Book Review: THE KING'S CURSE by Philippa Gregory

 Margaret Pole was a true survivor in every sense of the way. She had had made it through her uncle Richard III’s rule, Henry VII’s conquest of her closest confidant Elizabeth of York, and again she survived the wrath of Margaret Beaufort, which is no easy task. Margaret was one f the few royals that had survived the War of the Roses and the transition to Tudor England. The war came to an end with Henry VII’s marriage to her cousin Elizabeth. The cousins through the years had been very close. They shared every tear and heartbreak up until Elizabeth’s death.

The biggest tragedy to strike the cousins was the loss of Elizabeth’s son Arthur. Henry VII had executed Margaret’s own brother to finalize the agreement between Spain and England for the marriage of the infant of Spain: Catherine of Aragon to Arthur. After the marriage took place the new couple were entrusted to their mothers closest friend Margaret for their care and managing. Margaret had already cared for Arthur most of his life and loved him like he was her own son. Shortly after the marriage Arthur's health had suddenly started to dramatically decline and he was gone with in a day. Greif stricken Margaret knew then that the curse on the Tudors was still very real. Arthur’s own grandmother, and mother had cursed who ever had murdered their lost princes that would have been Arthur uncles. There had always been rumors of the Woodville women being witches even his great grandmother Jaquetta had been put on trail for witchcraft during the war. The Woodville women wanted revenge and cursed “those that had murdered our princes” and had inadvertently cursed their own future line because Elizabeth had been forced to marry the enemy. Margaret had lost the prince she loved but had gained a princess. Catherine of Aragon had become a close confident of Margaret’s over the years and even closer yet after Elizabeth’s tragic death.

After years of tragedy bestowed on Margaret’s family everything changed in the blink of an eye when young King Henry came to the throne upon his father’s death. Her family’s fortune was reversed and she was back in the lime light because the new queen was Catherine of Aragon her closest friend. The new courts blissful happiness was slowly chipped away by the Tudor curse when Catherine of Aragon gave birth to dead child after dead child. Devoted to Catherine and her only surviving child princess Mary, like Prince Arthur Margaret had been asked to care for Mary though the years and had also loved her like her own daughter maybe even more than that. King Henry had sworn to love Catherine until death do them part but the nagging question of the curse weighed heavy on him. Eventually he turned from Catherine to another leading the whole country into civil out cry over the unjust treatment of Catherine his legal wedded wife. Margaret had survived many trials but her friendship with Catherine would lead her to the greatest tragedy of her life, protect the princess or sacrifice all to a deranged King that sought to destroy all in his path.

5/5 I LOVED this one out of all of the books in this series this one is now my second favorite. My first will always be “Lady of the Rivers” but this one comes right after now. Margaret’s story is tragic to say the least but I really enjoyed how the author wove Margaret’s alliances and intriquet relationships with her many many children. This one I think could be read as a stand-alone novel but if you do it that way you will loose all of the back history of the curse, which I would not really, recommend because what leads up to the curse is great historical fiction reads. I would highly recommend this to Tudor lovers because Margaret’s story is one of the most dramatic cases of the times.

FTC ~ this novel is from my personal collection

PG ~ 13 For mild violence.

Amazon: The Kings Cure by Philippa Gregory

S T A Y C O N N E C T E D W I T H M E :
S U B S C R I B E ~ T W I T T E R ‪ ~ F A C E B O O K ~ I N S T A G R A M ~ G O O G L E +‪
~L I Z Z I E~

Upcoming Release: The King's Curse by Philippa Gregory

The King's Curse by Philippa Gregory Releasing~ 9.9.2014

"This is the story of deposed royal Margaret Pole, and her unique view of King Henry VIII’s stratospheric rise to power in Tudor England. Margaret Pole spends her young life struggling to free her brother, arrested as a child, from the Tower of London. The Tower – symbol of the Tudor usurpation of her family’s throne – haunts Margaret’s dreams until the day that her brother is executed on the orders of Henry VII. Regarded as yet another threat to the volatile King Henry VII’s claim to the throne, Margaret is buried in marriage to a steady and kind Tudor supporter—Sir Richard Pole, governor of Wales. But Margaret’s quiet, hidden life is changed forever by the arrival of Arthur, the young Prince of Wales, and his beautiful bride, Katherine of Aragon, as Margaret soon becomes a trusted advisor and friend to the honeymooning couple. Margaret’s destiny, as an heiress to the Plantagenets, is not for a life in the shadows. Tragedy throws her into poverty and rebellion against the new royal family, luck restores her to her place at court where she becomes the chief lady-in-waiting to Queen Katherine and watches the dominance of the Spanish queen over her husband, and her fall. As the young king becomes increasingly paranoid of rivals he turns his fearful attention to Margaret and her royal family. Amid the rapid deterioration of the Tudor court, Margaret must choose whether her allegiance is to the increasingly tyrannical king, Henry VIII, or to her beloved queen and princess. Caught between the old world and the new, Margaret has to find her own way and hide her knowledge of an old curse on all the Tudors, which is slowly coming true . . ."

BEHIND THE BOOK RELEASED IN 2014 
"This is a novel which changed its nature, content and significance from when I started research until publication. Right up until the last stage of copy editing I was revising and adding material and characters to this dark story. I started it, thinking that it would be a relatively simple telling of the tragic story of Margaret Pole - daughter of George, Duke of Clarence and Isabel Neville. George was the brother of Edward IV, probably drowned in a vat of Malmsey wine for treason against Edward and Queen Elizabeth. As the book progressed I discovered that Margaret was a central figure in the Tudor court, and probably actively involved in the endless conspiracies against the Henry VIII and his advisors. This hidden rebellion reached its peak in the uprising of the North called the Pilgrimage of Grace. The pilgrims won their aims of defending the Roman Catholic traditions and the return of the traditional advisors, but Henry reneged on his promises and sent his troops for a terrible persecution to men who held a royal pardon. Margaret, and her entire family, came under suspicion too and this novel moved far from the template of a persecuted heroine and became the story of a merciless murder of a family. Margaret's betrayer, and her defenders all come under the gaze of a king who was increasingly frightened and, I believe delusional. It's been a chilling and powerful book to write and the image of Henry VIII, composer of 'Greensleeves' beloved of primary school history, will never be the same again for me. He was a serial killer and this book traces his steps towards psychosis. THE BOOK OPENS IN 1499 England is under a Tudor king, Henry VII has two sons with Elizabeth of York which should have secured his line, yet his court is still filled with fear and suspicion. Plantagenet is a dangerous name to carry and the heiress Margaret Pole is swiftly married off to a staunch Tudor supporter, but her brother Edward's claim cannot be ignored. Henry executes him on Tower Hill, leaving Margaret to face a lifetime of uncertainly". Source: Philippa Gregory

For more on Philippa Gregory's book check out her really cool site that puts all the book in order by time periods 
Amazon ~ The King's Curse by Philippa Gregory
~Lizzie~