everyone within earshot.

She finds herself pregnant and is little more than a child herself. War is brewing in the land as the Yorks are unhappy with their lot of being a minor royal house and think themselves better than the Lancaster rulers. Doesn't help things that Henry VI is slowly losing his touch with reality. Margaret relates this to herself and says they are both chosen by God to do His will and the king is just seeing visions. Things keep getting worse and her husband is captured and dies before her baby is born. Jasper returns to her just before she delivers. Her mother has given orders to the ladies in waiting to order the midwives that if it comes to choosing between the mother and the baby to save the baby. Save the baby above all costs ESPECIALLY if it is a boy. Margaret realises she is worthless as a girl. She has a long and difficult delivery, but finally gives birth to a boy. Jasper wants to name the child after his father, but Margaret claiming divine intervention and the usual that she's been directed to name the child Henry and he shall be a King of England.

She finds out that she is to be married off again. This time to a man much older than she is. Her first husband was already more than 10 years older and now this husband is even older than the first. He is the second son of the Duke of Buckingham. She comes to see that her new husband is much kinder than Tudor, but she thinks him a coward because he does not wish to get involved in the chaos that is consuming England. She constantly nags him about joining the cause and fighting for her, her son who is the heir of the Lancasters, and for his king. He politely points out that he is keeping them sage by staying out of the fighting. She keeps believing he's a coward. She is so naive about her views of the world and how "wronged" she has been. Her son was third from the throne while Henry VI was king, and is now completely disinherited while Edward of York sits on the throne. *Her* throne. She fails to remember that throne passes to the males. She begins to obsess over Edward of York and his wife, Elizabeth Woodville. She deems Elizabeth to be sub par and of inferior birth and a waste of space. She obsesses over the fact it should be her by Edward's side if things had played out better. She switches from calling Elizabeth a whore and a witch and celebrates that she is more holy and educated. She has been touched by the hand of God, but that harlot sits on the throne and pops out babies every time you turn around! She constantly prays for their deaths and the deaths of their children. Not something a saint should be concerned with, in my opinion.

Her husband dies and she then obsesses about wedding Edward instead of him being married to that witch. But he'll want to have all sorts of sex and expect her to get pregnant and have babies, and she's a saint and shouldn't do that stuff. Seriously, this is her thought process. I want this, but I'm a saint. My son should be king, because I'm a saint. I have saints' knees and should sign my name as Margaret R.

She decides to break the year of mourning and approaches husband number three. He's a lord in his own right and she petitions marriage, with no sex, and she keeps her lands. Lord Stanley accepts because he's in it for himself too. His family's motto is Sans Changer and they do anything but STOP changing. Where Stafford (husband 2) didn't want to fight at all, Stanley waits to see who the winning side will be THEN charge into battle.

Edward dies, and the Queen flees into sanctuary with the royal children, except the Prince of Wales who is escorted to the royal apartments at the Tower so the Lord Protector, Richard of Gloucester, can make coronation preparations. Then he has the royal children declared illegitimate and seizes the throne for himself. Cue more sainthood claiming and throne loss lamenting. There's a failed uprising, disgrace - resulting in losing her lands and wealth to her husband and is sent into exile. The new Queen dies and to save his royal niece/lover from scandal she is sent to live with Margaret. A battle for supreme childish bitch starts.

Finally, it boils down to Henry Tudor versus King Richard III on the battleground. England is torn apart again. Back the Lancaster claimant who grew up in exile or back the usurper who stole the throne from his brother's son and most likely had his two nephews executed? Battle ensues and at the last moment, the Stanley armies swoop in to aid Tudor. Richard is executed and his body just dumped (cue best game of hide and seek EVER!). His crown is stripped from his head and given to Tudor who becomes Henry VII and the first of the Tudor dynasty. Word makes it back to Margaret that her son won and all she cares about is that she gets to sign her name as Margaret R.

That's about it. Despite a huge war-torn time period, this book really lacks in action until the last bit. That's about it in the redeeming aspect. Will I read it again? Possibly. Anytime soon? Not a chance. I am looking forward to the next book though. It HAS to be better than this!

Historical novels; and I must stress at this point that this work is a novel, not a scholarly work examining this period of British history, are not a genre that I am overly comfortable with nor do I read that many of them, ergo I have a limited number of like books to compare this one with. I have read a few books by Alison Weir which I enjoyed very much and I must say that despite some trepidation, I also enjoyed this work also.

This of course is the second book in what I believe is a trilogy. I have not read the first book but I found myself immediately drawn into the story and feel that this is probably a good stand alone novel. I like Gregory's prose and enjoy her writing style and to be frank, her historical data is no better nor is it any worse than most of the books in this genre I have read. When reading a historical novel you have to remember the old saying "that nothing ruins a good story like the truth." That being said, I did not find any glaring errors...but then I am not a historian; only a reader of history, so what do I know?

This basically is the story of Margaret Beufort, heiress to the red rose of Lancaster, who is obsessed from a very early age (she was first married at 13 and a mother at 14) with placing her Lancaster son, Henry on the thrown of England. And when I say obsessed, I mean obsessed. Not only is this a power hungry spoiled little girl, but she in convinced she is God's instrument of earth and all that she does is guided by God. If nothing else, this book is a wonderful study in nasty ruthlessness.

The author has done a wonderful job of creating one of the most dislikeable, ruthless and mean female protagonist I have ever encountered in literature. I got to sort of liking Margaret before the end of the book because of her compete ruthlessness and ability to place her drive to put her son on the thrown before anything else. This was one focused woman!

I also enjoyed reading of this time in history as viewed almost exclusively through the eyes of a woman and seeing an interpreting events through her eyes and mind. Also, after reading this work, I am extremely grateful that I was not a woman who lived during these times, highborn or not. Now I say this because the author (and this is one of the weaknesses of the book as far as I am concerned), viewed and interpreted events though the eyes of a woman of our time, rather than one born at the time these events took place. I am not sure just how women in Margaret's situation actually felt about things because we have very few historical documents or writings form women of that time; everything was, for the most part, written and recorded by men.

Now there was one other aspect of the book that somewhat annoyed me; Margaret was obsessed with Joan D' Arc and actually felt that she was her at times. I felt the author probably road that pony a little hard throughout the book. That was of little moment though and was a minor distraction...only slightly annoying at times.

Overall I enjoyed the read and quite likely will go back and read the first in this trilogy and then the last...later on down the reading road.

This was a library find.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

I've become very interested in British History. The history is particularly interesting as it pertains to the monarchs. The Red Queen, Margaret Beaufort, was never actually a queen, but was the mother of Henry VII. Margaret was of the House of Lancaster, opponent of the House of York in the War of the Roses (also known as the Cousin's War because the opponents were actually cousins). Margaret dedicated her life to protecting her son, certain that he had been chosen by God to be King of England. The backdrop to this book is one of the most complicated and mysterious periods of British history. I recommend that you read The Lady of the Rivers, The White Queen, and The Kingmaker's Daughter as companions to this book, as they are all intertwined. I have not, as yet, read the latter two books, but they are on my list. This book is well written and well researched, but it is a work of fiction. I get a little amused when I read a review of a work of fiction where people point out historical inaccuracies. Keep in mind that a novel is meant to entertain. If we also learn a bit of history, that's just a bonus. If you wonder if an event really happened, research it. That makes reading these novels even more instructive.

This book was so tiresome, and I kept counting the pages until it was over. Margaret Beaufort is not a nice person at all, though some of the other characters are nice, like Jasper Tudor, her second husband Henry Stafford, and even little Henry Tudor. Lord Stanley, her last husband, has wit, and is probably exactly like he was in real life. He and Margaret are perfect for each other. I just didn't think that the way Margaret thought was realistic. The book gets better in the second half, when Margaret starts to get involved in actual important events that happened during that time period, but even then, it seems that for a woman who supposedly made so many things happen, she did very little in the book.

The funniest part has to be when Margaret Beaufort is seriously considering *marrying* Richard of Gloucester, though he is 8 years younger than her. She sends a man to sound him out. "He is to remind him that though I am eight years his senior, I am still slim and comely and not yet thirty years old; some would say that I am pleasing." Wow. And again: "My steward is to emphasize that I am devout, and that no woman in England prays with more fervor or goes on more pilgrimages, and that though he may think this is nothing (after all, Richard is a young man and from a foolish family), to have a wife who has the ear of God, whose destiny is guided by the Virgin herself, is an advantage. It is something to have a woman leading your household who has had saints' knees from childhood." Yeah, I can just imagine what Richard would think. "What a nutcase!"

I am so glad I found this series and this author. It's my new mission to read all of Philippa Gregory's books---I love her blend of history, rumor, and fiction. She combines these elements into a compulsively readable novel that I find impossible to put down.

I think the mark of a great author is their ability to make you care about a character whom you don't really like. I did not like Margaret, the heroine and narrator of The Red Queen, but I found myself rooting for her time and again. I wanted her to realize her goal of putting her son on the throne, and I wanted her to find love, or at least, find happiness.

The story starts with Margaret as a ten-year old girl, who prays constantly. She has visions of Joan of Arc, and wants to be a saint, or at least an abbess. Margaret is thrilled to discover that she has saint's knees (worn, wrinkly knees achieved by kneeling in prayer for hours on end). She fasts every week and on holy days and spends many hours each day in prayer.

Margaret is dismayed to learn that she will be married when she turns twelve, and is expected to produce an heir for the Beaufort house and the Lancaster line to the throne. She dedicates her life to putting her son on the throne, stopping at nothing (even ordering the murder of children!) to make Henry the king.

Margaret fancies herself a holy woman, high above all others, including Queen Elizabeth, due to her fastidiousness, education, prayer habits, life of sacrifice and superior birth. Her high opinion of herself got old sometimes, but I had to admire her unflinching dedication to her cause. The thing I found humorous is that she commits these atrocious acts and believes them to be done in the name of God. I found her entire mindset to be very ironic.

I would recommend this book to fans of Philippa Gregory and fans of historical fiction.

Just One Gripe:
Margaret was a supremely unlikable character. The fact that The Red Queen takes place at the same time as The White Queen, made me want to go back and read Elizabeth, The White Queen's story again. My second gripe is that the ending felt rushed.

The Best Thing About This Book:
It's hard to define, but there is a compulsively readable element to Gregory's work which makes it impossible for me to put her books down.

I really wanted to like this. I enjoy historical fiction not to be confused with historical romance. The reading style is easy and I was able to complete the book in a few days.Unfortunately as I read I found the story becoming more and more fantasy and lighter on historical fact.
1. While it is a small thing, the word desert is used twice in the novel, both times incorrectly and it jars the reader from the narrative. I do not care for sand in my dessert. The editor should have caught the error.
2. My dissatisfaction continued with the inserted romance of Jasper Tudor and Lady Margaret for which there is no historical basis, and the later implication that there was a budding romance between Richard of York and his niece Elizabeth again with no historical basis.
3. The figure of Joan of Arc was considered to be a heretic during the period of the Wars of the Roses. The idea that Margaret Beaufort was obsessed with her leaves the reader with a feeling of "What?"
4. Several events are moved around from the established historical timeline which is unsettling for anyone who has studied the period.
Margaret Beaufort is a less than sympathetic figure to begin with. Her time required her to be as ruthless as any man to achieve her goals. The Red Queen portrays her as a religious zealot with few redeeming qualities.
I am glad I did not pay full price for this and it will be going back for resale. I have read The Other Boleyn Girl by the author and was left with the same feeling of too much fantasy and not enough historical grounding.

"The Red Queen" is the second Philippa Gregory novel in the "Cousins Wars " series. it is preceded by "The White Queen" which tells the story of Elizabeth Woodville wife of Edward IV. Elizabeth was the first commoner to be crowned as queen of England.
The Red Queen tells the story of Margaret Beaufort a very complex woman. Margaret was thrice wed: to Edmund Tudor and Henry Stafford and Lord Stanley. She was used as a pawn by her ambitious family who married her off to rich and powerful nobles. Yet Margaret was a keen politician in her own right! A deeply pious woman she fought hard to achieve the kingship for her son Henry VII the father of Henry VIII. Margaret is called the red queen because she represents the red rose of Lancaster in their cousins war against the white rose bearing York family.
Gregory is able to get inside the head of Margaret as she carefully leads us through the complex political jungle of the bloody fifteenth century. This book will keep the pages turning and the wheels spinning in your head as we see a strong woman who let no one stand between her son's ascension to the throne. The book ends with an exciting account of the decisive battle of Bosworth Field in which Richard III was killed by Henry VII. This battle in 1485 ended the War of the Roses.
Philippa Gregory does her homework and writes her romantic historical fiction tomes with skill and excellence. Recommended for general readers and fans of "The White Queen" BBC series running on the Starz Cable network.

The Red Queen is the second book by chronological order as well as the second by publication date in the Cousins’ War series. This book overlaps the events in The Lady of the Rivers. The key character in this book is Margaret Beaufort, a religious young girl who wishes nothing more than to go into a convent, if she cannot follow the footsteps of her idol, Joan of Arc. To her dismay, she is married to a much older man, Edmund Tudor, and has her first and only child in a difficult birth at 14. She continues to have visions of grandeur either through the gaze of royalty or religion and is a fierce advocate for her son. Initially frustrated by her use as a political pawn through marriage, she eventually uses her wits and assets to her own ends in the battles between the Lancaster and York forces. While she is not a likeable character, and is at times delusional, the reader is hard pressed not to be at least a little impressed with her sheer determination. This was an interesting addition to the series and I look forward to the next book.

I put my name on a waitlist at the library for The Red Queen and it took over six months for the book to become available. I was, therefore, expecting a spectacular novel. Instead, I found the book to be a disappointment.

The book follows the life of Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII. Margaret, as a young teenager, is forced to marry Edmund Tudor. Soon after the marriage, Margaret becomes pregnant and survives an agonizing childbirth to Henry VII. During her labor, Margaret learns that her mother has given instructions that the baby's life should be spared at the expense of her own. Edmund died before Henry's birth, and Jasper Tudor, Edmund's brother, becomes Henry's guardian after Henry's birth. Margaret marries twice again but never gives birth to another child. The novel describes Margaret's loveless marriages and the strategic gameship she uses to get her son to the throne.

Philippa Gregory does a poor job developing the characters in the book. Margaret, who narrates the book, appears as a one-dimensional woman who is only interested in becoming the mother of the English king. Even assuming this was Margaret Beaufort's lifelong obsession, Gregory could have enhanced Beaufort's character by describing the thoughts of the characters closest to Margaret, such as her husbands or servants. Gregory does even less to develop the characters of Henry, Jasper, or Margaret's husbands.

Furthermore, Gregory poorly describes the reasons for and the details of the fights that ensue between the cousins. She failed to make it clear which cousins were fighting each other in the different wars and how the outcome of each war affected Henry's claim to the throne. It would have been advisable for the family tree diagrammed in the front of the book to have included details about the generations past Margaret Beaufort, since characters from these generations made up the characters in Gregory's book.

I expected more from The Red Queen. I expected an interesting book, but instead I ended up struggling to finish the book. I expected to learn about the rise of Henry VII but still am unsure how Henry was able to lay claim to the throne. Furthermore, I expected to learn about an interesting woman but instead learned nothing more after reading 300+ pages of the book than I did after reading its first fifty pages.

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory
The Cousin's War. Book Two.

Margaret Beaufort is the mother of Henry Tudor and she never doubts, not even for a second, that Henry is the rightful heir to the throne and the true King of England. The Red Queen begins in the Spring of 1453 when Margaret is betrothed to the King's half brother, Edmond Tudor, (a man almost 3 times her age) at age 9. She marries at 12 and gives birth to a son, her only child, when she is 14. She is promptly widowed.

Margaret Beaufort is a devout Catholic and a deeply religious woman who has a vision that her son will be King one day and that the House of Lancaster will be restored to the throne. Margaret Comes of age during the Cousin's War between the Lancasters, Yorks and Tudors. The York's wrested control of England away from their cousin, mad King Henry VI. Edward of York reigns as King with his sons and his brothers, George and Richard as future heirs. Margaret duty is to put her son on the throne and the odds are against her but she knows God is on her side. Even though God is on Margaret's side, she truly creates her own destiny and that of her son, by ruthless cunning, scheming and sacrificing her own happiness.

After Philippa Gregory wrote The White Queen about Queen Elizabeth of York she wanted to tell the other side of the story in the Cousin's War (also known as The War of the Roses) and she wrote Margaret Beaufort's story in The Red Queen. I truly am addicted and in love with reading Gregory's books about this period in history. So far I have read three book is this series.
The Lady of the Rivers
The White Queen
The Red Queen
The next book in the series for me is The Kingmaker's Daughter about the Neville girls Isabel and Anne who married King Edward of York's brothers, George and Richard.

I adore Philippa Gregory and her historical fiction novels. I can't get enough of history told from the perspective of the women and the political intrique behind the rulers who wear the crown. History is told and written by the winners and so often women voices are left out of the historical narrative. Philippa Gregory recreates that written historical record with meticulous research and shares English history from a different point of view. I always learn so much when I read Gregory and she makes it interesting and memorable. It is not like learning history from a textbook, it is definitely more fun than that. She has written more than 20 books on English history based in the Tudor period and The Cousin's war period.

Write on Philippa Gregory!

