[ISB]⇒ PDF The Red Queen Philippa Gregory 9781439197172 Books

The Red Queen Philippa Gregory 9781439197172 Books

Download As PDF : The Red Queen Philippa Gregory 9781439197172 Books

The Red Queen Philippa Gregory 9781439197172 Books

Gregory writes very well, and I enjoyed most aspects of her treatment of Margaret Beaufort. Still, the one overarching theme throughout the book is Margaret's overweening ambition coupled to her complete lack of self-awareness. If only we hadn't known this about her from the first pages, it would have kept me more engaged. Instead, there is never any doubt that Margaret sees herself as a perfect candidate for, if not sainthood, then for every honor that one human being can receive. She constantly wonders why others, so much less deserving than herself, keep receiving the things which she sees hers. Why are these things rightfully hers? Why, because she is God's most devout and devoted servant. Ergo, she alone deserves riches, respect and to be honored by others. All of her introspection, if such it can be called, is directed towards asking god to redress her endless grievances. This gets tiresome, hitting us as it does from the very first page. We get it, Margaret feels entitled.

Still, her endless and mostly fruitless plots and schemes make an entertaining read, especially within the context of The White Queen, which should definitely be read before this volume. Her last two marriages are also well-explored by the author, and her feelings towards and interactions with first the cautious but honorable Henry Stafford and cautious but scheming Thomas Stanley were enough to keep me reading. Ultimately, and despite the protagonist's lack of introspection, I found it an enjoyable read.


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The Red Queen Philippa Gregory 9781439197172 Books Reviews

It's a rare story that gets told in the first person when that person is unlikeable and completely lacking in self-awareness. Lady Margaret sees herself in the mold of Joan of Arc, while we see her as unpleasant, wildly ambitious (for her son) and constantly scheming. That could make for an interesting contrast if the dichotomy between thought and action was slowly unveiled, but we're looking down our noses at Lady M in the first few pages after she announces she has "saints' knees".

We learn little of her son, who is offstage for almost the entire book. Consequently when he does become king (I'm not giving anything away -- it's history!) there's no sense of joy or triumph. It's just another machination in a book that's full of 'em.

So why four stars? Gregory writes extremely well. Two of Margaret's three husbands are fairly interesting. The endless plotting has its fascinations. And you get a good sense of what life was like for aspirants to the throne in the England of Richard III.
A bit easier for me to read than the first, The White Queen. The plot wasn’t as filled with conflict. And thank goodness for that! I had to put the first down to take a bit of a breather but this one I flew through!

I was on the fence about this Queen, however. At first I was thinking I would like her more than Queen Elizabeth but as the story moved forward I became more confused with her motivation. Well, not her motivation, because that was always to put her son on the throne. But to the God aspect of her motivation. I feel like later on she was blaming everyone except herself for all the horrors in the world and she really should have been looking in the mirror instead of casting stones. She believed so fervently that God was backing her and her family that she would literally do anything that made that so!

Even with that though, I really enjoyed how this one ended. There were questions that I had about the ending of the first and this one filled those in. There are still questions of course but I feel as if the next book in line, which is about The White Queen’s mother, does not sound as interesting to me as The White Princess which is #5 in this series! I just can’t wait that long!!
This was a very interesting read. Lady Margaret is not a sympathetic character in my mind. It is true that women in this time period were ​little more than chattel, but she doesn't seem to know it. She doesn't appreciate her second husband, the only one who cares for her. When her third husband calls her out for her ambission, she is shocked. Her faith is not in God, but in her own greed and jealousy of the Yorks. It was fascinating to see how far she would go to put herself in a position of royalty. I didn't like her character, but I enjoyed filling in the history, even if it was fictional.
The Red Queen is the a biography of a bad guy, and it's AWESOME!!

Margaret Beaufort is this notorious/ infamous brutal & cold hearted women of English History, but how does someone get that way? Philippa Gregory lays down the foundation of how this woman came to be in this book, and who also becomes a prominent figure in multiple books after.

As an influential figure in The Cousins War, she's never been one of my favorites; but I love this book for leveling me with who Margaret Beaufort is as a person and showing me why she is who she is. Philippa Gregory told the story of Margaret Beaufort in a way that evoked some emotions in me- she made me laugh, she made sad, she made me think, she humbled me, and she frustrated the heck out of me...and I loved every second!
Gregory writes very well, and I enjoyed most aspects of her treatment of Margaret Beaufort. Still, the one overarching theme throughout the book is Margaret's overweening ambition coupled to her complete lack of self-awareness. If only we hadn't known this about her from the first pages, it would have kept me more engaged. Instead, there is never any doubt that Margaret sees herself as a perfect candidate for, if not sainthood, then for every honor that one human being can receive. She constantly wonders why others, so much less deserving than herself, keep receiving the things which she sees hers. Why are these things rightfully hers? Why, because she is God's most devout and devoted servant. Ergo, she alone deserves riches, respect and to be honored by others. All of her introspection, if such it can be called, is directed towards asking god to redress her endless grievances. This gets tiresome, hitting us as it does from the very first page. We get it, Margaret feels entitled.

Still, her endless and mostly fruitless plots and schemes make an entertaining read, especially within the context of The White Queen, which should definitely be read before this volume. Her last two marriages are also well-explored by the author, and her feelings towards and interactions with first the cautious but honorable Henry Stafford and cautious but scheming Thomas Stanley were enough to keep me reading. Ultimately, and despite the protagonist's lack of introspection, I found it an enjoyable read.