The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

Determined to see her son Henry on the throne of England, pious Margaret Beaufort arranges politically advantageous marriages, sends her son out of the country for his safety, and lays secret plans for a battle between the houses of York and Lancaster.

It was so strange, listening to this book and knowing that this woman's actions were not far removed from me. For, you see, Margaret Beaufort is my 10 x great grandmother.

Geez. I read this book out of order and was pretty confused at the start. It stood on its own okay and was a rather gripping account of the mother of Henry Tudor. She is appallingly unlikable, which I really enjoyed. Seriously, someone should have told this pious shrew that pride is a sin. More's the better when Thomas, Lord Stanley comes into the picture as her incredibly traitorous husband. Good stuff.

I read this book right after the first book in the series “The White Queen”. I really struggled to read this book because it was actually an almost rehashing of the first book, but from a different persons perspective. I found it too boring and repetitive. I finally finished it and will not pick it up again.

Going in, I already didn???t like Margaret, but I was hoping this novel would make her seem more sympathetic being ???her side of the story???. It didn't.