In all honesty, I was tempted to give up on this book. The magical and captivating character of Elizabeth Woodville made The White Queen a joy to read. I devoured each section and could hardly put it down. The opposite is true with The Red Queen. I really struggled. The sanctimonious, whiny, selfish, and narcissistic Margaret Beaufort is just a giant put off. If it weren't for the worry of missing something in this book that might be referenced in the future series books, I would've probably abandoned it. That takes a lot from me. I don't bail on books easily or lightly. Strictly based on the main character, I would've bailed. The historical time frame helped redeem it. I'm obsessed with all things Tudors and this is their matriarch.

It opens just before her first marriage to Edmund Tudor. All she cares about is her blasted "saint's knees" from praying so much. It's all she goes on about is how she has saints' knees and she wants to be a Mother Superior of her own order. She's obsessed with Joan of Arc, and honestly, I think she blows Joan of Arc's position out of proportion. She wants people to comment on her piety and she goes to great lengths to advertise how pious she is. She flaunts it and baits people to comment. In this ambitious time of England, no one cares about how much you pray. Everyone cares about which house you support: York or Lancaster. Margaret is from the Lancaster house and is the heir apparent to it. This doesn't jive in this male dominated world. She laments at not being well-educated though she is much more educated than most girls of the time. This is a world that a woman is only good for the sons she will bare.

At twelve, she is married off to Edmund Tudor, half-brother of the current King of England, Henry VI. She constantly complains that he does his husbandly duty and doesn't allow her to pray 24/7. She complains that he's constantly away with his brother Jasper. She complains that she's in the middle of nowhere in Wales. She complains about the language, the staff of the household, the food, anything and everything to anyone and everyone within earshot.

She finds herself pregnant and is little more than a child herself. War is brewing in the land as the Yorks are unhappy with their lot of being a minor royal house and think themselves better than the Lancaster rulers. Doesn't help things that Henry VI is slowly losing his touch with reality. Margaret relates this to herself and says they are both chosen by God to do His will and the king is just seeing visions. Things keep getting worse and her husband is captured and dies before her baby is born. Jasper returns to her just before she delivers. Her mother has given orders to the ladies in waiting to order the midwives that if it comes to choosing between the mother and the baby to save the baby. Save the baby above all costs ESPECIALLY if it is a boy. Margaret realises she is worthless as a girl. She has a long and difficult delivery, but finally gives birth to a boy. Jasper wants to name the child after his father, but Margaret claiming divine intervention and the usual that she's been directed to name the child Henry and he shall be a King of England.

She finds out that she is to be married off again. This time to a man much older than she is. Her first husband was already more than 10 years older and now this husband is even older than the first. He is the second son of the Duke of Buckingham. She comes to see that her new husband is much kinder than Tudor, but she thinks him a coward because he does not wish to get involved in the chaos that is consuming England. She constantly nags him about joining the cause and fighting for her, her son who is the heir of the Lancasters, and for his king. He politely points out that he is keeping them sage by staying out of the fighting. She keeps believing he's a coward. She is so naive about her views of the world and how "wronged" she has been. Her son was third from the throne while Henry VI was king, and is now completely disinherited while Edward of York sits on the throne. *Her* throne. She fails to remember that throne passes to the males. She begins to obsess over Edward of York and his wife, Elizabeth Woodville. She deems Elizabeth to be sub par and of inferior birth and a waste of space. She obsesses over the fact it should be her by Edward's side if things had played out better. She switches from calling Elizabeth a whore and a witch and celebrates that she is more holy and educated. She has been touched by the hand of God, but that harlot sits on the throne and pops out babies every time you turn around! She constantly prays for their deaths and the deaths of their children. Not something a saint should be concerned with, in my opinion.

Her husband dies and she then obsesses about wedding Edward instead of him being married to that witch. But he'll want to have all sorts of sex and expect her to get pregnant and have babies, and she's a saint and shouldn't do that stuff. Seriously, this is her thought process. I want this, but I'm a saint. My son should be king, because I'm a saint. I have saints' knees and should sign my name as Margaret R.

She decides to break the year of mourning and approaches husband number three. He's a lord in his own right and she petitions marriage, with no sex, and she keeps her lands. Lord Stanley accepts because he's in it for himself too. His family's motto is Sans Changer and they do anything but STOP changing. Where Stafford (husband 2) didn't want to fight at all, Stanley waits to see who the winning side will be THEN charge into battle.

Edward dies, and the Queen flees into sanctuary with the royal children, except the Prince of Wales who is escorted to the royal apartments at the Tower so the Lord Protector, Richard of Gloucester, can make coronation preparations. Then he has the royal children declared illegitimate and seizes the throne for himself. Cue more sainthood claiming and throne loss lamenting. There's a failed uprising, disgrace - resulting in losing her lands and wealth to her husband and is sent into exile. The new Queen dies and to save his royal niece/lover from scandal she is sent to live with Margaret. A battle for supreme childish bitch starts.

Finally, it boils down to Henry Tudor versus King Richard III on the battleground. England is torn apart again. Back the Lancaster claimant who grew up in exile or back the usurper who stole the throne from his brother's son and most likely had his two nephews executed? Battle ensues and at the last moment, the Stanley armies swoop in to aid Tudor. Richard is executed and his body just dumped (cue best game of hide and seek EVER!). His crown is stripped from his head and given to Tudor who becomes Henry VII and the first of the Tudor dynasty. Word makes it back to Margaret that her son won and all she cares about is that she gets to sign her name as Margaret R.

That's about it. Despite a huge war-torn time period, this book really lacks in action until the last bit. That's about it in the redeeming aspect. Will I read it again? Possibly. Anytime soon? Not a chance. I am looking forward to the next book though. It HAS to be better than this!

After "The White Queen", which told the story of Elizabeth Woodville's marriage to the Yorkist Edward IV, this #2 book in "The Cousins' War" series tells the story of Margaret Beaufort, a questionable (though never in her eyes) heiress to the royal house of Lancaster.
The story begins when Margaret is 8 years old, a very pious child, who prides herself on having "saint's knees" from praying long on hard floors. Her heroine and role-model in Joan the Maid, a French nobody who became a saint and a leader of men. Margaret hears about Joan's exploits from wandering soldiers and dreams of the same faith for herself.
But as an heiress, her life can never be her own, and so she is married to a half-French Welshman warrior and goes to live with him at the age of 13. By him she bears a son, whom she names after her cousin, King Henry VI.

Edmund Tudor is Margaret's first husband, but not the last, and each of them is very different from the others but all through the years (and husbands) she stays the same - a religious fanatic, pious but envious, demure but vain, and always but a child in a woman's body, a pretentious girl, dreaming of glory.

"In my loneliness I consider that we were separated when he was such a little boy and since then we have never been close--not as a mother might be to her child, not as Elizabeth Woodville always has been to her children, that she raised herself, that she loved so openly. Now that I can be of no use to him, he will forget all about me. And in truth, in bitter truth: if he were not the heir to my house, and summit of all my ambitions, I would already have forgotten all about him."

This, I think, is the root of all of Margaret's pretentions and misconseptions - she's borne a child, yes, but she did not raise him (through no fault of her own) and due to this lack of responsibility she's failed to become a woman but remained a child, filled with childish dreams and beliefs.
And because not raising children wasn't by her choice, I cannot blame her for being a first rate b_ _ _ h.
Margaret is a loving mother, who hardly knows her only son; she is a loyal wife, who is (sort of) in love with her brother-in-law; she is a scholar, who hardly knows the recent history of her own country and reads religious texts almost exclusively; she is a Christian, who orders the murder of children; she is a warrior, who knows nothing of the horrors of war.

When commiting myself to reading "The Cousins' War" series, I've made a bit of a vow to ignore each and all historical inaccuracies in bulk, rather than going "oh,please" every couple of pages, so I've enjoyed this book very much.
The characters were well defined (there's an awesome cameo by Elizabeth of York), the follow-ups from "The White Queen" clear, the battle scenes brutally honest and the final battle broke my heart a bit.

This book is followed by "The Lady of the Rivers" and "The Kingmaker's Daughter" (so far) and I'd recommend this series to anyone who likes well-written (if not fanatically historically correct) historical fiction.

This famous work of historical fiction tells the reader of the story of Margaret Beaufort and her fight against the Yorks as well as the powers of destiny to restore a Lancastrian King to the throne of England. Young Margaret grew up as one of Christendom's most faithful, devout and loyal servants. Giving herself Saint's knees by the age of ten, she sets her goal in life to become a Nun. Her family of course will have none of that... And to quote her mother, her role in life is to produce an heir to the Lancastrian line; nothing more and nothing less. If this sounds harsh enough to break a young girl's spirit you would be right but fortunately for the reader it doesn't and even though she goes through some hard times she finally achieves her mother's wish by giving birth to a son, Henry.

Through several wars, assassination attempts and various marriages we see the face of England change and we see young Margaret grow into a remarkably strong willed woman who has lost none of her faith and determination, despite the barrage of disappointments that she has had to contend with over the years. The descriptive work from Ms Gregory is as delightful as ever. Reading my paperback outside in the park next to my home, the breeze brushing against my face could easily have come from 15th century England. The battle scenes featuring Lord Stafford on the frozen hills and valleys of his nearby fields ran red with the flow of blood and even though this part of the book was rather macabre it was still wonderfully portrayed for the reader.

Of course it is easy to emotionally connect with young Margaret but that was life for a young girl in the 15th century. it is also easy to be angered by it but there is no point to anger as we cant change the past, can we? And so I come to the end of the book, and the end to this review. I give it four stars out of five. I thoroughly enjoyed book one of this series (THE WHITE QUEEN) but it had more excitement for me. This one was just as entertaining but a touch more political. But a great and fascinating read nonetheless.

BFN Greggorio!

"The Red Queen" falls far short of Philippa Gregory's usual. Normally, although historically debatable, her books provide a new interpretation on an old story. A different viewpoint, a way things might have possibly gone - although there is little historical proof, there is often little proof that it DIDN'T go the way she writes it either.

I'm appalled at the lack of time spent on Margaret Beaufort's story. While the idea that Margaret is inspired by the story of Joan of Arc is an interesting idea, this character's incredible stupidity makes entirely implausible for her to run a successful rebellion. She dreams of being Joan... and that's it. Her character shuttles back and forth between hating her family for using her as breeding stock and nagging her husband to fight for her family's rights. She wants to be an abbess... she lusts after her brother-in-law and then later after King Edward. She's enraged that the Lancasters line has been overtaken by the Yorks and that her husband didn't fight for the "true and rightful king", and then twenty pages later is wishing that she could have married Edward the King in order to "end the wars". Her character makes no sense and apparently has no grounding or political acumen. Her husband tries to teach her, but she never listens to a word he says.

I'm on page 212 and I'm so disgusted I'm not sure I'm going to be able to finish the book. Two thirds of it have been spent making her out to be a... well a nothing. She's passive and then suddenly aggressive. She hates her family... she's desperately loyal to her family. She wants to be an abbess... she's happy as a wife. She finally sees the results of battle, compares it to her imagination, realizes that her imagination was wrong... but then still judges her husband to be a coward for not wanting war. She's all about war and fighting for her family... but then suddenly starts wishing that she could marry Edward York and "make peace".

This character does not have the political acumen or intelligence of the real Margaret Beaufort, and I'm starting to think it's not just a travesty of historical-fiction, but also a travesty if this is the way Philippa Gregory's books are going to go from now on.

Margaret Beaufort's single minded determination to put her son Henry Tudor on the English throne is the core theme of this book. Philippa Gregory paints her as a pious hypocrite, always praying, seeing herself as a latter day Joan of Arc, but willing to condone the murder of innocents while convincing herself that in so doing she is only carrying out God's will.

How much of this picture is true we will never know, fiction is fiction, but the picture of Margaret Beaufort painted by Ms Gregory gets progressively more tedious. Maybe this is intentional. I enjoyed the first 100 or so pages of this book, but found myself getting less and less patient with the style and the endless depictions of religiosity as the book progressed. It ends with the battle of Bosworth and Henry's pending accession to the throne. Henry reigned for almost 25 years and Margaret was to outlive her son (if only by a few months), but that is presumably of no interest.

In the end one ends up almost despising a woman for whom one should probably feel a degree of sympathy, if not grudging admiration. The end of the book comes almost as a relief.

After reading the magnificent 'The White Queen' about Elizabeth Woodville, I did not care much for the character of Margaret Beaufort covered in this exciting sequel but it did not take way from my enjoyment of the book. A women of unswerving determination bought out of the conviction that she is guided by G-D to bring about victory to the House of Lancaster, which she believes is totally favoured by G-D. A women of great spiritual pride which led to extreme ruthlessness, especially according to this novel her plan in ordering the murder of the young princes in the tower, thus the author absolves Richard III of the crime. Nonetheless Richard is still presented as ruthless tyrant.

she also holds a vicious hatred born of jealousy against Elizabeth Woodville and her daughter, the ravishing Elizabeth of York, and as I am a fan of these two women, it did not adhere me to Margaret, but Gregory's portrayal of Margaret seems to accurately reflect the essence of the character of this redoubtable but ruthless and fanatical women of destiny, and her scorn for her third husband Henry Stafford when he betrays the Lancaster cause.
Ultimately it is about her ambition for her son who she will do anything to put on throne and after the Battle of Bosworth , we know she does as Henry VII. Also observed here is the unconsummated love between Margaret and Jasper Tudor, brother of her second husband Edmund (father of her son Henry). Ultimately Phillipa Gregory does us a service in drawing portraits of strong and tenacious of women of ambition who take their futures into their own hands while moulding the history of England. Another well crafted bringing to life of 15th century English history.

This is the second book in a series entitled `The Cousins' War', about members of the rival branches of the Plantagenets: the houses of York and Lancaster. The first book, `The White Queen' featured Elizabeth Woodville, who was married to the Yorkist King, Edward IV. `The Red Queen' is about the Lancastrian Margaret Beaufort, who became the mother of Henry Tudor (Henry VII). The House of Beaufort, of whom Margaret Beaufort was a member, was descended from John Beaufort, the legitimized son of John Gaunt (son of Edward III) and Katherine Swynford. Although the Beauforts were officially barred from inheriting the throne, they played an important role in the dynastic struggles (known as the Wars of the Roses) in fifteenth century England.

The majority of the story is narrated by Margaret and I found this irritating because I did not find Margaret particularly likeable. Margaret had a sense of her own importance from a very early age: envisaging herself as an English Joan of Arc; saving England from the Yorks and ensuring that the `rightful' Lancasters ruled. Still, it is hard not to feel some sympathy for a child married at thirteen and then a widowed mother at fourteen. Margaret's actions from then on, through two subsequent marriages, were aimed at negotiating the shoals of the ongoing wars between the Yorkists and the Lancastrians and ensuring that her son Henry was kept safe to fulfil his destiny.

The final chapters of the book, from a third person perspective, take the story to its conclusion at Bosworth in 1485. In some ways I enjoyed these chapters best: the story moves beyond Margaret and takes us beyond a personal account to the historical record.

Margaret Beaufort may not have been a particularly likeable individual, but as the mother of the founder of the Tudor dynasty, she was certainly influential.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

The notoriously pious Margaret Beaufort has always been one in my book that is a known Tudor villain. Personally I think the woman was evil. She schemed and plotted her way all through the War of the Roses and came out on top. I figure she must have been smart and quick as a whip because she was one of the few people that survived the war. It was all for one great cause, her son Henry Tudor. Being the only heir left of the house of Lancaster Margaret sees her sons cause simply as put in place by God himself. God himself wanted Henry to defeat York and roar into England as the red dragon. Even in her younger years Margaret was sure she was destined to become a saint and that her "lady" sent her visions of Joan of Arc for a reason while she prayed on her "saints knees". It was like she was supposed to be England's version of Joan of Arc which I can not even say out loud with out huffing about it. Margaret was firm in her belief that her prayers were answered and that a higher power spoke to her and gave her a divine purpose of placing her son on the throne of England. Her only child was destined to rule England because God himself willed it. Which translated to Margaret simply as, it did not matter how many people died in her path because her way was the righteous way to the throne.

Margaret was everything I expected, nasty, conniving, cunning, cold-hearted, and as strict as a nun schoolteacher who would beat a child with a large ruler in class. Gregory nailed Margaret's personality down to the T and since the book starts with a young Margaret you can get a feel of maybe just maybe why it was she was so dang mean. I enjoyed that Gregory gave a unique reason as to why Margaret was never able to give birth again after Henry was born. Scary as it sounds poor Margaret had a hard labor and Henry was just not coming. The crazy answer hum lets see; lets toss her in a blanket over ten times to shift the baby, dumb but it worked to get Henry out at the time. The tossing must have caused damage on her already too young body. Surprisingly I did not feel bad for her very much.

My only upset which I cannot go into too much detail about, is not that Margaret and Jasper Tudor shared feelings for each other which was more like a crush. For me it was Jasper's role that did not settle well in the end. It is well worth the read just to be able to understand what I mean but I can not give away too much it just is not my style. I will say however that it was not line crossing. This novel was sent to me by the publisher for review.

Possibly the worst piece of fiction I've endured in a while...….Historical novel doesn't mean rewrite history. It uses history as a backdrop. Ms. Gregory should know this. Margaret Beaufort was an amazing intelligent woman who she turns into small minded, sycophant. Waste of time! Is there a way to give less than one star.....because the book was dull on top of everything else.

