I do love my history, especially anything to do with the Wars of the Roses, House Lancaster, and my personal favourite House of York.
The author was vI do love my history, especially anything to do with the Wars of the Roses, House Lancaster, and my personal favourite House of York.
The author was very thorough with her research and mapped out the extensive genealogies of these two famous dynasties, however, it got confusing to keep track of everyone since it was very common for medieval families to recycle names,ie: Henry, Edward, Edmund, Maud, and the list goes on.
I feel like this could've been two books and I would've liked to see the key events and key players that eventually led to the Wars of the Roses, it just was a big genealogical map and it got very confusing, very quickly!!
I would've liked to read more about the House of York but it was just a bleep, true, House of York is very young compared to the House of Lancaster so I was thoroughly disappointed. ...more
Ok, I finally finished reading this and I have to say it's not what I expected for this novel as I was hoping it would be more focused on a dramatizatOk, I finally finished reading this and I have to say it's not what I expected for this novel as I was hoping it would be more focused on a dramatization of the innermost of Margaret Douglas' thoughts even though it was clearly obvious of the ambitious dynastic goals that proved successful as future England's monarchies can trace their lineage through her bloodline.
In the beginning, I was interested in reading about Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox who had ties to the English and Scottish thrones but what let this down it was boggled down by history textbook that really became tedious to read, skimmed through a lot of it, some of it was interesting, but the overall voice of Lady Margaret Douglas was drowned out by other individuals; even though I can appreciate the author's well researched into this woman but I feel like I'm still nowhere close of getting an idea of the WHO Margaret really is, other than she managed to keep her head in 16th Century England and survived four English monarchs while other relatives died for the same pursuits of inheriting the English throne....more
Interesting, if you're a fan of the Tudor dynasty and if you're not already familiar with the Tudor period leading to the rise of King Henry VIII and Interesting, if you're a fan of the Tudor dynasty and if you're not already familiar with the Tudor period leading to the rise of King Henry VIII and his wives and more importantly King Henry VIII's desperation for a male heir to secure the throne.
Lady Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, one of the few surviving members of House Plantagenet, even her younger brother Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick was executed purely for being the last legitimate male heir to House of York and a threat to King Henry VII's reign.
All these centuries, this woman who has been an enigma, whose personality, true opinions or motivations remain lost to history, who witnessed multiple family members death, who walked a tight rope as her being in the king's favour varied over the years leading to her eventual demise as an elderly woman.
We'll never know her true thoughts and opinions, as from what I can gather that she kept her cards closely to her chest, purely out of self-preservation and she had children to worry about, I personally believe if her husband didn't die as early as he did, or if Prince Arthur didn't die, Lady Margaret Pole would've had a much happier life than she did....more
I was really looking forward to reading this as I like anything to do with this time period and an exaggeration of what these historical figures may hI was really looking forward to reading this as I like anything to do with this time period and an exaggeration of what these historical figures may have thought, and what motivated them to make the decisions they did that affected generations to come.
Admittedly, I found this novel a struggle mainly due to the negativity of some of Margaret's personality traits i.e: obsessive, jealousy, envy, and overall just very whiny which made it a mission to get through the book.
Based on the title I was expecting changing perspectives from three women: Katherine of Aragon and Princess Mary Tudor but instead only saw through the eyes of the eldest Tudor sibling which was a shame and a disappointment as I would've liked to see the other perspectives with this narrative.
Yes, it did focus on the sisterly relationship but more of the negative side based on Margaret's feelings as she was always endeavoring to be one step higher than the other two, always in competition with them which came across to me (in a modern perspective) as very toxic and frustrating to read about all the time, it would've been nice to see the more positive side of the sisterly relationship between these three.
These quotes stood out the most for me:
Queen Regnant Margaret Tudor, pg517 -
"I would not advise her no woman to give up anything that she managed to win. I would advise every woman to work as she can, gain what she can, and keep it. No woman should be made to surrender her goods or herself. A wise woman will enrich herself as if she were the equal of a man, and a good law would protect her rights, not rob her like an envious husband"
Princess Mary Tudor, pg536 -
When men have authority over women, women can be brought very low - and they will be brought very low. We spent our time admiring and envying each other and we should have been guiding and protecting each other.
So on the other note, it was awesome to see Margaret being her children's advocate for their inheritance as well as for her own whether to find someone to align with that would petition in her favour and seeing the imbalance of this journey was frustrating as the similarities of what she was fighting for her individual rights (as a woman, a mother, her marriage, a queen) echoed what was happening with the relationships of her younger sister Mary Tudor and her two marriages with the King of France and later Charles Brandon; and then her sister-in-law Katherine of Aragorn and her brother King Henry VIII.
I just would've liked to see in this book less whining from Margaret and more of a development of a strong woman and a queen, who fought for what she wants, a divorce from an unhappy marriage and her husband's infidelities and to be able to be her son's guardian and regent until he became of age. I much preferred the Tv show "The Spanish Princess" portrayal of Margaret by Georgie Henley as the titular character she portrayed a well-rounded personality that I feel that this book tried to do, in some parts yes but mostly it was a slog to get through.
Author's Note, Philipa Gregory, pg541-
But in Margaret and her sister Mary, we see Tudor women - indeed Tudor Princesses - with powerful romantic ambitions acting independently, even defying their male guardians Margaret was a strikingly modern woman in her desire to marry for love, to divorce an unsatisfactory husband and marry again, and still hope to retain political power and the custody of her children, that she managed to do any of this in a world where the law and the Church were designed to serve men, in a country which was violent and dangerous, at a time when neither Scotland nor England had ever had a ruling queen, is a testament not to irrationality but to determination, ability, and passion.