The Red Queen [Paperback]

In the second novel in this series about the Wars of the Roses, Philippa Gregory switches her focus from the House of York to the House of Lancaster and specifically to Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry Tudor, later Henry VII.

I did not warm to Margaret as I did Elizabeth Neville but she emerges here as a fascinating, dangerous woman, who put her ambitions for her son and House above all else.

Margaret tells her own story from the age of nine and emerges quickly as a deeply religious young woman who would have welcomed a life within the Church. Instead, due to her royal lineage, she is required to make an advantageous marriage with another family of the royal line. Thus, she is married at the age of twelve to Edmund Tudor, who was twice her age. This union resulted in her giving birth when she was thirteen to her only child, Henry. Edmund died in captivity when Margaret was pregnant. When another marriage was arranged by her family a few years later she was required to leave Henry in Wales to be raised by his uncle, Jasper Tudor.

As time passes Margaret's desire to see the House of Lancaster restored to its position and her son claim the throne of England becomes an all consuming obsession. She is quite willing for those who stand between Henry and the crown to die and to see the entire country plunged into bloody warfare to achieve this end.

As the narrative progresses Margaret as the Red Queen and Elizabeth Neville as the White Queen take on an almost archetypal quality as if they are queens in a game of chess that will determine the future of England.

Margaret Beaufort's sense of self-righteousness and ruthless ambition was quite astonishing. Even though the young Margaret in her girlish devotion to Joan of Arc was sympathetic, I found myself getting quite emotional as the novel continued and my dislike of Margaret grew and grew, especially when she and Lord Thomas Stanley joined forces. Of course, the outcome and Margaret's triumph is a matter of history. In the final chapters of the book, the perspective leaves Margaret to observe the unfolding of the fateful events of August 1485 . Again, as I found with The White Queen, Gregory handles battle scenes well. I've seen the re-enactments at Bosworth Fields a few times and she really brought it to life on the page.

In the end-notes Gregory includes details of her main sources, suggestions for further reading and of course a reminder that this is a work of historical fiction and as such is a combination of historical truth, informed speculation and the author's imagination.

While I was reading, the image that came to my mind for this series was of a set of vibrant, living tapestries; each providing a different view on the theme of royal women connected to Wars of the Roses. If Elizabeth Woodville's tapestry teemed with images of nature, flowing water, magic and love; then by contrast Margaret's weaves in images of piety, worship, fire and battles. I was deeply pleased to read that Philippa Gregory intends to write at least four more books in this series bringing her considerable talent as a story-teller and her passion and integrity to this complex and rich period of history.

I have always thought it rather rude to write a bad review of a novel that some poor author has struggled over for months, carefully crafting a story just for our entertainment - but in this case I'm going to make an exception. This was not just a bad novel - I could have coped with that - after all Ms Gregory has given me many hours of innocent pleasure. No - this was just lazy.

Having enjoyed 'The White Queen' I chose this one to take on holiday and settled down by the pool for a good long read. I had hoped for further insights into the shadowy figures behind the story of the Wars of the Roses. I had hoped that the story would be taken beyond 1485 - to the years when Margaret was the mother of the king. Instead we got the earlier novel regurgitated, from a slightly different angle. It even repeated many of the scenes. If I had to read about the witch's wind or the water goddess one more time I think I would have thrown the thing into the deep end. Catch that, Melusina! Even had I not already read the story of Elizabeth Woodville, I would have found the endless references to her beauty and her catching a husband by standing at a roadside, frustrating. The only insight into Margaret Beaufort we were given was that she was religious, had a rotten childhood and was a bit tedious. I think we got that after the first fifty pages - but we had to sit it out for another three hundred and thirty. Just as things were about to get interesting, when we might have discovered whether she ever did wield any influence over the court, the story ended. Presumably we will have to fork out for the third in the trilogy to find out what happened next. It might just be quicker, and no less insightful, to look it up in wikipaedia.

I don't doubt that Ms Gregory had done her research - but she made what little she discovered for 'The White Queen' go an awfully long way. And then she wrote a second novel using the same notes. I suppose she feels that we will happily buy anything she writes based on the success of her earlier work - and of course she is right. I feel conned.

I enjoyed the subject matter and story telling in 'The White Queen' Volume 1 of this trilogy, and so looked forward to 'The Red Queen' with some anticipation. The history and events surrounding the War of the Roses is narrated this time by Margaret Beaufort, mother of the future Henry VII and leading woman in the House of Lancaster. The book starts with a young Margaret, a mere 12 year old girl, married off to Edmund Tudor the half brother of the then king Henry VI. Margaret is portrayed as an innocent child bride with a strong belief in god and her own sense of right and destiny, comparing herself to Joan of Arc, awaiting the voice of God upon bended knee. Margaret as a woman of the time seems to be powerless and a little more than a piece of property owned by first Edmund, and then following his death, by Henry Stafford and then Lord Stanley. Throughout her life and marriages she is portrayed as annoyingly pious, self-righteous, and single-minded in her belief that her son Henry is destined to be king. Whereas Elizabeth Woodville 'The White Queen' is portrayed as being complex, mysterious and a little ellusive, Margaret by contrast is a rather unsubtle, unlikeable and seemingly rather 2-dimensional character.
Although this is Volume 2, it actually takes the first third of the book to get to the point in time where Volume 1 begins. In fact they could easily be swapped or read in a different order with little problem. Both books finish at the same point in time after Bosworth, although I understand Margaret actually outlived her son and became for a short time regent to the young Henry VIII (who probably inherited some of his grandmother's personality!)
An enjoyable book, I think it is probably best read a little time after reading 'The White Queen', due to the obvious, and perhaps unsurprising, similarity of the two books resulting in a strong sense of deja vu.
I will certainly read the third installment, but hope for some different and fresher material!