My thoughts: The Red Queen is the second book in Philippa Gregory's new historical series about the Plantagenet royal house. It is narrated by Margaret Beaufort, heir to the House of Lancaster through the descendants of Kathryn Swynford, life-long mistress and later 3rd wife to John of Gaunt (due to which many people claims that the York's claim to the throne was more valid as they are not descendants of "royal bastards"), but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Margaret is a very serious and religious woman, the novel starts with her praying at age 10 and having a vision of Joan of Arc, which connection to the warrior virgin and saint will accompany her all through the book.

There's no doubt that the real Margaret Beaufort had to be a strong, powerful, quite independent and very ambitious woman in her time, she wouldn't have been able to put her son on the throne of England otherwise; but Philippa Gregory really took on quite a challenge by writing a book told from Margaret's point of view as she is a very displeasing character.

It is not her overzealous religious beliefs which bothered me, it was the opposite: that despite always stressing and repeating what a religious person she is, she acts nothing like one: she is vain, self-centered, willful, uncharitable and always jealous. If she truly were such a good person, someone who God favoured because of her sacrifices and good and examplary behaviour, she would not be cruel, envious and vindictive. All through the novel she wants to be recognized by people and God, she wants to be revered and even feared, she begrudges Elizabeth's Woodville her remarkable beauty, her love with her husband the king, her fertility and many children, how the people love her and most of all her position as queen. A truly religious person would not care for such worldly details and especially not always stew in her own envy and jealousy. Margaret Beaufort certainly had a very hard and loveless life, but she is a very hard, bitter woman quite without any feeling. Even her relationship with her one and only son is nonexistant, not because he spends his life away from her, but because she feels no love for him, only that it is her mission to make him king. She even expressly states this at the end of the book: that if her son would not have had to become king, she would not have cared for him.

With that said, it must be recognized, that Philippa Gregory outdid herself. The Red Queen is truly superior to The White Queen in both the writing style and story telling. The story flows on freely, the tiring and frustrating repetitions which one could often find in the White Queen have disappeared or are not that obvious, and Philippa Gregory does not break character for Margaret Beaufort, she remains constant and unchanging.

Verdict: One cannot review or talk about The Red Queen and not compare it to the first book The White Queen, as even Margaret Beaufort cannot help but always compare herself and her life to that of Elizabeth Woodville's. While Elizabeth is a much more engaging and charming character, Margaret's life is an equally interesting one, especially seeing how she succeeded in making her son king of England almost all on her own. While The White Queen is more romantic and has more of a fairy tale feel to it, The Red Queen is the superior novel.

I'm looking forward to reading the next books in the Plantagenet series, which is planned to have 6 books (the next two will be about Elizabeth Woodville's mother Jacquetta of Luxembourg and Elizabeth Woodville and King Edward's daughter: Elizabeth of York, the White Princess).

Plot: 8/10
Characters: 7/10
Ending: 7/10
Writing: 8/10
Cover: 9/10

This book was not as good or as interesting as The White Queen or The Lady of the Rivers, books one and three respectively of The Cousins' War. There were two reasons for this: one, it just rehashed the history described in The White Queen, only from another point of view; and, two, Margaret Beaufort is an extremely unlikeable protagonist.

Nevertheless, I gave it four stars because it has a ghoulish fascination. The history is dull, but Margaret is a chilling portrait of a damaged and vengeful woman. I don't know how historically accurate this is, but Gregory portrays Margaret as the next thing to a sociopath because of the harm her society has done her.

When the novel begins, she is a rather tiresome nine-year-old who is obsessed with Joan of Arc and proud of her "saint's knees," but still harmless. If she had been allowed to enter the convent, as she wanted, she might have led a fulfilling life. Instead, she is sacrificed in marriage at twelve, a brutally young age even at the time, for the sake of Lancaster politics. She is raped nightly by her husband and not even allowed to hate him. At thirteen she has a hellish time giving birth to her son and is told, in the middle of labor, that her own mother has commanded that she be allowed to die if the baby is a boy. Later, the very same mother says, matter-of-factly, that she never loved Margaret because she was a girl. The reader can feel the psychological impact of that, and it accounts for much of Margaret's later ruthlessness and fury.

Margaret is still an appalling person--single-mindedly ambitious, hypocritical, judgmental, delusional, dangerous and nasty--but one can see that she is a victim too: she is a woman who, far from being a messiah sent from God, is in fact partly dead. She hates other people just for enjoying life. She hates other women for their beauty. She is incapable of joy. She only cares about power and ambition. She imagines herself as the consummate daughter of Christ, but constantly betrays Christian values such as compassion and mercy. She is petty, trying to make the Princess Elizabeth feel small because, she tells herself, she is sinful, but really because Elizabeth is pretty and happy. Worst of all, Margaret is incapable of love--she said at one point that, if he weren't the embodiment of her ambitions, she would have forgotten all about her own son long ago. Margaret herself has never been loved, so she cannot love even her own child. Margaret has been hurt, so all she can do is hurt others. Margaret has been abused all her life, so she is driven by revenge: the desire to make everyone around her suffer as she has suffered

Margaret is also driven by jealousy: jealousy of Elizabeth Woodville, the York queen. She makes extravagant claims of Elizabeth's sinfulness and use of witchcraft, but anyone can see that she is just plain envious. Jealous of her beauty, jealous of her joy and most of all, I think, jealous of the love that is given her. If one reads The White Queen, one can see that Elizabeth Woodville is loved by her family, her husband and her children, and it makes a huge difference. Elizabeth is a person who has both given and received love and while Margaret "triumphed" in the end, it isn't hard to see who lived the happier life. After all, as another critic pointed out, Margaret and Henry VII spent the rest of his reign looking over their shoulders watching for the assassin's knife, trying to shore up a very weak and shaky throne, and witnessed the death of the son and heir. Not to mention that the Tudors are one of the most notorious English dynasties, known mainly for killing multiple wives and burning heretics.

Not, perhaps, the legacy Margaret prayed for. Well, except maybe for the burning heretics.

I haven't read the first in Gregory's Cousin's War series, The White Queen, but had no problem following this second book in the series. The series chronicles the struggles between the York and Lancaster lineages during the mid-1400s, and the White and Red queens are the 2 powerful matriarchs in these families - the grandmothers of Henry VIII. It has Gregory's usual compelling psychological insights, characters, and dialogue.

I think the accomplishment for Gregory as a novelist in this book is that she manages to make a fairly unlikable character compelling to read. Margaret Beaufort is self-righteous to a fault, believing from a very young age that she is destined for religious greatness, like her idol, Joan of Arc. Once she is married (against her will) and had a child who eventually becomes the last remaining heir on the Lancaster side of the English battle for the crown, she extends her sense of predestination to him, and doesn't give up her hopes to put him on the throne, despite numerous length setbacks. She is quite ruthless, but always believes herself and her view to be supported by God. Gregory pokes at this through Beaufort's husbands' (three of them) discussions with her, and so it's also a fairly interesting look at religious experience.

So a good read, and compelling material. Had some rather large time gaps that left it feeling a bit choppy at parts, but other than that, another solid enjoyable historical novel from Gregory.

Gregory is very good at being entertaining. Being factual... No.
--Please note, this will include spoilers. Do not keep reading if you don't want to see them.--
This book has a very one-dimensional view of Margaret Beaufort, and one that is not backed up by any source, either contemporary or modern. There is 0 evidence that Margaret Beaufort ran around from the moment Henry Tudor was born and obsessed about getting him on the throne. In fact, contemporary sources say the exact OPPOSITE, that all Margaret wanted was for Henry to return home and have his land and titles back. She continually petitioned Edward IV for Henry's return, and begs him to return and marry one of the little princesses. Henry did not trust it, and stayed in Brittany. In reading this, it seems that Gregory literally HATES Margaret Beaufort, as her plot choices and adaptations warp what we know of Margaret into a monster.
There was no love relationship between Margaret and Jasper Tudor. None.
Margaret did not and could not sign herself as Margaret R, as it is worshiped and wished for over and over again in this book. R, or Regina, was reserved for the actual King and Queen. Margaret did not sign this way until after Elizabeth's death, as she was taking up the job of the deceased queen, not instantly as Henry became king.
I know that Gregory is all about how "none of these women were able to pick their spouses," and that's true... because a marriage based on love or chosen by the two parties joining was a very rare thing, and only a handful of marriages based on love existed at this time. Nobel women knew they would not have the choice of their husband, they knew that they were expected to have babies and run households. These was not some kind of mean surprise once Margaret was married. It wasn't a punishment her hateful mother gave to her. The union with Edmund Tudor was a very, very good match, as he was the highest ranking Earl and half-brother to the king. To think differently is a modern feminist mindset and does not apply to unions created more than 500 years ago.
Margaret Beaufort is a horrible, horrible person in this book. She seems to think that she's perfect and innocent and everyone else is the devil. She does the same thing as the next person, but condemns them for it. As for the Princes in the Tower, she is not even a suspect in their disappearance, so to put it against her is a great injustice.
In interviews with Gregory, I have heard her state all of the above complaints as supported facts. There is no explanation in the Author's Note to say that these are all inventions of hers, plot choices made to make the story move or to achieve whatever ends she wants. The danger here is that anyone who reads this and doesn't know anything of the actual history will start to think this is just as good, because "these things actually happened!" Even in cases where the physical events did come to pass, the context, people involved, origin and culmination have been molded. This is a work of fiction, not historical fact. Take it with a grain of salt.
As for the writing, we are subjected to repeated phrases and ideas until they literally are being beat over our heads. We don't need full titles every time someone shows up. We don't need to hear, over and over again, that "someday Henry will be king and I will sign myself as Margaret Regina." This shows a great disrespect for readers, as if we are little children who have very short memories.
I would suggest reading something by Alison Weir. Her non-fiction reads better than this story.

Gregory pens an intimate tale of deceit, deception, greed and vanity with "The Red Queen. Young Margaret Beaufort believes she is called by God. She also believes that it is her responsibility to give the House of Lancaster its next heir.
The novel opens with young Margaret Beaufort having a vision of Joan of Arc. It is 1453 and Margaret all ready has calluses on her knees from excessive praying. Margaret doesn't quite understand the political jockeying at court, but comes to believe two things with all her heart - God has called on her like he did Joan of Arc and she is destined to give birth to the next Lancaster heir.
Margaret begrudgingly follows her mother's course for her. While she would prefer life in an abbey, her mother marries Margaret to Edmund Tudor, the king's half-brother. She's only twelve years old. Edmund is twenty-five. The marital bed is no pleasure for Margaret, and she endures Edmund's lovemaking and quickly conceives. Edmund dies before the child is even born, a victim of the Wars of the Roses.
Margaret gives birth to a son and begins to assert herself by naming him Henry. He is left in his uncle's care while Margaret is married off to yet another man, Henry Stafford. Margaret is disappointed as she leaves her son behind to live with her new husband.
Margaret finds her husband weak and lacking in ambition. She also abhors the fact that he supports York in the Wars - especially when he's called upon to show force. It cuts to her heart since Jasper is raising her son to be the next king.

When Stafford dies, Margaret marries a man full of ambition, William Stanley, but with York and Edward IV firmly on the throne, are Margaret's dreams for her son dreams of a vain, greedy, and ambitious woman?

Gregory captures the life of Margaret Beaufort with an authenticity that makes the reader want to know more about her. The story moves well. Gregory's research has paid off with historical accuracy, which when blended in with her speculation and fictional elements, flow so flawlessly, the reader doesn't know where history ends and Gregory's fiction begins.

The story is told mostly in the first person from Margaret's perspective in the present tense. If anything, the present tense narrative can be a little disconcerting to the reader.

Gregory uses a good economy of words to paint the setting of Margaret's times allowing the reader to visualize her world without weighing down the story.
Margaret is a very dynamic character, though not a very sympathetic one - and there's much to sympathize with. She wants to dedicate her life to God, but her mother has other plans. She's a child bride and the ages between her and Edmund Tudor would constitute statutory rape in today's society. Yet Margaret's flaw is that she never allows herself to fall in love. She is ambitious for her son and thinks her second husband is too weak. Margaret is on a mission and love is not a part of it.

"Margaret Beaufort's life, ambitions, and desires play out against the backdrop of war and will resonate through the centuries. "The Red Queen" is a wonderful addition to Gregory's Cousin War Series.

British historical fiction author Philippa Gregory crosses the line to the Lancaster side in the next installment of her Cousins' War series, The Red Queen.

The Red Queen tells the story of Margaret Beaufort, a member of the House of Lancaster and, most famously, the grandmother of Henry VIII. At the age of twelve Margaret is married to Edmund Tudor in an effort to create a royal Lancaster heir and help secure the throne. Though Edmund dies shortly into their marriage, he leaves Margaret with a son named Henry, whom she swears to put on the throne as the rightful Lancaster heir. Caught up in a dangerous civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York, Margaret must navigate ever-changing court politics and carefully plot to get her son on the throne. But in a world where the king of England is constantly changing and no line of succession is secure, Margaret must walk a thin line between loyalty and betrayal to get what she desires.

Margaret Beaufort is an interesting contrast to Elizabeth Woodville, the York Queen Gregory discussed in The White Queen. While Elizabeth clings strongly to her mother's mysticism and witch-like superstitions, Margaret is a strict religious woman, clinging to the belief that she is a British version of Joan of Arc and it is her duty, as well as God's will, that the House of Lancaster rule England through her son. Gregory's descriptions of the two women are also at completely opposite ends of the spectrum: Elizabeth is described as a tall, blond and beautifully seductive woman who becomes involved in politics mostly through her chance meeting with Edward III, and who appears to have no real ambition of her own prior to the meeting. Margaret, however, is described as a shorter, dark-haired woman who is modest and was taught, from the earliest days of her life, that she is descended from a royal line and it is her job to fill the Lancaster cradle with sons, as well as put him on the throne as the rightful heir.

Many of the events that take place in The Red Queen where also documented in The White Queen, though this time there's a different slant to the events and some information is added -- and some is removed. While it was interesting to see the same happenings in a different context from the other side, I couldn't help but think that I've read this book before, so the events weren't as new and, well, felt a tiny bit recycled.

An interesting twist though, as in The White Queen, was the inclusion of violent battles. It did bug me when Gregory broke the first-person viewpoint of Margaret to shift to some third-person battles without warning, but it did add an interesting and unexpected facet to the story. I personally enjoyed the change, but some Gregory fans may have trouble with it.

Something Gregory fans may also have trouble with is the lack of virtually any romance in the novel, especially fans of The Boleyn Girl and historical romance. Other than a dash of very subtle spark between Margaret and brother-in-law Jasper Tudor, there is absolutely no romance between Margaret and any of her husbands and no romantic subplots between other characters. Seriously, I think this is the first Gregory novel I've read that has no romance in it at all.

The pacing in this novel also seemed a little off to me. In fact, I found the first 200-ish pages to be kind of boring, with Margaret doing little else than taking orders from others in charge of her life. Once Margaret takes charge of her own life though and starts to really play political games, things start to get really interesting, eventually culminating in a high-action climax with a highly satisfying, though abrupt, ending.

But as always, Gregory's storytelling skills shine through. The descriptions of Medieval England are well-constructed and enjoyable to read, and the characters are throughly developed, especially Margaret. Margaret's transformation throughout the novel from a somewhat spoiled, dramatic child to an intelligent, passionate and ambitious woman is believable and compelling. Fans of biographical fiction will embrace Gregory's portrait of Margaret Beaufort.

Though many readers and reviewers will disagree with me, I actually found The White Queen to be more enjoyable than The Red Queen. Something about the Lancaster side just didn't enthrall me as much as the York side. Though not a horrible book, not one of my favorites.

I'm interested to see what happens in the next Cousins' War novel which, according to Gregory's website, will be called The Rivers Woman and document the life of Elizabeth Woodville's mother Jaquetta Rivers, instead of the previously announced White Princess.

She did it again...

Philippa Gregory has a unique talent to bring history to life and give an in-depth look into the lives of her characters. What I find very fascinating about Gregory's writing is that she bases her books on fact. While her novels are fiction, it is easy to see the amount of research done to really build her fictional work from a historical foundation. Her style of writing is very easy to read, understand, and follow.

While I am a huge Philippa Gregory fan, I have found that some of her novels are more "meaty" than others. For instance, I believe Wideacre to be a more "thick" story than The Red Queen. While The Red Queen is an easy and enjoyable read, I found it to be almost too short. I was able to read this book in only a few nights. I would personally prefer the story to be a little more detailed and filled out, but I do feel that she included enough details to get the main points of the story across- such as the triumph of Margaret Beaufort's son Henry Tudor.

As the second novel in The Cousins' Series, Gregory tells the story of the battle between the House of York and the House of Lancaster for the throne of England from the Lancaster perspective. Specifically, it is told from the point of view of Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry Tudor. While I believe it would be beneficial to read The White Queen before reading this book, it is written well enough to be read independently (although references to parts of The White Queen occur frequently). Also, it is interesting to read about the same time period covered by both books, but view it from two completely different vantage points.

In the novel, we experience the maturation of the highly religious Margaret Beaufort, from her wedding as a child bride to Tudor in hopes of producing and heir to the throne, to her child birth experience when she found out that her own mother had instructed her midwives to save the baby if they must choose between the baby or Margaret. From that point on, Margaret fights to put her son first, knowing in her heart and soul that Henry must be king. Margaret was devout, and believed that she directly heard the voice of God, and that He directed her and guided her. Gregory makes it very clear that Margaret believed herself to be almost divine, and in fact, knew that her destiny would see her as Margaret R., mother of the King of England. Margaret's piety and visions play an integral role in her actions. She compared herself to Joan of Arc and would tell anyone who would listen of how she herself was almost one with God.

