The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

I really enjoyed this book by Philippa Gregory. I might be a little biased, because I pretty much love anything that Philippa puts out, but I thought it was pretty cool to get a new perspective on Margaret Beaufort. All of the other books that I have read that she played a major part in, or that she was mentioned in, portrayed her as an evil woman who more than likely had a hand in the two little princes murders (the princes int he tower). I had always thought of her as heartless, and unloving. This book portrays her as the opposite of what I had learned/read of her previously.

In "The Red Queen" she is shown to have pretty much lived for love of her son, and ambition for him to take the throne of England as the future King Henry VII. As the reader, you are given a glimpse into the pain and loss that she went through as the mother of the future King of England. Her son, Henry, was separated from her for most of his childhood and raised by her late husband's brother, Jasper Tudor. She gave birth to Henry when she was only 14 years old, and her husband died before he was even born. As I read the book I stopped viewing her as an over reaching, overly ambitious woman, and began to view her as a loving, devoted mother, who only wanted what was best for her son, and would do anything to make sure her son reached his goals.

Maybe she did have a hand in the death of the princes in the tower, maybe she was over reaching and overly ambitious when it came to getting her son on the throne of England, but I don't think she did it for herself, I believe that everything she did, good or bad, was for love of her son.

I would definitely recommend this book if you are interested in the Tudors. Obviously, this book gives a reader insight on how the Tudors came to be. It was a little slow at times, and if you know nothing about the Tudors or about the time period this book takes place in, then you're probably going to be a little bored and a little loss. I loved the book, but while I really enjoyed the book, because of the new perspective it gave me on Margaret Beaufort, it wasn't my favorite Philippa Gregory book. I'm glad that I read it however, and even though it wasn't a book that I couldn't put down, it did keep me interested for the most part. As always Philippa Gregory's writing style is amazing, and her descriptions make it possible for the reader to really imagine the castles, people, and gowns within the book. I wouldn't read it again, but I did learn a lot from it!