The Red Queen by Phillipa Gregory

Even though The Red Queen was published second in the series The Cousins War it should be read third after The Lady of the Rivers and The White Queen. The story is told to us by Margaret Beaufort one of the major female players in the War of the Roses. 

Margaret tells us her story from the time she is a child through the victory of her son Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth. First let me say, Margaret, is not a sympathetic figure, while we may feel for her at times, throughout the book she is obsessed with her place in the world and her lack of recognition. She is jealous, overly religious but not in a good way and lets absolutely nothing and no one stand in the way of her ambition for her son Henry.  

In order to understand her a little better, you need to understand where she came from. She is the daughter of John Beaufort, first Earl of Somerset and his wife Margaret Beauchamp. John is the grandson of King Edward III. His father is John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster and Katherine Swynford his mistress and then 3rd wife. He was born illegitimate thus baring him from the throne but was legitimized by King Richard II. 

John Beaufort took his own life and that was a great embarrassment to his daughter Margaret. Margaret Beaufort and her mother did not have a warm relationship and she was engaged and then married to Edmund Tudor when she was only 12 years old. Edmund was the son of Owen Tudor and Catherine Valois who was the former Queen of England, thus making him the half-brother of King Henry VI.  

Margaret gave birth to her only son Henry Tudor when she was either still 12 or barely 13. She was a widow within the year. Women had little power in this day and age and her mother arranged for a second marriage for her which meant she had to leave her son to be raised by Jasper Tudor. 

Her story is not really a happy one. She didn't love any of her husbands and other than God and her son, she seems to have cared very little for anyone else. The book brings this powerful and virtually unknown woman to life and while I never find myself rooting for her, one has to admire her single-minded devotion to her son and his cause. 

Again, this is historical fiction, while the outline is based in fact a lot of liberty has been taken with the details but it is as are all Phillipa Gregory's book an interesting read and a book that is hard to put down.