The rest of the story takes us through Margaret's life after having Henry. She is kept from him in his childhood and young adulthood, and he is raised by a handful of other people, including their enemy. The entire journey that we experience with Margaret through the writing of Gregory is full of adventure, detail, and will keep you hooked. We get to experience the emotion she felt, as well as understand her drive because of her religious beliefs. I feel that Gregory has done a wonderful job of telling Margaret Beaufort's story by giving readers a special deep understanding of this strong woman. I think that it is important while reading this book to keep in mind that it is fiction, based on facts in history, but written to make history come to life. While the plain textbook historical facts of Margaret's life may be boring to read, Gregory has managed to fill in the blanks in a way that only she can and truly bring Margaret's determined tale into vivid reality.

A must read for anyone who enjoys historical fiction and is interested in the monarchy of England!

First, I seriously disliked this woman, That Beaufort woman as I called her in my head. Secondly, this was another great story by Gregory. She sure has an easy way of writing.

Margaret is pious, and as a child she is thrilled to have Saint's knees from kneeling so much. She wants to be like Joan of Arc, and lead her country to victory, she wants to be a nun and go to a convent. And she believes god put her on this earth to be queen. If anyone is hungry for power it is her. She longs to sign her name as Margaret R, for Regina, that is queen. How this goes together for her dream of becoming a nun I do not know. She is a power hungry woman who will kill children if they stand in her way.

Even though I liked the book this was my problem. Her faith, she saw it that God wanted a Lancaster on the throne, she saw fault in all the Yorks cos of this. She saw fault in her own husband when he didn't want to fight for Lancaster and she called him a coward. Even though her beloved Jasper Tudor fled the country like a coward and left her and his nephew behind. But he was never a coward. She was cold, and I finished this book by a disliking her..a lot!

That being said, this was a good novel. The pages just flew by cos Gregory has this easy way of writing. Things move along (most of the time), and no concern for any dry facts. It's light fiction, and after reading The White Queen is was interesting to see the war of the roses from the Lancaster side.

And now to make my point clear, I may be over 500 years too late, but I do believe I find myself to be a Yorkist, lol. And to my horror, I doesn't dislike Richard III any more, he was barely in this book and still, yes I am a Yorkist. I even made my mind up as to who killed the princes in the tower.

This book had some good side characters, I liked Henry Stafford, her 2nd husband, but felt so sorry for him for being hazzled by her. Jasper Tudor, I want to read a book about him, and last Lord Stanley who she met her match in. He followed his path, and that was the winning path.

Final thoughts: I guess I am looking forward to Elizabeth of York's story

The more I read about Tudor England, the more fascinating I discover it to be. I've read historical books about royalty before and enjoyed them - Reay Tannahill's Fatal Majesty (about Mary, Queen of Scots) and The Seventh Son are just two, (I enjoyed the former more than the latter) but this book is different. Maybe because I recently started watching The Tudors and I'd just read The King's Mistress by Emma Campion (you can read my review of The King's Mistress here). They both piqued my interest and I wanted more. Then along came The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory and now I can't get enough!

The first in this historical series is called The White Queen (which I have not read yet) and is the story of Elizabeth Woodville, Queen of England and wife to King Edward IV. The Red Queen is Margaret Beaufort. She is born into the house of Lancaster and from an early age is raised to believe that she has one purpose - to bear a son who will one day rule England as the one true king. Her life is therefore dedicated to achieving this goal for her son, Henry Tudor, born when Margaret is just fourteen. She is blocked by the Yorks who want the kingdom for their line and so battles rage back and forth over the years. Never does she waver from her belief that her son is the only rightful heir to the crown.

I enjoyed this book tremendously for several reasons. It fed my growing addiction to historical novels about the royals and it was well-written and not overly romanticized. I found the writing to-the- point in that there was little description of gowns, styles, cloth, not to mention the various activities such as hunting and hawking that people spent time doing in that century. Depiction of life in the 1400's was shown rather than described.

My favourite character in The Red Queen was Margaret Beaufort's second husband, Henry Stafford. I found him very sympathetic and he was the only one I could relate to. Margaret thought him weak and a coward but the way he was written showed he had character and didn't buckle under prevailing opinions. During stressful events, he showed maturity while she displayed anger. And that brings me to Mary. I would say that the author did not write this character to be liked at all. Her one-track mind - getting her son on the throne - was unpleasant. Granted, her mother taught Mary that her only raison d'etre was to bear a son, and so I can see where she would have learned this righteous attitude. Still, the added distraction of this character using her piety and belief that God had ordained her son to be the one true king, just made her unlikeable. And now I'm curious - was her arch enemy, the white queen, equally unlikeable? Or was she a more sympathetic woman? Either way, the facts are known - I just have to read them!

The Red Queen is a must read for anyone who loves historical novels and it's a stand-alone book - you don't need to read The White Queen first to enjoy it. And for anyone who hasn't tried this genre yet - I'd say go for it!

In Philippa Gregory's The White Queen, we are introduced to Elizabeth Woodville - and as I read the book I grew hugely sympathetic to her. While I didn't find the story as easy of a read as some of Gregory's other novels, my interest was still captured by this seemingly "common" woman who became queen, bore child after child and lived through so much tragedy.

Enter now The Red Queen and Margaret Beaufort. Everything Elizabeth was, Margaret was not. Kind, compassionate, loving - none of these things, but who could blame her, honestly? She was married away for the first time at age 12 despite expressing a desire to join the church. She was forced to bear a child at the tender age of 13 and lived through a horrific birth to do so. Then..married away again after the death of her first husband, she was forced to leave her son behind. This was the life of a woman in these days and it's no wonder that Margaret turned to a female as her inspiration - specifically Joan of Arc.

Throughout this book I tried to sympathize with her, and I think I did so when she was younger. But as she aged, as she matured, she became this horrible, bitter person and all I felt was a growing disgust at what I was reading. Just when I'd go to put the book down, feeling the urge to wash my hands or.. something cleansing, I'd ask myself: What would I have done?

After all, this is a woman who's son was denied his birthright, who lived through husband after husband, was denied what she desired most and spent her entire life in a world of intrigue, betrayal and pain.

Like The White Queen, this book isn't as easy to read as Gregory's other novels, but it's stuffed full of information on battles, on betrayals and on the politics between the two battling families, the Yorks and the Lancasters.

I first became aware of Margaret Beaufort when I read several biographies (not novels) of Henry VIII, Margaret's grandson. She had a huge influence on him (especially in his early life) and so she greatly influenced European history. And as the "kingmaker" for her own son, Henry VII, her influence in bringing him to the throne and making sure he married Elizabeth of York pretty much put an end to the hitherto never ending "Wars of the Roses." This is a woman who, therefore, had a massive influence on English and European history. So, why stop this novel when she was just getting started?

Gregory hints at the fun to come during a scene between Margaret and Elizabeth of York, and in her author's comments hints at her being a mother-in-law from Hell. I certainly wanted to see what happened after Henry VII's ascendancy. She outlived her son and including the last half of the story would have allowed Gregory to cut short the portrayals of the endless wailing and complaining of Margaret, which may well have happened but didn't make for interesting reading over and over. The title also only hints of things to come in that she was in no way a "queen" until she fulfilled her dreams and became the king's mother, a role she relished. The first half of the book could have been about her getting Henry to the throne and the second about what happened afterward to this woman who, unpleasant she may have been, had such an impact on Western civilization: a remarkable accomplishment for a woman in that era. Although her story does not have the romance and drama of Margaret's heroine, Joan of Arc, surely her life meant more to history. I did not see a picture of that woman in this novel. Without knowing what came after, how is the reader to assess whether she was indeed someone of importance, or just another unpleasant, whining, treacherous woman?

Book 2 in "The Cousin's War" trilogy

The second book in the series brings Margaret Beaufort, the heiress to the red rose of Lancaster to life. Narrated in her words, she tells her story commencing at the tender age of nine and continues into adulthood including her three marriages. She details her bitter struggle to ensure that her son, Henry Tudor, triumphs as King of England.

The running theme throughout the book is Margaret's belief that she is another Joan of Arc, dedicated to her religion and loveless marriages in the pursuit of power. She feels personally abandoned by God and cheated out of her rightful position by her rivals but believes God's will is for her son Henry to lead the house of Lancaster to victory and eventually be crowned King and she will do anything to reach this goal.

Having enjoyed previous novels on the Tudor dynasty, I was looking forward to reading the role Margaret played in the continuous struggle for power and the barbaric methods used, a time when allegiance was here today, gone tomorrow.... Ms. Gregory's simplistic prose made it easy to follow the scenes and historical figures but unfortunately the storyline pacing is slow, repetitious and a tad boring. There are too many pages describing Margaret's ego and obsession with religion to the point it is a turn off. She is depicted as a cold, ambitious and unpleasant person but she must have had a conning side to live long enough to see her son reach the highest position in the country.....Reading became tedious as the story progressed.

Ms. Gregory has never written a book I haven't absolutely loved, until now. But, I cannot blame her for writing true to character a woman who was truly awful. Margaret Beaufort is quite possibly the least redeeming character in literature, perhaps history, and this book fits her historically as a religious fanatic that truly thought "God" allowed her to be an awful person because she had a mission. I admit to bias against Margaret Beaufort because I am a student of history, and from her appearances in Ms. Gregory's other works, but this book does nothing to make human a woman who can be classified no more nicely than "stone cold b!tch". If you're a person who hails her as the matriarch of the Tudor line, despite her cult-like obsession with her religion and her son, then you may read this and not care that she's truly an awful person. However, if you're someone who has read on this woman's history and already know what a conniving, controlling, truly terrible person she was, then steer clear, because this book will only make you despise her more.

THE RED QUEEN is the story of Margaret Beaufort (1443-1509), mother of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond (1457-1509), who defeated Richard III at Bosworth and reigned as King Henry VII from 1485 until his death in 1509. (Margaret herself died two months after her son.)

The novel begins in 1453, when Margaret is about to go to court for the first time to formally dissent from her pre-contracted marriage to the son of a disgraced nobleman, so that she becomes available to make a better match. The hour is late, but nine-year-old Lady Margaret is on her knees at prayer, having a vision of herself as her heroine Joan of Arc. When everything is spoiled by her mother's maid coming in and insisting that she go to bed, for they have to rise early on the morrow.

Philippa Gregory is such a talented writer, whose historical novels are easy and entertaining to read. But she has surpassed herself in this novel, for the voice of Lady Margaret is truly remarkable: determined, shrewd, strong, certain and unconsciously funny:

It cannot be right that the York princess is a favorite at the court, the darling of her uncle, the sweetheart of her people, and I thrown down. God cannot really want these women to lead peaceful, happy lives, while my son is in exile.

The whole novel is infused with that voice, and it makes fascinating reading. If you have not read this novel and you love the period of the Wars of the Roses, then you are in for a treat.

I have always been fascinated by Henry VII, and was excited to read this book about his mother, Margaret Beaufort, the last Lancastrian heir. The story of the War of the Roses, or the Cousin's War, is a fascinating one, and I will leave it to other reviewers to discuss Gregory's treatment of the subject in this book. I have always found the story to be a compelling one and was excited to read it told from several "queens." I will admit that I liked the White Queen better, perhaps because I found Elizabeth Woodville to be a more sympathetic and interesting character. Margaret Beaufort is, in a word, insufferable. She is self righteous, hypocritical, vengeful, and completely lacking insight into her own failings as a human being. She is vain beyond belief while wearing a false veil of piety. She has the audacity to speak for God, and displays the most offensive qualities so often seen in religious people. I actually laughed out loud at her hypocrisy in parts where she criticizes the vanity and pride of her counterpart, Elizabeth Woodville. Trust me, there is no one more prideful than Margaret, though she manifests it with her hysterical displays of religious fervor and a constant desire for the admiration of others-- rather than in the Woodville way, who exalts in her physical beauty as Queen. Plain, overlooked, Margaret is an incredibly jealous woman, lacking all compassion for the misfortunes of others (even children) and thinks she is fulfilling God's duty every step of the story, even when colluding in the most evil acts. I found her story less interesting than the White Queen because her life lacked any real romantic content, which may have further contributed to her being a miserable person. At the end of the story I truly pitied her future daughter in law, Elizabeth of York, and I can't wait to read the White Princess now. I can understand contemporaries calling her "'t old bitch!" Overall, this is still a great read even though I didn't like Margaret personally, and I wish I would have learned more about her son Henry VII. But if you are reading the other books, don't skip this one.

"The Red Queen," by Philippa Gregory was a joy to read. I was stuck in the Atlanta Airport with nothing to read, delayed by the usual incompetent airline that serves Atlanta (I will not mention a name, but it is easy to guess what airline it was). I was stranded in Atlanta for 10 hours and was desperate for something to read. I teach AP European history and lately my favorite subject has been English history. I went to a chain bookstore in the airport and came quickly upon "The Red Queen." It was the only book on English history I could find, so I quickly bought a copy. I'm usually a non-fiction reader, but I was desperate for something to read. I have never read anything by Philippa Gregory and I have to admit I was wary of her and the book from the beginning. Boy, was I pleasantly suprised! The book was easy to read and was the first book I have ever read that put "The War of the Roses" in an easy to understand, interesting story about the beginnings of the Tudor Dynasty. I thoroughly enjoyed the book from beginning to end. It was not a rommantic novel, which I was afraid I was getting myself into. It was very detailed and actually entertaining. I was so surpised, that I have made a special trip to the local bookstore to buy another Philippa Gregory book. I highly recommend this piece of fiction to anyone who wants an intersting read on English history. Well done, Philippa Gregory! I'm now a fan!

In sketching Lady Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry Tudor and last heiress to the Lancastrian claim to the throne of England left standing, Philippa Gregory plays is fairly straight down the line. Yes, Beaufort was a sanctimonious religious fanatic and lifelong schemer driven to see her son take the throne.

But she herself was arguably the ultimate pawn in the dynastic struggle being married off at twelve to a man more than twice her age and giving birth to her only child the year after.

Today we'd say she was the victim of pedophile rape and blame her callous mother and husband about equally. So brutal and traumatic was the experience that Beaufort never was able to conceive again. It's hardly surprising if she sought comfort in a form of religious fervor that is hard to distinguish from narcissistic revenge fantasy. Margaret was hurt and angry and she had plenty of reason to be.

Gregory has done justice to a woman who was treated cruelly even by the standards of the time and whose response was predictably twisted. Margaret beaufort succeeded in winning the crown for her son but she clearly never knew happiness in her life.

Margaret Beaufort's only desire in life is for her son, Henry Tudor, to become the King of England. This book is the story of how she sacrificed everything to ensure that that happened.

She believed she was special and that the Lancaster House was blessed by God, she spends hours on her kness in prayer and her heroine was Joan of Arc, in fact she often asked herself 'What would Joan do now?' when she was faced with a tough decision.

"I am a highly intelligent, highly educated woman, from a royal family, called by God to great office, guided personally by the Maid, and constantly hearing the voice of God in my prayers."

It is narrated by Margaret who comes across as not very likeable, incredibly pious, very jealous of her rival, Elizabeth Woodville (The White Queen), single-minded and devious. Philippa Gregory has really brought her to life and I was gripped by the seemingly endless battles between the armies of the Lancaster and the Yorks, but Margaret never stopped hoping and plotting and scheming, even when her son had to be raised by her enemy she continued telling him that he was still a Lancaster and that one day he will be the King, and not to give up believing.

I enjoyed the first book in 'the cousins war' The White Queen but I enjoyed this even more, I thought the writing was more descriptive and flowed easier. Although I really didn't like the emotionally cold Margaret Beaufort I did admire her determination and self-belief.

I generally have enjoyed Philippa Gregory's historical fiction. They are made for light reading, don't overwhelm with historical information, and portray the characters in a way that makes me relate to them. "The Red Queen" has probably the least likable character, Margaret Beauford. She is historically reviewed as a schemer and plotter, but in this book Gregory makes her a true sociopath. She has an extraordinary sense of her own greatness, considering that she seems to have spent most of her life in the country, had little education and lived in an era that was very unkind to women.
This is not my favorite of Philipa Gregory's books, not only because of unsympathetic character, but also because the writing feels a bit choppy and characters undeveloped, the story seems to go on for too long. I hope the author is not going to start churning out multiple books in hopes of riding out on earlier successes. Still an enjoyable, light read.

I agree with some of the other reviewers that this was not Ms. Gregory's finest hour. While she shows some sympathy for the plight of her main character's childhood, (lost her father, married off at age 12, almost dying in childbirth at age 13), Margaret is thereafter portrayed as a one-dimensional woman whose principle distinguishing feature (her piousness) is a form of pride.
One of the things I usually enjoy about Gregory's books are the romances, but this book lacks that element. The author attempts to make something of an attraction between Margaret and her brother-in-law, but it does not ring true. The book concentrates on battles and shifting allegiances, and those are, indeed, fascinating. But they could have been told in non-fiction, and been equally, if not more, interesting. I've always liked the sympathetic main characters in her earlier novels, but in this one, no one is developed except boring Margaret, and Gregory ends the novel just where it might have gotten interesting, after Margaret reaches her goals and will have to live with Elizabeth as Queen.

Margaret Beaufort, the Red Queen of the title, was a driven and ambitious woman. From a young age she chafed at the restrictions her time placed on women, convinced that she was chosen by God to be the English equivalent of Joan of Arc. Her dream is to see her son, Henry, restored as the rightful King of England and eventually having everyone recognize that she is as great as she believes herself to be.

