The Red Queen: A Novel

I found this book to be a very fantastic read and really enjoyed the story, the characters, and the excitement of it all. This book added to the story line and helps peak the interest of the reader. All of Philippa Gregory books are well written. I find it very interesting to learn about the history of England's king and queens. I have read all of her books in the series except The Other Queen which I did find to be written poorly which is a disappointment that I had to pay for something written this bad. But Other then that book all the others are worth the price. A Must Read

I enjoyed reading this novel. It was very well-written and entertaining, with a good amount of suspense thrown in amoungst the historic tidbits of information.It is actually rather odd that I enjoyed this novel as much as I did, as I thoroughly did not like the lead protagonist, Margaret Beaufort. However I get the impression that Gregory did not wish her to be liked, and so portrayed her in such a way that it was hard to form any kind of attachment to her. Her proud and unyeilding manner was frustrating at times, especially when compared to her second husband, Henry Stafford.I enjoyed reading of Stafford, and I felt Gregory did a good job of showing his indecisiveness during the Cousin's Wars. I came to like him, for he seemed to be a peace-loving man who had his tenant's best interests at heart. Margaret's third husband however, Lord Stanley, was a completely different figure, and in many ways I felt that Margaret and he deserved one another. I knew that Stanley had stood on the sidelines until the very end at the Battle of Bosworth and so it was interesting to read of him prior to that, especially as Gregory provided us with information about him that made it easy to see him as the sly 'fox' that would try and play both sides.Towards the end of the novel I enjoyed the meetings between Margaret Beaufort and Elizabeth of York, soon to be her daughter-in-law, as Elizabeth seemed to be a fiesty young woman that was not afraid of Margaret. It was a shame that the novel ended when it did, with the culmination of Bosworth, as I would have liked to see the interactions between these two women once Henry Tudor was King and Elizabeth Queen. History gives us the impression that Margaret 'ruled the roost' at her son's court, and that the Queen was politically shunned. It makes me wonder why Gregory portrayed Elizabeth as a strong character before she was Queen.All in all this was an interesting novel about a woman whose determination helped win her son the throne of England. Her belief in the righteousness of her cause was truly remarkable, and altogether frustrating at the same time. A completely contrasting figure to Edward IV's Queen, Elizabeth Woodville, as portrayed in Gregory's novel 'The White Queen'.

i have to hand it to miss gregory on this book it was far from what i thought it would be like. in the mini series we only get to see margart as an angry women who is set at all cost to have her son henry tudor as the king of england. she is an holier then though person who uses god to get her way. you really dont care much for her watching the mini series. in the book we see how margart became the women in history. at a young age she knew she wanted to be a nun and wanted to learn and go off to live in an convet. being a women in this times her choices did not matter. she has an arranged married at the age of 5, that her mother breaks off when she is 9 so that she can be betrothed to the tudor blood line and be the mother of a future king. at nine she is told she will marry a tudor at the age of 12. at 12 she is sent off to marry edmund tutor and to bare him sons to be line for the english throne. edmund is close to 30 and only wants margret to have sons with. she has a son after edmund is killed and she is barely 13. it is a difficult birth and she nearly dies. her mother then informs her she is to marry again in one year to another man in his 30s, i think henry stafford does love margart, but she is unable to recieve that love because she fills her divine mission from god is to have her son become the next king. she is forced to leave her son with jasper, her deceased husbands brother, whom she does come to love but can not express it due to she has no rights. not even the right to raise her son. stafford is good to margart even though she continues to cross him, a peacefull man at every turn to help jasper and to over throw the current king edward. when jasper is sent into exile her son is given to a york to raise, again margart has no say in her boys life. she prays hours daily and is devoted in her work that she is like joan of arc and it is her holy duty to deliver england from the yorks and back into lancasters hands. when lord stafford is killed fighting for york, margart enters into yet another marriage with lord stanly in hopes of him helping her to get into the kings good graces and getting her son back from exile where he is living with jasper. she is still plotting to get him on the throne. she feels that queen elizabeth uses her looks and is a witch and has trapped her husband into marriage and is envious of her , her entire life. in the end when king edward dies and king richard steals the crown from edwards boys. this giving us the story of the princes of the tower. after reading alot of history i do feel richard did not have anything with these boys deaths, but that margart ordered their deaths so her son would move up the chain to the crown. she used it as gods will. princess elizabeth is promised in marriage to henry tudor and as history is he know that tudor does defeat richard and becomes the first king of the tudor reign of england. we learn so much more about margart in this book and at times you feel so sorry for her, yet she steals that pity back by using god to ok her evil plotting acts on others. she killed two innocent children just so her son could be king and said it was gods will. i really enjoyed this better look into how margart became the person we saw in the white queen. i cant help but wonder if she had been allowed to raise her son and be with jasper would she still have hated as much and been so jealous of elizabeth. would the young prince edward had died or would he have become king. how would history of changed if we had never had the tutor reign. loved this book. if you want to know more of margart you will enjoy this book.

Wow did Margaret ever come alive in this book. Phillipa has done amazing research and shown the whole story of this mother who was just a bit player in most of the stories about the Tudor rise to the throne. Great to have this character become the centre of the story and her influence in the Tudor/Lancaster reign.

It was a brilliant read

Great piece of work from the author. Kept me fully hanged to the book and the characters within. Can't wait to start the next one, The kingmakers daughter.

Very informative couple not always recognise when true/fictionAlthough would have liken numbers after referring to names, such as Richard I etcSnowed the strength of woman in such a distant period of time

Totally captivating book that I could barely put down for a second.