The Red Queen (The Cousins' War)
by Philippa Gregory
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Book Summary Information
Author: Philippa GregoryEdition: Kindle Edition
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Kindle eBook
Published: 2010-07-16
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 404
Publisher: Touchstone
Book Reviews of The Red Queen (The Cousins' War)
Book Review: Another wonderful novel based on historic fact...
Summary: 4 Stars
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!
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