Sadly, the portrayal of this Red Queen is one-dimensional and Margaret comes across as almost a caricature, rather than a real person. Margaret was not a sympathetic person to start with, but Gregory reduces her to a woman completely blinded by her ambition. The few moments of humanity are so brief as to only emphasize the image of a cold-hearted monster.

I am a fan of historical fiction and had high hopes for this book when I saw the care Gregory took to be historically accurate. But in the end, I couldn't bring myself to care at all about Margaret or any of the other characters. I almost quit reading two-thirds of the way through because I knew what would happen and really wasn't interested in what else Margaret went through to achieve her ends.

For diehard fans of all things Tudor, this book is a must read. But those seeking a more subtle approach with well-rounded characterizations will likely be disappointed.

The Red Queen is the story of the Lancastrian heiress Margaret Beaufort, who is King Henry VIII's grandmother. We are taken through her life from when she is married at the age of 12 and produces an heir who she names Henry to when she finally achieves her goal of the title My Lady, the King's Mother, Margaret Regina. From the very beginning Margaret thinks of herself as Joan of Arc and her mission is to place her son on the throne of England. After her first husband dies, she marries twice more. Her last husband Sir William Stanley is her real goal. He has always been a favorite of any King of England and will always support who he thinks will win.

Gregory has weaved a great story here. I always get wrapped up whenever I read one of her novels. The bulk of the story is told from Margaret's point of view, until the end when it is told by Henry and Richard as they battle it out. I personally do not have a problem with that because the point of the story is that we are seeing and hearing what Margaret experiences. I'm probably a little bias but I enjoy reading just about anything Gregory writes...:)

Margaret felt touched by God at an early age and had visions that she would influence the future of her country. She firmly believed that her son would become a King of England. This novel unveils the character of Margaret and the troublesome, dangerous politics of her life. Armed with her faith, persistence, stubbornness, and pride she protected and guided her son to become a monarch of England. The book is called the Red Queen because Margaret was born of the House of Lancaster and her tapestry had red roses.

I came into this book expecting a little more than I got. I felt Margaret Beaufort was basically one note throughout the whole book, it just got shriller and shriller and shriller.

She never really grows or changes through the book, she thinks she's better than everyone else, but she's just as bad, ruthless and as much a liar and deceiver as everyone else. And to be honest, she's a bit boring. While it's nice to know about the mother and grandmother of Henry VII and Henry VIII, when I heard there was to be a book about The Red Queen, I was thinking Margaret of Anjou, who would have made a very interesting book. Margaret is never truly queen, just a schemer behind the throne.

The ending is just weird. You go from a first person narration to, what...a third? I was never good at that in school, but it switches and it just seems weird. Like you were suddenly reading another book.

I greatly prefered The White Queen: A Novel (The Cousins' War) to this one. If it wasn't a part of a series, I'd almost say skip it.

This book is a continuation of the story of the War of the Roses. This war in the history of England was the struggle between two royally connected houses, Lancaster (represented by the red rose) and York (represented by the white rose). In the book, THE WHITE QUEEN, Philippa Gregory tells of the house of York and THE RED QUEEN tells the story of how the throne was eventually won by the house of Lancaster.
Margaret Beaufort, the principal character, was only fourteen when she married Edmund Tudor, a man many years her senior. She had a son by him and named him Henry, after Henry VI who then occupied the English throne.Shortly after the birth, Edmund died in battle and she was then married to Henry Stafford. These two marriages were arranged by her mother. When Henry Stafford died, she married Thomas Stanley, a marriage she negotiated for herself. Only the marriage between her and Edmund Tudor produced a child, her son Henry Tudor.
Margaret believed that God had destined her to become great through her son. However this was not so easily accomplished and the throne of England changed hands several times before Henry Tudor became king when Richard III was killed in battle.
Philippa Gregory weaves marvelous stories using historical facts. I always enjoy her books and I think this is a great way to read history. Alma Winters-Author, ONCE UPON A TIME TALES

Philippa Gregory has written not so much a novel as a character study. Margaret Beaufort is a woman whose great piety is matched only by her overwhelming spiritual pride. She believes that she and God are destined to put her son on the throne of England, against all odds. Her obsession with Henry's prayed-for victory masks her own ambition for herself. Margaret's seething resentment against the beautiful reigning queen (portrayed earlier in the book The White Queen) and her equally gorgeous daughter eat her alive. Nothing will do but that God answer her prayers and put her in the position of Queen Mother - and able to bring down those she loathes. Ms. Gregory acknowledges in her note at the end of the book that Margaret becomes the "mother-in-law from hell". Why do I find this easy to believe? And yet in the end, the reader has to admire Margaret's relentless drive and faith that she will ultimately prevail. Great book!

I love history and Philippa Gregory is a master at writing historical fiction. I truly loved the first book in this series (The White Queen) but besides enjoying the beautiful way in which this second book was written, didn't really care for The Red Queen. I think I think it's because the main character, Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII, was just plain unlikeable. I felt sorry for her at first when she was shipped off to be married the first time at age 12 to Edmund Tudor but soon grew tired of her holier-than-thou attitude. She sees herself as Joan of Arc and never lets her second husband, Henry Stafford, forget it. He is a patient, loving and tolerant husband to her and she is, as portrayed in the story, a shrewish nun-wannabe. Margaret gets what she deserves in her third husband, Thomas Stanley, who is just as cold, calculating and ambitious as she. I'm all for being religiously devout but... GEEZE! She really goes off the deep end! I don't think God would subscribe to the murder of the two little princes just so her son Henry Tudor can take the throne. But, in the end, it's only a fictional account of true historical events. It's an okay read and a bridge to book #3. I am looking forward to it!

Source: Received for review from publicist. Many thanks to both Loretta and Michelle from Simon & Schuster for sending me this book for review. I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.
My Rating: 4/5

Margaret Beaufort is a cold, pious, and calculating woman. She has given birth to the Lancaster heir, and knows that she will be known as the mother of the future King of England. She believes it is her destiny to bring her son, Henry to greatness. However, the York family has grasped the throne from her hands. King Henry VI has succumbed to madness, and has been locked away in the Tower. Margaret's plans for the moment have been halted. However, she never stops working towards bringing Henry closer to the throne, as rightful heir. She walks a fine line, bringing people over to her cause, yet maintaining the appearance of remaining faithfully loyal to the York family.
At first glance, Margaret has known a hard life. Her mother only sees her as a vessel to be used to bear an heir and marries her off at an exceptionally young age. She then, having fulfilled her duty, also becomes a widow. She is wrenched away from her young son after his first year, and is married off again. She at this stage in the book, is a character that I pitied. She was shipped off from one place to the next, and gained the knowledge that her mother didn't care for her. She was mocked by many as she proclaimed she had "saint's knees" from praying so much, and for having visions of Joan of Arc. As I continued reading, I found that she evolved into a very radical, and stubborn woman. The circumstances of her early years may have caused her to become more zealous, but she also grew into a disagreeable and unlikeable woman. However, she also became one of the most influential characters in this time period, as she created the rebellion that ultimately led to her son being crowned King.
I applaud Gregory's skill at weaving history with fiction. She creates a thoroughly enjoyable atmosphere with the blend of history and fiction, making the story come to life as opposed to the dryness of a textbook. I enjoyed the perspective given in this book, however, having read both The White Queen and The Red Queen, I have to say, that I found Elizabeth of York an easier character to like. Regardless, Margaret was a strong woman, and she didn't let anything get in the way of procuring the throne for her son.
All in all, this was an excellent read, and Gregory's fan are sure to love this installment in the Cousins' War. It has left me wanting to read the next book, all the more.

Margaret Beaufort, Henry VIII's grandmother, was a plain but deeply religious girl who had visions that convinced her she was another Joan of Arc. Married at l2, she gave birth at l3 to a son. Although she adored the little boy they were almost constantly separated, as England roiled in turmoil, cousin against cousin,during the War of the Roses. Widowed at an early age Margaret married twice more, the last time to a conspiring turncoat whom she despised, but felt he could help her put her beloved son on the throne. Despite deceit and treachery all around her, and the almost constant danger she was in, this formidable woman endured and triumphed in the end. She was not a very admirable character, as she was willing to do anything, even sanction murder, in order to achieve her goals, but one can admire her courage and tenacity, and for history buffs this is a great read.

The book presents an interesting point of view of a time period often written about emphasizing other historical characters.
The main character here could be interesting but she is pictured as a proud, self-rightous, self centered, fake pious bi****. Her piety is for display, to make others see her as pious. She cares about her son obsessively because SHE is the main reason he should be king and she wants to benefit from his status. The world revolves around her. I did not like her and wondered how anyone could like her enough to help her cause. She thought that she deserved her high place in life because of her birth and others weren't worthy of "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness." They exist only to serve the whims of the blue bloods. In other words, the situation in the book was interesting but the main character is very annoying.

I enjoyed reading this book but there were parts of it that moved a little slow for me. I enjoyed reading and learning about Margaret - Henry Tudor's mother. She knew from the time she was young she would do something great as she had a vision. Lady Margaret lived her whole life trying to get her son back to his rightful throne. Even through three marriages she worked tirelessly to make this vision come true. In a way I felt sorry for her as she did fall in love with the brother to her second husband but she was never able to live out her life with him as she was to intent on bringing her son to his rightful throne. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series. I give this book three stars.

Philipa Gregory is wonderful but the subject of this book is horrid. I kept hoping there was something sympathetic about Margaret Tudor. Probably the only thing good about her was that she was the fraternal great-grandmother of Elizabeth I and her gene pool is still swirling in today's royals. I have read almost all of Ms. Gregory's books on the English royal women and have learned to greatly appreciate her style, language, research skills, ability to draw upon history, and her ability to give a voice to these important, often forgotten, women of history. The stories are rich with details and bring an intimate view into the lives of these amazing women.

I discovered after having read most of the books that they are numbered, which I assume recommends that they be read in order. I do not find that is necessary--each can stand on its own.

I have read numerous Gregory books and have been enthralled with all. This one I tired of about half through. Historically, Gregory has done an excellent job presenting the events leading up to the crowning of Henry VII. However, this story is told from the point of view of Margaret Beaufort and the view grows tiresome. Historians talk about what a difficult woman she was known to be so perhaps it was in keeping with her character. I, however, grew tired of the self-centered, holier than thou, one dimensional woman. Towards the end of the book, young Elizabeth of York, Henry's future wife, puts Margaret in her place and I cheered. I really wanted to see the interaction of those two women after Elizabeth is Queen. That would be entertainment. So, I wouldn't highly recommend this Gregory book unless you really like the history of the War of the Roses.

So, I recently tried to read The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory. I've read a bunch of her books and I never have high expectations for them - her stuff is Historical Fiction Lite mixed with a little bit of bodice-ripping - nothing too mentally taxing but entertaining and easy to read. Good beach books.

I picked up The Red Queen with similar expectations, but I got about 150 pages deep and just wasn't interested in going any further. I ended up not finishing it, which is unusual for me. I won't slog through a book I'm not enjoying, but it usually takes a lot for me to put down a book and not pick it up again. I wasn't hating the book, but it just wasn't interesting - the story was boring and the characters were dull - so I quit.

Unfortunately, I had a similar reaction to the last book I read by her. I read The White Queen at the end of last year and was just as underwhelmed by that one as I was by The Red Queen. I actually finished The White Queen, but didn't particularly enjoy it and I skipped reviewing it because I didn't have much to say about it.

So I'm sorry to say, but Philippa, we're through. I won't be picking up any more of your books because the last two have been slow at best and boring at worst. I don't know if you're coasting on the success of The Other Boleyn Girl or if you're running out of interesting characters from English History (which I doubt), but your books just aren't doing it for me anymore. I'll be flirting with other authors from now on - please don't hate me.

This is the story of Margaret Beaufort (Also known as Margaret Stanley in history), the mother of Henry VII. Essentially, it is the story of her determination to win the crown for the Lancaster line. Of course, going in we know that she does so, but this novel presents an interesting, highly readable portrait of this woman and her family.

First, everyone notes how religious she was. I don't know -- it seemed to me that her religiosity was based on being noticed for piety. It is true that she prayed all night at times, but I get the feeling that there is little Christian charity at work there. This is a truly mean spirited, inflexible woman.

Second, she was vain and proud of her lineage. But I think that was probably usual for her time and place.

Third, she is presented as being capable of doing a truly heinous crime to ensure that her son wins the crown. It is speculation, but it is truly awful.

But still.... I cringed at the birth of her child; I marvel that any woman survived those methods! And I cannot imagine living in such a labyrinth of intrigue and turncoating! Good grief!

Anyone who has enjoyed Philippa Gregory's other books will surely enjoy this one, too. I look forward to the next one!

Ms. Gregory's writings are most entertaining and educational. Yes, some is fact and some is fiction, or artistic license. I watched the series "The White Queen" and was hooked. I had already seen The Other Bolyn Girl. The Red Queen is a good way to get a handle on just how and why the Tudors were able to secure the throne and reunite the country. Margaret is driven, if not slightly insane. There is probably a classification for her obsessive personality in the DSM. Definitely worth a read. I am hooked on the cousins' war and will probably read them all. God save the Queen!

There is a touch of enchantment and witch craft in this and a little bit of the YA angle. These are subjects everyone now expects from British novels. The Plantagenet's are seen as queens starting just at the infancy of their courtship and onward into their adult years not just their teenage or childhood years. This says that the queen had a supernatural gift. Some people believe Abraham Lincoln had a special gift to see the future in his dreams and knew that he was going to be assassinated. Anyhow, back in England they had something called a spymaster which kept the queen safe from plots to kill her, most real English monarchs had spymasters, who were said to have supernatural powers, which came in handy when trying not to be killed by jealous rivals.

I read a lot, and I love historical novels, but my geography is a bit sketchy, especially when it comes to other parts of the world that have changed boundaries so many times over the centuries. I've read so many books I can't begin to remember them all, but this one is a real forgetter, that's for sure.

I had never read anything by Philippa Gregory before this, so I didn't know what to expect. My sister gave me her copy of the White Queen a couple of weeks ago, but after reading the first 40 or so pages, I thought perhaps I should find out if the Red Queen came before, time-wise. Actually, it was published after the White Queen, but the timelines are, for the most part, running parallel. I'm now back to reading the White Queen after having finished the Red Queen.

So, here's my take on the Red Queen. I found it dull, but I kept with it to the end, as I rarely don't finish a book, dull or not. It comes down to this: I don't like Ms. Gregory's style of writing. The Red Queen (and the White Queen) are written in first-person narrative form. Likely, many of her other books are as well. This could be fine, except we end up having absolutely no idea what is happening to any other character other than the main one (in this case, Henry Tudor's mother). Philippa never bothers to write how anyone else feels or what they're doing when they aren't around the main character. So, big pieces of information are missing that would make the book far more engaging.

I also didn't care for the family tree in the front. It isn't complete enough to include many characters that are written about in the book. So, though they may be husbands, wives, children, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc., one can't tell where they fit in. As for the map of the cities and the battles, again, many are left off of it that are written about. There are no counties or shires indicated on the map either, so it's difficult to determine which part of England these places are located.

Even my daughter, who read The Other Boleyn Girl, said much the same thing about her style. Not very enjoyable.

I won't bother reading anything else by her after I'm done with The White Queen.

Philippa Gregory's latest work of historical fiction is titled, The Red Queen, and presents England's War of the Roses from the perspective of Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry Tudor, who went on to be King Henry VII. Everything in this novel is from Margaret's perspective, and her intense focus on positioning her only son to reign pays off in the end, as she collaborates and schemes to advance him whenever she can. There's treachery and battles and intrigue on these pages, but in the end, this is a story of a mother's devotion to her son. I don't know whether Gregory's history matches that of scholars of this period, but I found the novel quick to read and generally entertaining.

Rating: Three-star (Recommended)

More like 4.5 stars.

The Red Queen by Ms. Gregory was very well done in that the characters felt real to me and the setting pulled me into the past. While the story was a bit long, the novelization of the struggle between the Yorks and Lancasters was necessarily drawn out. The number of times the throne switched hands, or important people were at risk of being killed because they were on the wrong side at the moment, was staggering. I enjoyed the way the author pulled history into this book and made it come alive.

I found the details of Margaret's three marriages fascinating and incredibly sad. I hurt for her and wished that somehow she could have found happiness, but it wasn't meant to be. Over time she just became more bitter. She wasn't taken seriously and was seen as a means to an end, nothing more. I found the way her first husband was portrayed as a child rapist (though he was begrudgingly fulfilling his duty to have an heir,) the second as a coward, and the third as a scheming two-timer quite compelling. Each marriage had a purpose, and while Margaret suffered during each union, she learned a lot in the process.

I appreciated that the battle scenes were not overly gross. There were plenty of disgusting details of war without being over the top. I felt bad for all of the people getting their heads chopped off as it was. I loved how the author portrayed Lady Margaret's firm conviction that it was God's will that her son Henry become king. Based on her painful life up to that point, it made sense that she would put everything she had into seeing him fulfill his destiny (which she believed was the reason he was born,) and then her suffering would be for a good reason and not just cruel luck. I found her religious zeal interesting, too. She really believed she was favored by God because she prayed all the time. It caused her to be too proud of herself, and quite arrogant.

