Author: Philippa Gregory
Series: The Cousins’ War #2
First Published: 2010
Publisher: Pocket Books
464 pages (mass market paperback)
I’m a sucker for historical royalty fiction, so I’m trying to explore more of Philippa Gregory’s works. I’ve read The White Queen by the same author (see my review for it here!), and that book, along with this one, The Red Queen, tell the story of the War of the Roses from both sides of the battle. The White Queen was about Elizabeth Woodville, who married into the York family. The Red Queen stars Margaret Beaufort who is from the Lancaster family.
In the beginning of this story, the Lancaster family is in control of England, with King Henry VI on the throne. Margaret Beaufort is the king’s cousin. Either the king or Margaret needs to produce a son to continue the Lancaster line. The king and his wife do manage to give birth to a son, as well as Margaret, who names her baby boy Henry after the current king. Margaret is a very devout and religious person and strongly believes that she is going to be guided by God to continue the Lancaster line. From a very young age, Margaret is convinced that her hero, Joan of Arc, speaks to her and will help her son Henry to the throne. However, when the York family overthrows Henry VI and takes over, Margaret finds her faith tested. She decides she will do whatever is necessary to ensure that the rightful family — the Lancasters — take back the throne, with her son as the king.
Even though I already know everything that’s going to happen, for the most part, since this is kind of the same general plot as The White Queen, just from the perspective of the other side of the war, I really thoroughly enjoyed it. It was really interesting reading about the War of the Roses from the Lancaster side after being so emotionally invested into the York side. If you’ve already read The White Queen, then perhaps you, too, will also have thoughts such as, “Oh, how can I possibly like the Lancaster side after reading about how horrible they are from Elizabeth Woodville’s perspective?”
Well, to be honest, The Red Queen didn’t actually make me more sympathetic to the Lancaster cause. I still found myself quite sympathetic with the York side. This is because I found Margaret Beaufort’s portrayal in this novel quite negative. She was mean and arrogant! This doesn’t mean I think she’s a bad character or anything. She’s wonderfully written to elicit feelings of shock and disgust from me. With all that said, being wonderfully written doesn’t make her a likeable character, haha. I still liked Elizabeth Woodville a lot in this book, even though Margaret tries to vilify her. The funny thing is, I know that usually, Elizabeth is portrayed as a seductive, amibitious temptress and Margaret as a pious, loyal woman!
Even though I really disliked Margaret Beaufort in this book, I still had a great time reading about the War of the Roses from the Lancaster point of view. It’s also nice being introduced to her son, Henry, in a less spontaneous manner (I remember in The White Queen, I thought Henry’s entrance into the story was really abrupt. I was like, “Where did this guy come from?”) and I found I quite liked Henry a lot. I never find out too much about him since this book centers on Margaret and she spent many, many years separated from one another, but he struck me as a pretty nice guy. It’d be cool if Gregory writes a book about him! Although I think she mainly focuses on female historical figures. Still, one can dream.
If you read The White Queen and liked it, I’m sure you’ll appreciate the story from the Lancaster perspective! If you’ve never read either, it really doesn’t matter which one you read first. I highly recommend this book!
My Rating: 5/5
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