| Book Review for: "The Red Queen" | | | | York in the Wars - especially when he's called upon to |
| Written by: Phillipa Gregory | | | | show force. It cuts to her heart since Jasper is raising |
| Simon and Schuster | | | | her son to be the next king. |
| ISBN 978-1-4165-6372-3 | | | | When Stafford dies, Margaret marries a man full of |
| 382 pages | | | | ambition, William Stanley, but with York and Edward IV |
| Hardback/Released: August 2010 | | | | firmly on the throne, are Margaret's dreams for her |
| 4 Stars | | | | son dreams of a vain, greedy, and ambitious woman? |
| Reviewed by: S. Burkhart | | | | Gregory captures the life of Margaret Beaufort with |
| Gregory pens an intimate tale of deceit, deception, | | | | an authenticity that makes the reader want to know |
| greed and vanity with "The Red Queen. Young | | | | more about her. The story moves well. Gregory's |
| Margaret Beaufort believes she is called by God. She | | | | research has paid off with historical accuracy, which |
| also believes that it is her responsibility to give the | | | | when blended in with her speculation and fictional |
| House of Lancaster its next heir. | | | | elements, flow so flawlessly, the reader doesn't know |
| The novel opens with young Margaret Beaufort having | | | | where history ends and Gregory's fiction begins. |
| a vision of Joan of Arc. It is 1453 and Margaret all | | | | The story is told mostly in the first person from |
| ready has calluses on her knees from excessive | | | | Margaret's perspective in the present tense. If anything, |
| praying. Margaret doesn't quite understand the political | | | | the present tense narrative can be a little disconcerting |
| jockeying at court, but comes to believe two things | | | | to the reader. |
| with all her heart - God has called on her like he did | | | | Gregory uses a good economy of words to paint the |
| Joan of Arc and she is destined to give birth to the | | | | setting of Margaret's times allowing the reader to |
| next Lancaster heir. | | | | visualize her world without weighing down the story. |
| Margaret begrudgingly follows her mother's course for | | | | Margaret is a very dynamic character, though not a |
| her. While she would prefer life in an abbey, her | | | | very sympathetic one - and there's much to |
| mother marries Margaret to Edmund Tudor, the king's | | | | sympathize with. She wants to dedicate her life to |
| half-brother. She's only twelve years old. Edmund is | | | | God, but her mother has other plans. She's a child bride |
| twenty-five. The marital bed is no pleasure for | | | | and the ages between her and Edmund Tudor would |
| Margaret, and she endures Edmund's lovemaking and | | | | constitute statutory rape in today's society. Yet |
| quickly conceives. Edmund dies before the child is | | | | Margaret's flaw is that she never allows herself to fall |
| even born, a victim of the Wars of the Roses. | | | | in love. She is ambitious for her son and thinks her |
| Margaret gives birth to a son and begins to assert | | | | second husband is too weak. Margaret is on a mission |
| herself by naming him Henry. He is left in his uncle's | | | | and love is not a part of it. |
| care while Margaret is married off to yet another man, | | | | "Margaret Beaufort's life, ambitions, and desires play |
| Henry Stafford. Margaret is disappointed as she | | | | out against the backdrop of war and will resonate |
| leaves her son behind to live with her new husband. | | | | through the centuries. "The Red Queen" is a wonderful |
| Margaret finds her husband weak and lacking in | | | | addition to Gregory's Cousin War Series. |
| ambition. She also abhors the fact that he supports | | | | |