Of course, the Yorks felt that they were destined for the throne as well. Since King Henry had lost his mind the author made a compelling case for why fear overruled loyalty. I just felt bad for the common English person who fought for either side and the many lives lost over the right of one family or the other to rule England. This was the first book by Ms. Gregory that I've read and it won't be the last. I have The White Queen and plan to read it in the next year.

I truly detest reading a book from the first person POV. I just never get really comfortable nor lose myself in the story. I was acutely aware at all times that I was reading a novel. Except for a few chapters toward the end of the book that were third person, I never got entrenched in the story. I knew that Margaret Beaufort was a religious fanatic (but then during that time most were) but I got tired of hearing about her "Joan of Arc" obsession, two or three times on every page. She truly was an annoying and self absorbed person. Even as a child she was very full of herself. The only time I came close to feeling pity for her was when at 13, she gave birth to Henry. It amazes me that any woman lived to have more than one child. While I enjoyed The Red Queen more than The White Queen, neither was as riveting as the Tudor wives books nor the royal gardener books which I adored. Again, this book was thin on the areas that I so loved in her earlier Tudor books, descriptions of the homes, foods, court life and clothes. I like to be able to "see' as well as read about what was going on in this era. I dislike being told what is happening. It wasn't a great book but I'm still holding out hope that the rest of this series will live up to my expectations.

I have enjoyed Gregory's earlier books but this is seriously one of the top 10 worst books I have yet to pick up. SO boring and nothing but a confusing back and forth fighting between king's. The WORST is the constant, I mean constant use of the word "pray". This word is used at least 500 times, I stated to cringe every 30 seconds that is was used. The woman prays this prays that prays till her knees are bleeding, prays for hours a day, prays in the morn, prays at mid morn, prays when she has to use the restroom....PLEASE give us a break....Finally after about 1/2 way (and I skimmed through the fist half mostly it is that awful) and reading the word pray one to many times, I just quit. No story line, just monotonous back and forth boring story line and one too many overuse of the word pray.

The Red Queen covers much of the same events as The White Queen and The Lady of the Rivers but is told from the perspective of Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII. This would not be much of a problem if the plot were not the only good part of Philippa Gregory's. Characterization and other aspects of the writer's craft are not her strong suite. Her characters are very flat even our narrator Margaret Beaufort, whose head is extremely unpleasant to be inside of.

Margaret Beaufort was probably my least favorite in all of Philippa Gregory's heroines. I normally love reading about the English monarchs, but I don't know if this queen is at all royal. I guess for what she accomplished as a women in her time was to say the least, incredible and for that reason alone she was never painted in a good light in any historical documents. Gregory does do a wonderful job in portraying Margaret as what she must have been a scheming person, only trying to further herself and her family and cutting those down that got in her way. She is a most significant figure since she is really the one who brought the Tudor name to fame. Not my favorite of Gregory's books, but it is a good historical perspective.

As a child, Margaret Beaufort felt she was destiny's darling and planed to remain pious while pushing the cause of the red Rose of Lancaster. However, her mother rudely awakens her by informing her she is a worthless chip off the old block of England's military commander in France; and therefore will be sent to Wales to marry some lord older than her parents. She is quickly widowed at thirteen and forced to marry again. This time she has a son, whom she names Henry after the king. To keep him safe she sends him away but pledges him to the daughter of the White Rose rival York family. Widowed and married this time to Lord Thomas and knowing her son is ready to take the throne from the usurper, Margaret executes a coup.

This is a terrific historical biographical fiction as queen of the sub-genre Philippa Gregory provides her fans with another strong female royal (see The White Queen and The Other Boleyn Girl). Filled with intrigue, murder and betrayal while occurring for the most part in the second half of the fifteenth century, Ms. Gregory focuses this time on a female dynasty maker as Margaret Beaufort proves to be the matriarch of the Tudor line.

Harriet Klausner

I've thought of the perfect term for Philippa Gregory's historical fiction, inspired by the Daily Mail's review of The White Queen which calls it: "popular history at its best". Much like the latest TV series "Reign" (I haven't seen it yet, but it seems to involve actresses in some bizarre hybrid of modern and period costumes), Gregory's work is best described as "pop-history," focusing on emotional drama and the participants' first-person accounts of events as opposed to any strict adherence to fact or objective accounts of history. If the term takes off, please remember that you saw it coined here first!

Following on from The White Queen, which detailed the ups and downs of the War of the Roses through the eyes of the Yorkish Queen Elizabeth Woodville (best known historically as the mother of the Princes in the Tower), "The Red Queen" flips perspectives and looks at the conflict from the point-of-view of Margaret Beaufort, a staunch Lancastrian supporter and mother of the man who will eventually be known as King Henry VII. Given that both books more or less cover the same period with exactly the same results, it's surprising that the story is still engaging and suspenseful - though it helps that The White Queen concluded *before* the decisive Battle of Bosworth Field which determined the final outcome between the red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York.

Margaret Beaufort is born a heiress to the House of Lancaster and firmly believes in the superiority and rightness of her own cause against the usurping House of York. Married to a man twice her age and enduring agonizing childbirth at the age of thirteen in order to bear her only son, she is a woman whose ambition is only comparable to her deep piety. Believing herself the mother of the destined King of England, she grows up with a ruthless streak towards anyone who stands in the way of the Tudor Dynasty, and soon gets to test her meddle when it comes to negotiating court politics and two-faced treason.

Gregory's gift is in taking a rather unsympathetic character with an over-zealous attitude and making her... not relatable exactly, but at least understandable. Margaret is not particularly beautiful or bright, but she has a sincere belief in her own convictions and her son's destiny to take the throne. Working around the restrictions that impede her as a woman living in the 15th century, Margaret often has nothing but dogged faith and grim determination to use as her political tools, with her narrative voice often suggesting it is these traits alone that bring her plans to fruition. As with Gregory's inclusion of witchcraft in The White Queen, speculating that it was magic that made Elizabeth Woodville such a powerful political player, Margaret's piety has the unfortunate side-effect of stripping her of a degree of realistic agency when it comes to the events that shape the course of history. She attributes various deaths and defeats to the power of her prayers, when there were plenty of other ways in which Gregory could have explored her true influence on events.

For example, there is a bit too much emphasis on Margaret's relatively non-eventful youth, which results in Gregory skimping on the details when it comes to the complex political intrigue that occurs once she returns to court and begins to plot against the king and queen. Another oversight is that we're given no real indication as to how she feels about those she seeks to betray (beyond the fact that she hates them all) even though a few more moments of doubt or pity may not have gone amiss in the portrayal of a woman who Gregory implicates fairly heavily in the deaths of the Princes of the Tower. Killing children for (in Margaret's opinion) "the greater good" would have been a compelling topic to explore, but Gregory hardly warrants it a paragraph.

Furthermore, many plot-threads are left dangling by the end of the novel, making it feel rather anti-climactic. Gregory hints at a love affair between Margaret and her brother-in-law Jasper Tudor (the only passion of Margaret's life), but the story ends without any sort of reunion between them, and there is nothing given on her son's marriage to Elizabeth of York and her subsequent relationship with her daughter-in-law. Given their prickly history with each other, it would have been interesting to see how Margaret was treated in the court of Henry VII and his wife - I thought it would be a fitting end if Gregory illustrated that though Margaret succeeds in getting her son on the throne, her unpleasant attitude prevents her from reaping any personal benefits. A hollow victory you might say, but the book instead ends rather abruptly at her moment of triumph.

At the end of the day Margaret's story simply isn't as interesting as Elizabeth Woodville's (I suspect that this is why the recent miniseries went with "The White Queen" instead of "the Red" for its title and central protagonist), and nor is she as compelling as a character. Though she suffers many hardships, Margaret is also hypocritical and jealous with no real sense of personal growth or self-awareness. Possibly the best scenes are between her and her pragmatic third husband, who takes great pleasure in mocking her by pointing out that her interpretation of God's will rather astoundingly matches up to exactly what *she* wants for the country's future. He provides a much-needed dash of icy water in the midst of Margaret's increasingly fervent and obsessive behavior.

As far as historical novels go, there is little in the way of historical detail (nothing on the foods, clothing, customs, etc), which some may find disappointing. Yet as I said in my first paragraph, this is "pop-history", in which the emphasis is very much on exploring the thoughts and emotions of the characters rather that the time period or the historical implications of the events. Fans of Gregory's work will no doubt enjoy "The Red Queen", though those who are sticklers for impartial viewpoints and vivid recreations of the past would do better to look elsewhere.

Excellent period piece set during the palace intrigue while the House of Lancaster fought the House of York for control of the British throne. Gregory does a magnificent job of setting the scene, and while she may miss a detail here and there that I also missed, her attention to the historicity of the situation also was excellent. While it was the men who wore the crowns, Gregory does a great job of showing how the women often choreographed the plans to power. I only give it four stars, however, because the pacing was uneven and at times it bordered on boring. The really frustrating part is this excellent book has much of its scene-setting done at such a slow pace. Don't give up on this one early and you'll enjoy the adventure.

This is the second book in Gregory's series telling of the War of the Roses. I enjoy Gregory's historical fiction and this book was no different. Margaret believes that she is like Joan of Arc and has been chosen by God to be the mother of the true King of England--her son, Henry Tudor. Margaret plots and plans to make this happen and this vision becomes the driving force in her life. This book shows how women were powerless and powerful all at once, how people would turn on family and friends at the drop of the hat, and how keeping the family name in power was the end all be all. This was a good read. I read it on my Kindle.

[...]

This is the second in the Cousins' War series by Philippa Gregory. It is historical fiction taking place in the 15th century. It is during the time of the War of the Roses,and this is the story of Margaret Beaufort. She is a very unlikeable character. She is a serious religious fanatic. This is very ironic in that she sees fit to scheme--arranging marriages and murder to benefit her son. She wants Henry Tudor (Henry VII) to rule England.

The story is very well researched and fast paced, although I liked the first book, The White Queen, better. However, this is probably influenced by the fact that Margaret is a mean-pirited person.

After watching the White Queen series on Starz this past summer I then purchased all of the novels associated with the Cousins War by Ms. Gregory. I find myself returning to this one over and over. They are all very good, but the story lines from Margaret Beaufort' s point of view, for me, are the most interesting, engaging, ever changing, tense, and thrilling. If you have watched the series on TV, and want to start reading the books, buy this one first. You won't regret it.

Too many historical novels are like tapestries: detailed, finely wrought and colorful, but essentially static. Things happen to these needlework queens and kings, courtiers and common folk, but they remain lifeless figures. They put me to sleep.

Philippa Gregory's fiction keeps me up. Her books resemble films, as accurate as any documentary but thrillingly intimate and eventful as well. A rich, consistently engrossing narrative voice is her preeminent tool, and in THE RED QUEEN, as in her other bestsellers, I felt that the protagonist was right in the room with me, whispering confidences --- so close that I could see the perspiration on her upper lip, the cross around her neck, the gold embroidery on her gown.

This is Book Two of the series Gregory calls The Cousins' War (the original name for the War of the Roses, which pitted Lancaster against York), and the starring role is played by Lady Margaret Beaufort. A Lancastrian descended from Edward III (and thus in line for the English throne), Margaret soon discovers that her family tree will determine her entire future. This pious and intense child doesn't see why she can't become Joan of Arc, or a nun (preferably an abbess), or at least marry for love. But to be strategically "wedded and bedded" is her lot. As her mother puts it in a chilly premarital advisory, "You are a girl: girls have no choice."

As Margaret matures, she doesn't lose her fanatical faith, but she transfers it from aspirations to a life of prayer to the more worldly vision of her son as king. Since Margaret's first husband, Edmund Tudor, is also of royal lineage, their offspring could conceivably rule the land as Henry VII...were it not for the many other aristocratic heads that would have to roll before his was crowned.

That doesn't deter Margaret. In the next couple of decades, she lies, cheats and conspires her way through two more loveless (and childless) marriages, pretending loyalty to the reigning Yorkist monarchs while fomenting rebellion --- first against Edward IV and his wife, the beautiful commoner Elizabeth Woodville (the protagonist of Gregory's THE WHITE QUEEN and Margaret's greatest adversary), and then against his successor, Richard III.

Gregory sets up Elizabeth and Margaret like queens in a chess game, and their stratagems couldn't be more fascinatingly intricate if they'd been invented out of whole cloth rather than based on the historical record. Elizabeth is blond, ravishing, rather greedy, and reputed to be a witch (in THE WHITE QUEEN she conjures male heirs and convenient storms). Margaret is dark, comely enough but no beauty, disciplined and passionately Catholic. Raging against her rival, Margaret calls Elizabeth's pride, vanity and ambition "sinful," while her own desires are "godly" and "righteous" (self-deceptive much?). She clings to her self-image as a latter-day Joan, a Machiavelli masquerading as Mother Teresa.

Any reader familiar with Henry VIII knows that Margaret Beaufort went on to forge one of England's more enduring royal dynasties --- although Henry VII, admittedly, isn't as famous as his much-married son. Yet THE RED QUEEN still manages to be suspenseful because it hews so closely to Margaret's point of view (to her, the outcome is in doubt until the very last page). There is a wicked pleasure in tracking her treasonous schemes while her son waits in safe exile on the continent. She even marries for his sake, taking for her third husband the most opportunistic of men: Thomas, Lord Stanley. He agrees to her offer of marriage as if it were a business proposition, which indeed it is.

And a smart one, since the two-faced Lord Stanley turns out to be the key to the novel's denouement, when Margaret's son faces Richard III on Bosworth Field. Gregory writes of the battle so grippingly that it unfolds like an action movie, cruel and exciting. It ends, the victor emerges, and I'm left hungry for a sequel. (Actually, the next book will be more of a prequel: It is about Elizabeth Woodville's Circe-like mother, Jacquetta.)

Elizabeth, Margaret, Jacquetta --- strong women, all. No surprise there, since Gregory's agenda is clearly to rescue her gender from historical oblivion. As she said in a recent interview, the feminine side of life largely went unreported by the male historians of the time. Those few women who do emerge in contemporary documents are often ridiculed and condemned for their uppity attempts to wield power, even indirectly.

Margaret herself is a victim of the standard chauvinism of the 1400s. Although she's not a sympathetic personality --- Freud would have had a field day with this obsessive, repressed woman --- the way she was raised would make anyone hard. Virtually raped by her husband at 12, a mother at 13 ("I have to say I am much less impressed by crucifixion now that I am in childbirth. It is really not possible that anything could hurt more than this") and separated from her baby a year later so she can marry again, Margaret is, she muses, "a parcel --- taken from one place to another, handed from one owner to another, unwrapped and bundled up at will. ..."

THE RED QUEEN and THE WHITE QUEEN cover roughly the same period from different perspectives, and any Gregory enthusiast will want to immerse herself in both. Yet Margaret and Elizabeth, while appearing at first to be opposites, are actually more alike than different: intelligent, resourceful, manipulative, driven. In an age that treated women as a combination of servant and broodmare, they refused to be dismissed or defeated. In the modern world, they might have commanded corporations or countries. But I wouldn't want to meet either one of them in a dark alley.

I loved "The Other Boleyn Girl" and had high hopes for this one in the first few chapters, but it's lost me now and I can't bring myself to get through it.

I've tried, truly. But if Margaret Beaufort uses the phrase "The usurper Yorkist" one more time I think I'm going to scream. Note to Phillipa Gregory: if you are going to write an entire story in first person point-of-view, then that person had better be interesting or likable. Unfortunately, Margaret is neither. In fact, she is perhaps one of the most annoying characters I have ever encountered in a novel. She whines incessantly about her piousness and her devotion, about her "destiny" to be the next Joan of Arc, and about how no one seems interested in how special she is convinced she is. And yet, she is so selfish, inconsiderate, and mean that it's hard to believe she is destined for sainthood. Yes, she had to marry at an absurdly young age, but she gave birth to the future king of England out of the union, which she failed to seem to appreciate for no other reason than to further her own selfish interest in being recognized as a "Holy Mother." I almost choked when she spent a paragraph or so debating how she would like to be titled once her son became King. Then she proceeds to torture her poor second husband whose only crime seems to be that he treats her well and wants to avoid war. I'm nearly up to the next marriage, and hopefully she'll get her due with this one. To be continued...

This is not one of Philippa Gregory's best works. The period in English history known as The War of the Roses is fascinating, and this account of it is interesting. But it is also frustrating. I prefer to like the main character of a novel, and Margaret Beauford is simply unlikeable. She is overly pious, vain, unrelentingly ruthless, and single-minded. She has no redeeming qualities other than love for her son, and even that love is tainted by her ambition (to put her son on the English throne). She has no self-awareness, mentally condemning others for their own pride and greed while not recognizing her own culpability. The story is interesting, and I will finish it, but I'm looking forward to being done with it.

I really enjoyed this book. BBC is currently running a television series called the White Queen based on Philippa Gregory's novel of the same name. I became interested in the series, but in the first several episodes, Margaret Beaufort does not play a big roll. I was interested in understanding more about her. Luckily I had this book in my "to read" pile and after hearing her name mentioned in the TV series, I finally am seeing a broader picture of who she was. Regardless of what I think about Margaret Beaufort, I thought this was a good book and enjoyed it from beginning to end. I am not a historian, so I don't know if it is 100% accurate, but I don't really care.

Philippa Gregory, bestselling author of `The other Boleyn girl' in my opinion is one of the best writers of historical fiction connected to the Tudor period. She brings to life the fiery, heated passion and rivalry within the dangerous Tudor Court through in-depth research and acute perception that is so assured. Full of substance and promising premise, Margaret Beaufort's tale is one that touches the heart and stirs the mind. The writing was so remarkable that I found myself stepping into the main protagonist's shoes (metaphorically speaking) and thinking about her outlook as the dramatic scenes unfold. Never have I within this genre connected to a character so instinctively, as I was also presented with an entirely new perspective on Henry VIII's ancestors - one of our greatest monarchs upon England's throne.

