The red Queen

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Call Number: Fiction / Gregory, Philippa, Adult Book / Fiction / Historical / Gregory, Philippa
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Traverwood Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Gregory, Philippa	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Historical / Gregory, Philippa	4-week checkout	On Shelf

Married to a man twice her age, quickly widowed, and a mother at only fourteen, Margaret Beaufort is determined to turn her lonley life into a triumph. She sets her heart on putting her son on the throne of England regardless of the cost to herself, England, and even her son. Disregarding rival heirs and the overwhelming power of the York dynasty, she names him Henry, like the king; sends him into exile; and pledges him in marriage to her enemy Elizabeth of York's daughter. As the political tides constantly move and shift, Margaret charts her own way through another loveless marriage, treacherous alliances and secret plots, always with her ultimate goal before her.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

History lite submitted by pbethune on August 15, 2010, 6:51pm This book is heavily fictionalized and very light reading with little of substance to it. The basics of the life of this remarkable woman are accurate however and it does give a flavor of life for high level women in this century.

Margaret Beaufort's tale submitted by deets on August 4, 2011, 12:58pm If you have enjoyed Phillippa Gregory's other novels, this one will not let you down. A companion to the White Queen, this is the "red rose" side of the War of the Roses. Margaret Beaufort was no more than a child when given in marriage to a man twice her age. Regardless, the son who comes of this marriage is Henry Tudor, a claimant of the throne of England. Through political scheming, exile, the "good graces" of those in power, and not a little two timing, we follow the lives of Margaret as she becomes more and more convinced that her desire and the "will of God" are the same.

Tudor submitted by Roylo56 on August 7, 2011, 10:16pm This was a wonderful, historical book, with lots of facts. READ IT!!!!!!!!!!!

The war of the roses submitted by Jen Chapin-Smith on July 28, 2013, 5:04pm In "The Red Queen," Philippa Gregory again explores English history from the personal perspective of one of the key women, this time Lady Margaret Beaufort, who becomes the mother of King Henry VII.
Gregory portrays Beaufort as a very bitter woman, but it is no wonder as her parents married her to a man twice her age when she was 14. Her husband treated her very roughly. When she finally did become pregnant with the much anticipated heir of the Lancastrian line, Beaufort's mother tells the midwives to save the baby and sacrifice the mother if need be during the birth.
Although Beaufort falls in love with her late husband's younger brother (it is not clear if this is historically accurate), she instead marries again to someone who can help her son gain the throne. In this, as in other novels about historical figures, Gregory takes some poetic license in order to make the characters more believable and further the plot.