Margaret the eldest daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York is the narrator and at times not a very likable character. Filled with pride, envy and at times greed, she is not someone I could sympathize with even though her life seems to have had more downs than ups.
Little is actually known about her from contemporary records except that she was not as lovely as her younger sister Mary. She was married young to the King of Scotland James IV. Most of her life after that was spent in Scotland. Her husband the king died at the battle of Flodden against the Engish. Her sister-in-law ordered no prisoners and took the body of her brother-in-law back to England as a trophy.
As you can imagine this provides a lot of material for the future interaction between Margaret and Katherine.
Mary was married to the elderly French King and on his death, defied her brother the King and married for love to his friend Charles Brandon. She would be the grandmother of Lady Jane Gray.
Katherine's story is familiar with her first marriage to Arthur and the long wait for Henry to come of age after Arthur's death. Her inability to give him a living son resulted in England leaving the Catholic Church so Henry could divorce her and marry Anne Boleyn.
Gregory has done a good job of filling in conversation and scenarios that let us become a part of this fascinating time in history. The major timeline is correct and if you are not an expert, you won't even notice where things go astray.
I honestly couldn't put this book down, it is a very good read and it gave me a better overview of the lives of these three sister queens.
No comments:
Post a Comment