Knowing that she has a great destiny before her to then encounter a catastrophic blow has to be one of the most trying events within Margaret's lifetime in the late 1400's. As Henry VI ignores her plight, she is in danger of falling prey to melancholy and suspect to idle gossip. As a fourteen year old mother and wife to an older man, Margaret focuses on the more radiant elements within her life such as her son Henry whom she is set on becoming King. Despite cold-hearted ambition and rival heirs, her challenge to aid her son in becoming known in court is a tough road with hindrances along the way.

Brimming full of rich period detail and well-written, captivating prose this exceptional story encapsulates perfectly the atmosphere and electric tension of the times. Profoundly affecting, outstanding and truth-drawing I was unable to tear my eyes away from the pages as I lost myself within such sublime storytelling and memorable characters. Capturing the turbulent times perfectly with such dexterity as a freshly sharpened blade, I highly praise and commend Philippa Gregory for such a gripping tale. Fans of other historical works and authors such as Hilary Mantel, Emily Purdy and Alison Weir will find this a most impressive novel of such scope.

It is great to read P. Gregory books. Her nonfiction is strong, and has such historical back up that I feel that I am cheating in History Class, although I am a bit old to think that way I guess, at 55. I read everything she writes, and so does my 85 year old father, from whom I learned of author years ago.

This book is fluid, suspenseful, gives a clear and interesting picture with a definitive angle which is a pleasure to read. I don't think I put down my audiobook version until it was done! Hightly recommended in either modality. I don't think that if you are a historical fiction fanatic like me, that you will be disappointed.

The Red Queen follows Margaret Beaufort, starting as a young girl dreaming of being the next Joan of Arc. We watch her marry at the young age of 12 and shortly give birth to Henry Tudor. Her son fills her with purpose, and while she is separated from him for most of his life this never stops her from plotting to make him King of England.

Margaret Beaufort is one of Gregory's least likable characters. She is strong willed, but believes that all of her wants are the will of God. It's easy to how being shuffled from husband to husband has made her into the pious woman she thinks she is. My biggest annoyance with her is her unending hatred of Elizabeth Woodville. Especially since she interacts with and serves her for several years. Her petty jealousy is annoying to read, and made me long for the pages of The White Queen, with it's more accessible heroin. Even with her annoying characteristics she is a perfect love to hate character.

The Red Queen reads like any Gregory novel. It's very straightforward and easy to follow. It is especially interesting to read this having already read The White Queen. The stories completely intersect for the latter third of the novel, detailing the death of Edward Vi, the rise and fall of Richard III and yet another take on what happened to the Princes in the Tower.

Worth the read if your a Gregory fan, and are ready to put up with the typical historical inaccuracy's.

Wonderful portrayal of Margaret Beaufort. A lot of readers seem turned off by Margaret's piety and lack of romantic life, but I found Margaret's childhood ambitions both touching (as they are to be dashed quite brutally), and convincing as a legitimate psychological foundation for her later character and motivations. Gregory doesn't portray a "cold" woman, as if Margaret is flawed or evil, she portrays an extremely strong (yet at times fragile) woman who is both surviving her difficult circumstances, influenced by them, and overcoming them. She both works within and exceeds the limitations of her time. I also found the unconsummated love story between Margaret and Jasper Tudor very moving. Margaret could not have acted on it without compromising her reputation, and thus her son's claim. Margaret sacrificed a great deal for her son to achieve his destiny, and she was the driving force to bring him to the throne. Gregory developed a convincing and moving character in Margaret Beaufort, and this book serves as both a wonderful character study and an interesting hisfic novel.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first. This time the author re-tells most of the story from The White Queen, but from Margaret's perspective, mother of the future King Henry Tudor (VII). I found her voice to be a little whiney and not as interesting as Elizabeth Woodville. However, it was nice getting the perspective of a Lancaster vs a York on the Cousin's War. I'm interested to see what is in store for me with book 3!

I am a huge Philippa Gregory fan, so my review may be a bit biased to her writing as she was the first historical fiction author I ever read and the one I have always loved most.

Moving onto the story, however. It is the 3rd book of a 5 part series. I read the entire series in order, starting with The Lady of the Rivers and am now finishing up The White Princess. Every story was wonderful and I recommend them all to those who are fans of the era of the Wars of the Roses or Cousins' Wars.
I will not leave you a description of the story, but leave you with just my review. In each story book of this series I was in love with each woman. You do see these situations from their point of view which makes it so much more interesting. However, with each woman I loved, as the story progressed, I began to strongly dislike each character. Why? Because she woman gradually became greedy, deceiving and more ambitious.
For example, it was hard to love Elizabeth Woodville at the end of her story, though I adored her when she fell in love with King Edward. She became more powerful, and used witchcraft for many different vengeful reasons. The 2 characters I never fully disliked were Jacquetta from Lady of the Rivers and Elizabeth of York from he White Princess. I am explaining this because The Red Queen was where I felt the most hatred and THAT is why I give it 5 stars.

At the beginning of the story, I felt so much sympathy and sadness for Margaret Beaufort that it was almost hard to read. As the book progressed, however, I began to honestly hate her. Halfway through the story I was ready to put the book down considering I no longer felt for her and what she was doing. At one point, I had had enough and flipped to the back of the book where Philippa had left an Author's note, stating (paraphrased): I wanted the reader to first feel sympathy and sorrow for margaret, and then begin to dislike her. Name an author who specifically wants the reader to dislike the main character of the story they're reading, even though it is from first person and so you know what they were thinking when they made their decisions. You'd expect a book like this one, from the point of view of a woman like Margaret Beaufort, that the character would want to defend their attitudes, decisions, and thoughts. Not with Philipp Gregory. She wanted the reader to dislike the character. And that is a big challenge for any author; especially one writing the story in first person.

Ms. Gregory is an amazing author for reasons such as this. She has made me more and more interested in this particular era. And, as someone who has been reading about and obsessed with the Tudor family since she was 10, getting an inside look at the way the Tudors claimed their thrown was an eye-opening, jaw-dropping experience.

Having already written "The White Queen", did the author have to balance things with a Red Queen? Because I can't think of another reason for including this book in the series. The time periods covered in the two books almost exactly match, so all the major historical events were already included in "The White Queen". For a historical novel, there's surprisingly little historical detail, so we don't learn anything more about life in the late 1400's. The only new thing is the outcome of the showdown between Richard III and Henry Tudor, which won't exactly be a surprise for anyone who has heard the name "Tudor" before (or noticed the anvil-like foreshadowing in "The White Queen").

The biggest problem here is that Margaret not only is unlikeable (which I guess is the point) but that she is too dull to be a compelling villain. There is absolutely no character development from the first chapter to the last -- Margaret has the exact same conversations with the few other major characters of the book (and with herself) over and over for almost 400 pages. The major players here apparently held the same opinions and motivations from beginning to end with absolutely no new insight into the events of the day -- the only change in any of the characters is that they are 30 years older.

Margaret was essentially a bystander to history during the 30 years covered here. Her perspective could easily have been included in "The White Queen" and in whatever book is to follow. I actually rather liked "The White Queen", but if this had been the first Philippa Gregory book I'd ever read, I doubt I'd bother with any others.

I thoroughly enjoyed The White Queen and couldn't wait for this to come out. Unfortunately, this book was a chore and not worth my time or the new and inflated Kindle price and I will not be recommending it to anyone. I have read a lot of books about this time period and I thought Margaret Beaufort was a unique but interesting character for Gregory to choose. The beginning of the book where we follow Margaret as a girl and young woman was good, but it felt like Gregory suddenly decided that she hated Margaret and wanted to make sure the reader hated her too. In that, the author succeeded! By the time Margaret achieved all her hopes and dreams, I no longer cared. She may have been a very pious person, but it was impossible to support her self-serving ambitions, such as when she prayed for her son to be kept safe yet schemed for the York princes to be killed. Why would God ever speak to such a person? It was hard to tell if Gregory was mocking religion or just being cynical about personal ambition in the name of religion. What I do know is that I grew to despise the "heroine" of this book which took all the fun out of reading it. This is the first time Philippa Gregory has disapointed me and I will probably wait to get the third book in this series at the library.

Philippa Gregory's latest novel in her "The Cousins' War" series (a series about England's War of the Roses) doesn't vary from her tried and true formula. She is, in a way, the Danielle Steel of historical fiction. What that means for the reader is that her plots all feature the same features (ie, first person narrative, always from a woman's pov, etc). This isn't necessarily a bad thing because the reader always knows what to expect.

So if you've enjoyed Gregory's books in the past (especially the first book in this series, The White Queen), you will likely enjoy this one, too.

This time she's featured Margaret Beaufort (mother to Henry VII) as her primary character. Margaret's life is followed from her early childhood, when she obsessed over being an English version of Joan of Arc, to her early marriage and son's birth when she was just fourteen years old, to her plotting her son's ascent to the English throne via various forms of intrigue.

Margaret's character is far from perfect (and that, perhaps, is what redeems this novel). She is misguided, loyal to a fault, but ultimately just human with human flaws. The dialog is better than some of this author's previous efforts, but again, she's sticking to her tried and true formula here (and I can't say I blame her, based on her sales!).

This is historical fiction "light" and I'm certain that's all the author intended it to be. If you aren't too familiar with the Wars of the Roses, this series isn't a bad place to start for a general overview. There are, of course, much more in depth historical fiction novels that deal with the same subject should you choose to read more about this era of history.

Nope - I don't like Margaret Beaufort any better in the story told from her perspective. Margaret hears God, but only because God agrees with her. She prays multiple times a day and has no problem helping plot the murder of children, She is always described as the most unpleasant person ever. These novels just make me want to see her get her comeuppance. I had to read and am glad THAT is over:)

I loved this book in The Cousin's War series! You definitely don't have to read the books in order within the series, unless you want to follow along chronologically with history. The plot was interesting, and although, I wasn't on the side of the red queen (I prefer the white queen), I still loved reading her story. Another great book from Gregory!

For a more in-depth review, check out my book blog, A Nook of Blankets and Books!
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This was a very quick, fun, and interesting read for me. I enjoy characters who are complex and ones who you do not instantly love, or those who are all good. The Red Queen was a complex and fun character to read. There were many moments were I found myself shaking my head at her, but at the same time, on her side. The author did a great job telling her story. I read this book in 6 days, which is quick for me! :)

The Red Queen saved this series for me. I know many others really hated this character, but she was a lot of fun to read.

As someone who loved The White Queen, the debut of the Cousins' War series, and is interested in the Wars of the Roses, I had huge hopes for this book. It's not a disappointment--actually I enjoyed it very much--but it's not the exciting follow up to The White Queen that I expected. Much of the plot is rehashed, except not in as much detail as before, because it's ground that's already been covered. But Margaret Beaufort's view on events is not as interesting as Elizabeth Woodville's was, because in many ways Elizabeth was more in the thick of things, whereas up till the end Margaret was away from court, learning things second hand. Also, though I'm not a fan of either historical figures, I did like Elizabeth more than Margaret. Both are flawed, but Margaret in this novel is, in my opinion, simply not likable.

In keeping with the tradition set out by The White Queen, The Red Queen is also in first person present, which really limits Margaret's scope. Most of the novel is internal dialogue and not plot-driven. I did, however, enjoy the wonderful character study this presented, like the fact that Margaret's idol was Joan of Arc and her thoughts on Jasper, her son Henry, and the way she views her second husband, Henry Stafford, all of which I think is incredibly telling of personality. It's not exactly Margaret Beaufort in a new light but it is more personal and detailed. You still have the standard pious, ambitious description of her, but it's more in depth. Gregory also illuminates the character of Jasper Tudor, my favorite part of this book, and gives him a fleshed-out personality.

These are all very positive aspects of this novel, and one of the reasons you should read this, if not purchase it. If you're new to Gregory, I would not recommend starting with this book. For starters, it can get a little boring, especially in Margaret's lengthy passages about her holiness and specialness in the eyes of God. She's not, as I said before, particularly likable, either, and not in an anti-heroine kind of way that Elizabeth Woodville in The White Queen and Anne Boleyn in The Other Boleyn Girl were. I felt that I did not have enough vested interest, as a reader, in Margaret. I didn't grudgingly admire her as I did Elizabeth Woodville. I wasn't waiting on tenterhooks for the next chapter like I was in The White Queen, even though I already knew what would happen. That's the trick of writing historical fiction for people who are already familiar with the history, and I feel Gregory came a little short this time.

Another thing she's short on in The Red Queen (though I didn't really mind this) is the romance aspect that is usually in her novels. It is appropriate that it is missing from this one because the main character is, after all, Margaret Beaufort. I much preferred the quiet sort of affection she had for Jasper, and I thought this was very well done. I wasn't a fan of the romance in The White Queen, so it's an even trade off. Overall, I'm still a bigger fan of the first book than this one, although this is by no means a bad effort, simply a little less than anticipated. Also, because this is a novel about Margaret Beaufort, some of the beauty of the prose is diminished by the lack of Philippa's mystic descriptions. The opening of the book was strong in this regard, replacing Melusine with Joan of Arc and doing a very striking job of it. However, this wasn't incorporated as nicely or smoothly into the story as Melusine was. Overall, I would give this book a 3.5, mainly because it is an intriguing and poignant character study of woman usually painted in 2D. Recommended for Gregory fans and those interested in anything Wars of the Roses.

So far I have read, The Red Queen, The White Queen, The Kingmaker's Daughter and The Lady of the Rivers. Each one was special to me.

Philippa is a wonderful writer. I love the different view and perspective of some of the same events as seen by the different narrators in each book.

Philippa takes you into the mind of these characters, as similar events are seen so differently by each one.

I am going to start The Women of the Cousins' War next.

Seems you can't go wrong with Philippa! :)

Pick your poison -- a mother's outsized political ambition for he son or a woman's burning conviction about her mission from God. Either way, Phillippa Gregory's new novel, The Red Queen, set in England's 15th Century War of the Roses, explores the character and fortunes of Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII. Fans who appreciate the author's earlier focus on the women of Tudor history will find in Margaret the same complexity of character as the protagonists in novels like The Queen's Fool and A Constant Princess. Unlike those women, however, Margaret, probably better known as grandmother of Henry VIII, reveals herself as unlikable as she is iron-willed. There's good reason, of course.

Roughly treated, regarded only as "a bridge to the next generation," she's caught in the trap of politics once wedded at 13 to Owen Tudor. Soon a child widow and mother, she marries again and then again, first to maintain position and then to advance her son cause against the House of York. Much of the novel, narrated in limited first person, leads us readers into the role of co-conspirator. We know too much and conversely -- too little. Only at the end with the Battle of Bosworth, does the narrative picture expand and finally, we see the objectively Margaret's vulnerability as well as her influence.

Readers new to Gregory's excellent storytelling skill will find in The Red Queen a quick, readable primer on a popular aspect of English history animated by sharp dialogue and period details. For those interested in more depth, the accompanying bibliography points to more expansive reading. For returning fans, this novel continues the series that the author began with The White Queen. Reading about the flinty and compulsively religious Margaret Beaufort brings another historical female character into high relief.

2.5 stars
Margaret Beaufort wants to devote her life to church but is instead maried off to Edmund Tudor when she is 12. He dies soon after that but manages to get her pregnant before that. After her son Henry is born, Margaret devotes her life to get him on the throne.

I don't think I've ever hated any character so much as I hated Margaret! By page 60 I just wanted to stab her. She think she is England's Joan of Arc ans is here to deliver England from the Yorkist. I got it, she's pious person and loves to spend time in praying. I don't need to be reminded of it on every page. And what up with Margaret and her "saint's knees"? I read that way many times.

I think the book suffer from first person narrative. Margaret spends most of her time in the countryside and much of the happenings must be told in letters. I

All in all I enjoyed The White Queen more than this. I just couldn't stand Margaret and it took a lot from the reading.

Admittedly, I am not the biggest fan of Phillipa Gregory's work. Too often her stories are marred by historical errors and biases. But I gave the predecessor to this book, The White Queen, a chance, and wanted to do the same for this one.

It is definitely a page turner, I finished the book the day after purchasing it, I truly couldn't put it down. The life of Margaret Beaufort was truly fascinating. Her child-like sense of destiny and purpose truly carries her throughout her life, and changes the face of England. Throughout the book you are being led up to the moment that her son, Henry Tudor (Henry VII), will take the throne of England, and unfortunately, that is one of the last scenes in the book. After I finished reading, I felt like I had been shortchanged. It's understandable that many things about her life must be left out in the interest of keeping the book interesting and not too long, but I felt that by ultimately leaving out her triumph, other than a couple of lines, you leave out a large part of the person that Margaret Beaufort was.

Any story about the Cousins' War is going to be filled with battle scenes, and they are plentiful in this book. Gregory has a great way of telling the battle stories while keeping them interesting and not loosing your interest.

This book is probably a good starting place to anyone who might be interested in the Plantagenets, but for knowledgeable readers, it is a pass.

I am a huge Philippa Gregory fan and have read all her books, including The White Queen. I listened to this one on audiobook and almost took it back after disc one. The main character, Margaret Beaufort, is so unlikeable and unpleasant that I wonder why Gregory chose to write this novel in the first person. Her whining about being "God's chosen," her blindness to her own hunger for power, pride and manipulative machinations, and her absolute belief that everything she did was somehow driven/blessed by God is tiresome to say the least. I wanted to slap her upside the head more than once.

