Painting the Roses Red

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory
Despite my post's title, this book has nothing to do with Alice in Wonderland. I just thought it was be a fun intro. Instead the book is about Margaret Beaufort, mother to the first Henry Tudor, who became Henry VII. The book's actually been out for quite a while, and I didn't pick it up till it was out in paperback. I'm not completely sure why I waited so long to read it, especially since it's been over 2 years since I last read one of her books. Although I think part of it is that while in general I enjoy Gregory's books, most seem to miss a historical fact or two. But the reason why I finally picked it up, probably has a lot to do with the fact that her next book from this time period will be out shortly.

I've read quite a bit about the War of the Roses, so most of the events were familiar to me. And while I knew who Margaret Beaufort was, and knew she was famous for helping her son to the throne, I didn't know a lot about it. This is actually the first time I've read a book about her, and as far I know there aren't any others specifically about her.

While parts of Margaret's story are interesting, mainly the fact she gave birth to the future king at only 14, most of her life wasn't that exciting. Or at least if it was history has lost that to us. Margaret spends a lot of her times scheming and conspiring throughout the book without a lot else happening. I think because of this, the book's lack of action, a lot of people weren't a fan.

But overall I really enjoyed it, and might go as far as saying it's one of my favorite Gregory books. I think what's does it for me, is that while the historical events are known, so much of Marat's life was a mystery to me, and I love the experience of reading a historical book like this and feeling like I learned a lot throughout.

4.5/5