Book Review for "The Red Queen"

Book Review for: “The Red Queen”
Written by: Phillipa Gregory
Simon and Schuster
ISBN 978-1-4165-6372-3
382 pages
Hardback/Released: August 2010
4 Stars

Reviewed by: S. Burkhart

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.

Book Review for "The Red Queen"