‘The Red Queen’ is based on fiction and historical events, as well as Philippa Gregory’s own interpretation via her expertise as a historian. I first saw the TV series of The White Queen and was completely hooked. The Red Queen follows a different path; the life of Margaret Beaufort (mother of Henry V11) and like most history is full of intrigue, murder and devious plotting. If you enjoy history, then this book is a must. Excellent

I miss the old Gregory novels. This is an okay book. I really enjoyed The White Queen. It was so refreshing after The Other Queen. The Red Queen is not terrible. I dont feel that Margret's life is explored as much as I would have liked. I get that she's an unpleasant person, but I knew that already. I would have liked to know more about the part of her life that Gregory skipped over.

Gregory's earlier novels really got me hooked, but The Other Queen was a huge disappointment for me. The White Queen brought back hope and I read this novel with only mild disappointment. I'll still dive into the next novel, but it will be with some trepidation. I am a loyal Gregory fan, but I miss her ability to really pull the reader into the character and the era.

Hello: For me this novel is great, superb, Philippa Gregory is a great writer, she is super detail, she always is going to the point.When you read hers novels you don't want the novel to finish,I have read more of her novels and I recommend 100%.Margaret is intense, all her live planning to have her son on the throne,to have the power they deserve, but at the same time she was a bitch,I personally do not like her, but that is history and was like that, and the book is awesome!!!!!!

I truly enjoyed reading this book as a sequel to The White Queen. It took the same events and time period, but looked at them from a completely different perspective. Because I had read The White Queen, I knew much of the events in the storyline, but saw how others outside inside and outside the court viewed the events in history. Great book and a great series.

i am so enjoying reading this collection i actually think i like the story about margaret better than elizabeth as she was the underdog, per say ,in so many ways yet her faith was so strong and she accomplished so much in her own...i just loved this story so much and was glad to have the pleasure of reading it

I was so looking forward to this book, as I have always enjoyed Ms. Gregory's books. I reserved it from my local library months ago and read it in a little over a day, which is normal for me, but I was slogging through this one instead of flying through the pages in anticipation. I just did not care for the subject of the book, Margaret Beaufort. Many times I wanted to reach into the book and slap the crap out of her or throw the book in frustration because of the fact she was such a bey-och. If I had to describe Margaret Beaufort in one word it would be sanctimonious. In fact, her picture should be in the dictionary as the personification of the word.

That said, I am looking forward to the next book in the series and hope that it will be better than the Red Queen and even the White Queen, which I was not that thrilled with either. Ms. Gregory's other books (the Other Boleyn Girl, etc.) having to do with Tudor England were much better, in my humble opinion.

I AM ANNOYED!! We get it already that she was a pious woman but the extremity of it is being vain about it - which she is.. The "I'm more Godly than you" attitude and total cluelessness of the character is surely nothing like the woman herself.. I like them men in the story but the protagonist?? Too much pride in her practice of religion (which would've given God the gripe!!)..

Wow... what a great build of character of Margaret Beaufort. As I was reading from her perspective, I couldn't believe I was growing to dislike this lady every sentence I read. I was arguing with myself that it is the nature of the times, but then realizing her personality is what it is... selfish, and politically motivated. It was very fascinating to watch her grow. I couldn't love her but was impressed with her determination. Good history on how the war of the roses was played out.

Philippa Gregory is moving up to list to becoming one of my favorite authors. It's hard not to enjoy her attention to historical detail mixed with just enough fiction that keeps you hanging on and wanting more.

Margaret Beaufort is a character that is easily hated, but overlooking her flaws for the actions she's taken for the love of her child came easily for me. The relationship between her and her only child was nothing short of extraordinary. She's a headstrong individual, on a destined path of purpose--at least in her mind, that changes a nation.

I have to say as one who is not a fan of historical stories, this reader has definitely had a change in heart with reading Ms. Gregory's Red Queen. It is a story filled with battle scenes, and great history all while showing what a young mother dedicated to her son's future, would do to make him king.

The Red Queen is a fast-moving read giving another take at the War of the Roses and the rise of the Tudors

This book does not live up to Gregory's previous books which were full of historical facts and interesting characters. Once you have read the first chapter of this one you can put it down because the rest of the book is repetitious....unless you need something to put you to sleep at night!

"The bestselling author of The Other Boleyn Girl has started a new historical series, this time featuring the Plantagenets or The Cousins' War. The Red Queen is the second in The Cousins' War books and follows the story that Gregory started with her previous book The White Queen. We recommend reading her books in order to gain the most enjoyment and education about the struggles for power and sexual conquest in England."

I found this book a little slow going and repetitive. Margaret Beaufort was obsessed with her son becoming King but I think so little factual was known about her, that the book had to rely a little too much on her supposed feelings and fears. The history of the battles between the various royal families was interesting; nevertheless, I enjoyed "The White Queen" so much more.

Purchased this copy.

I love the Cousins War books series by Philippa Gregory. This series speaks of Girl Power all the way, yet contains so many true historical references that it's also educational. Thus, a fine blend of fiction & history. This particular book was not my favorite simply because I had already read the White Queen and was rooting for her all the way. No matter what, a must read for those who enjoy the series.

This is the first of Phillipa Gregory's novels that I have not liked. I found her character, Margaret, annoying, self-serving,envious,and mean. Her supposed visions of Joan of Arc, laughable! As someone else remaked, I also missed the description of food, clothing, etc. I definitely would not recommend it to anyone!

of all the books about the English throne I have read by Philippa this one is the hardest because the descriptions of the wars and wounded are so heart breaking. It really makes you feel the horror of war. Wonderfully done but man its heart wrenching!

I read this immediately after reading "The White Queen." What an amazing concept - writing the same story from history from two different perspectives. I loved the idea and the books. This book portrayed how desparate people could be when faced with destiny and what they thought to be God's plan. EXCELLENT book!

Having enjoyed the White Queen and The Other Boylen Girl, I looked forward to listening to the Red Queen. However, I could not get into this story. I tried to be pulled in because Gregory is an excellent author and paints vivid pictures of the scenes and settings where these novels take place and I always get such a great feel for the characters, but I could not get past my dislike for Margaret and actually didn't finish the story. However, even though I did not like this particular book it will not keep me from looking for more Gregory novels.

...as a huge Philippa Gregory fan, I eagerly await her new releases. For me, this was not one of her better books. It was a quick read - not because I could not put it down, but because it was rather lacking in actual content. I almost felt it was a novel hurriedly put together for sales...sorry Philippa...

Good lord in heaven, where was the editor for this tripe? Gregory, over and over, uses lines such as "...she was no better than me..." "...I was better than him..." I'm not quoting precisely, though I could. The fact is, this woman doesn't even know that it should be "...better than I..." or "...I was better than he..."
Even if Gregory doesn't know the difference, the editors should. What is wrong with these people?

After reading some previous reviews about how dreadful this book was for others, I wondered if I should even waste my time. I took a chance, and really liked it. It had a few slow moments, but kept me engaged. This is not my favorite Philippa Gregory book, neither is it my least favorite. I felt connected to most of the characters, even after my assumed alliances based from The White Queen :) I suggest going in with an open mind that you may actually like this book. There are some truly fascinating and engaging moments. Happy reading!

Margaret Beaufort was a fascinating woman. Unfortunately, in Gregory's novel, Beaufort comes across as a single-note, tiresome, and ultimately boring character. It feels like Gregory is coasting lately, or someone else is ghost writing for her and doing a very poor job.

The main character in this novel is Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry Tudor, founder of the Tudor dynasty, and a more annoying, self-righteous protagonist I have rarely encountered. Ambitious, jealous, envious, pious, especially when anyone is watching, loyal only to herself and her vision of what is right for herself and her son. This is an interesting time in English history, as the War of the Roses approaches an end and the Lancasters (red roses) and Yorks (white roses) fight to a standstill, leaving the field to the last Lancaster-- the future Henry VII.

The most sympathetic character in the book is a horse. A sweet, loyal, former warhorse named Arthur. I liked Arthur. I couldn't stand anyone else, except for the much-maligned Richard III, who is important to the plot but rarely appears, depicted only through the eyes of Margaret who, of course, hates him.

Well, just a wee bit. From a very young age, Margaret Beaufort idolized Joan of Arc and imagined herself with a similar destiny - riding into battle to save England from the grasping York family and installing the *rightful king* on the throne. Margaret is first married to Edmund Tudor, bears a son Henry, and she knows from the get go that this son is destined to be King of England (funny, I could have sworn the Beauforts were legitimized with the provision they could never rule...). Marriage #2 is to older (but wiser) Henry Stafford, and he prefers to keep his head and sit quietly on the proverbial fence as the wars between the houses of Lancaster and York tear England in two. Who will win in the end? The mad Henry and his she-devil wife Margaret of Anjou or will Warwick the kingmaker put Edward of York on the throne?

The dust finally settles with Edward as king (no spoilers that's known history), and a now widowed Margaret comes to court to find a new husband, a husband who is willing to aid her in her schemes on Henry's behalf - and she finds a perfect fit in Thomas Stanley. The two insinuate themselves into Edward's court biding their time until they can make a move, and upon the death of Edward, Richard takes the throne, his two sons disappear from the Tower and Stanley's treachery at Bosworth field forever changes history.

"Don't be a Beaufort filled with wounded pride - be a Stanley: get on the winning side"

Sound like a chant at a football game? We all thought so (too bad I can't post pics here, the Team Stanley poster was hilarious). Hehe. OK, yes there's a whole lot more to it than that but this is one of those times where you either know the history already and don't need it rehashed one more time and for those who don't - Wik can do it much better than I can. My thoughts? While a bit better than The White Queen, using the first person narrative with someone who spends so much time stuck out in the country really boxed the story into a dreary corner. There is way too much telling instead of showing, especially those treasonous letters between her and Jasper - I'm guessing Margaret and her co-conspirators were a bit smarter than to put that stuff to paper. While I understand that Margaret was an extremely pious person, I am smart enough to figure it out from the get go, I didn't need to be clubbed over the head with it like we were with Melusine in TWQ. I have to admit to jumping up and down for joy when I hit this on page #304,

"This letter irritates me so intensely that I cannot even pray for the rest of the day."

Whew! In the end, this was an average book, one that doesn't bring anything new to the table and might not appeal to serious Ricardians - and the gold standard of those is still Sharon Penman's fabulous The Sunne in Splendour. That said, this series will definitely appeal to PG fans as well as those looking for a starter point for exploring the period, just don't take everything in the book as gospel - I'm not buying Elizabeth of York as a fortune-telling water witch :/

FTC? Why this book was passed along to me from another reader. Otherwise it would have come from the library when their copies came in.

Gregory gets it right again in this compelling character driven novel. Margaret Beaufort is a vain, vindictive and self-serving cow whoclaims utter piety whilst only pausing before ordering the deaths of children. If you like your history staid and uncommitted, then this is not the novel for you. Gregory chooses to breathe life into all her historical characters by presenting plausible personality traits. Beaufort is said to have been widely disliked... Gregory`s spin suggests the reasons why.

Purchased this at the airport, so was forced to finish it for lack of other reading material on a long flight, otherwise I would have ditched it half way through.

Margaret Beaufort was portrayed as an irritating, self obsessed religious bore. Her self importance and belief that she was somehow "special" to God was simply done to death on every other page.

I was bored by the character and the lack of a good story attaching to her.

I like most of her books, but this one showed Margaret from age around 10 to around 40, and she did not change at all. There was NO character development, and one of the parts of the book I nearly died laughing at, where she is describing the Queen and her ambition and she's completely describing herself and NEVER realizes it. She never has insight into how her ambition is causing chaos everywhere. That part was very frustrating for me. Otherwise, it was okay.

Essentially, this is the same story as The White Queen but told from the enemy's perspective. I didn't really like Margaret at first, but I admired how she stuck to her "godly" vision of having her son crowned King of England. This book answered some of the questions I had about the Lancaster's in the background of The White Queen and was a reasonably good read.

I checked this book out from the library and I'm so glad I didn't spend money on this book. I don't mind references to prayer or religion, but the constant references to Joan of Arc and religion and praying got annoying and very, very, very old.
I started skimming pages because there was so much praying. Not to mention how arrogant Margaret was. Here's one quote from Margaret when she was out viewing the villages: "you would think they would be glad that the new lady of the palace is taking an interest. For who will intercede for them on earth and in heaven if not I?" I'm sure this attitude was probably common among the wealthy back then, but the author could have toned it down a little. I only got 36 pages in and had to stop.

Was excited to hear about this book and couldn't wait to read, since I liked Ms. Gregory's book "The Other Boleyn Girl". However found "The Red Queen" to be boring and repetitive. I found myself thinking if she writes 'the usurper' again; or wanting to be Joan of Arc.. again...UGH! The only reason why I gave it 3 stars, is it's historical accuracy. I wish it could have had more 'drama' and depth in personalities.

I have read all of "The Cousins War series and this is not as interesting as most of the others due to the dull nature of the main character. This is no fault of Ms. Gregory -- it is the historical material with which she had to work.

I'm surprised at the mixed reviews here. I'm only giving it a 2 star rating. Not nearly as interesting and in depth as The White Queen. Margaret Beaufort is a very unlikeable person. Granted, you can't help but pity women in those days, but her self-rightousness is very disagreeable.
I actually bought the book in a hurry, not looking at the description, thinking it was about Margaret D'Anjou. Why hasn't Gregory written about her?? She seems to have had much more influence over the Rose Wars than did Margaret Beaufort.

So much of this book could have been cut out. The whining by Margaret about how she's God's chosen seemed to go on forever.

However, the real problem with the novel is that it's written in first person and it distracts from the story. Gregory should strangle her editor for that alone

The 2nd book in the Cousins War series. Enjoyed "The White Queen." Did not finish this book. Skimmed it, read the last chapter. I did not like the character, did not care. One of my friends said that was the point. Haven't started book 3. I feel certain I will be fine without wasting my time on this one.

If you like historical novels. You most likely will enjoy Philippa Gregory, The Red Queen. She Keeps you wanting to turn the pages. I was never much for history however, as I get older I enjoy historical fiction more and more. It expands on your history knowledge all the while you are being thoroughly entertained.

Philippa Gregory is one of my favorite authors, her attention to historical detail is phenomenal. She has a way of mixing historical facts and fiction so flawlessly that you believe every word. This was the second book about the Plantagenets. The first book the White Queen told about Elizabeth Woodville, her husband King Edward and the lost princes. This is not a dry history book but a rich, detailed tale of a life of royalty. Royal or not, their life was tough. Always someone else thinking they are better for the throne. The vicious bloody battles, people turning on each other, and morality was the code you made up. Margaret was very religious, always praying on her knees, modeling herself after Joan of Arc. But when it came to her son, she was determined that he would be king and no one would stand in their way. - Theresa B.

I really enjoyed this book. It astonishes me (even though it shouldn't) at the way women were passed off as cattle for the sake of making alliances and moving in the proper circles. I enjoyed how facianting this era (pre- Henry VII) 1440's to 1485. The unrest of the 'clans' and their need to seek power and over throw a Family (Lancaster - York- Warwick) was exceptional. The ending battle and stratagey was a real treat. A quick read...Well worth it.

I usually love Phillipa Gregory, but this time, she missed mark. I found the book uneventful and drawn out. I felt nothing for "the red queen" except distaste. There was no excitement in the book. I felt no sympathy or happiness for the main character. Usually Ms. Gregory keeps me reading and reading, but this time I couldn't wait to be done and move on.

This is the second book in the series The Cousin's War. One doesn't need to read The White Queen(first in the series) to understand what happens in this novel. This is good, because I'm guessing you can read the third novel in the series without reading the second one, which I strongly suggest.

Margaret Beaufort is obsessed with Joan of Arc and religion. The reader is introduced to this in the first few pages of the novel. And then they are heavily beaten over the head with this information for the next 100 pages and then only moderately beaten over the head with it for the rest of the book.

I got it. Margaret wants to be another Joan of Arc. I also understand that Margaret is on a mission from God to put her son, Henry, on the throne. Her obsession makes her a very unlikable character and the only time I felt sorry for her is when she had to marry her first husband at a very young age.

The story that unfolds is about an uptight Margaret(who became really annoying towards the end) who is constantly praying, scheming and telling everyone she comes across she is on a mission from God. She's chaste, she's dull, and she's mean as a wet hornet.

Margaret's husbands were more entertaining than she was. I think my favorite was Lord Stanley, Margaret's last husband. He marries her only for political reasons, agrees never to have sex with her and loves to be on the winning side. He also has a knack for making her angry. For example(and I'm paraphrasing) he mocks her mission from God saying of course God would want her to become wealthy and powerful, not poor and help those who are less fortunate.

The story limps along at an unusually slow pace. The beginning had promise and then we get to the second half of the book which is dull, talks about battles, fighting, and I just don't care. There was nothing to grab my attention in this novel. But I think its the character. I didn't feel anything towards her, except dislike.

In this book Philippa Gregory manages to do what some YA historical fiction authors do, and that is leave out the details of the time period. Nothing puts my knickers in a knot faster than no historical details. There was no explanations of food, clothing..nothing. I hate that.

This is a book to be missed for all of the reasons stated above. If you are a Ms. Gregory fan and need to read the book I would loan it from the library.