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~

New Release, Her Mothers Daughter: A Novel of Queen Mary Tudor by Julianne Lee

New Release Paperback December 1st 2009

It would be hard for me to break how I feel about Mary it would have to be a strong novel. But this has defiantly has caught my eye. Perspectives can change and I am more than willing.

"Her name was Mary Tudor. First of the Tudor queens, she has gone down in history as Bloody Mary. But does she deserve her vicious reputation?

She was the daughter of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon, and half-sister to Edward VI and Elizabeth I. Mary Tudor's life began as the sweetly innocent, pampered princess of Wales-until the age of eleven when the father she adored cast aside the mother she worshipped and declared Mary a bastard. Only after years of exile did Mary finally rise to the throne alongside the man who, aside from her father, was her greatest love-and her greatest betrayer.

Told by Mary herself and the people around her, this grand-scale novel takes us back to the glittering court of sixteenth-century England, and tells the tragic story of a fascinating, largely misunderstood woman who withstood the treachery and passion around her only to become one of England's most vilified queens."

New Release, Fires of Faith: Catholic England under Mary Tudor by Eamon Duffy

Releasing September 15Th 2009, Hardback. This one has me going hum, this is the down and dirty of Queen Mary. The dark and scary Mary who got revenge in the end.

"The reign of Mary Tudor has been remembered as an era of sterile repression, when a reactionary monarch launched a doomed attempt to reimpose Catholicism on an unwilling nation. Above all, the burning alive of more than 280 men and women for their religious beliefs seared the rule of “Bloody Mary” into the protestant imagination as an alien aberration in the onward and upward march of the English-speaking peoples.

In this controversial reassessment, the renowned reformation historian Eamon Duffy argues that Mary's regime was neither inept nor backward looking. Led by the queen's cousin, Cardinal Reginald Pole, Mary’s church dramatically reversed the religious revolution imposed under the child king Edward VI. Inspired by the values of the European Counter-Reformation, the cardinal and the queen reinstated the papacy and launched an effective propaganda campaign through pulpit and press.

Even the most notorious aspect of the regime, the burnings, proved devastatingly effective. Only the death of the childless queen and her cardinal on the same day in November 1558 brought the protestant Elizabeth to the throne, thereby changing the course of English history."

Today in History, Loosing Mary Tudor

Mary died at Westhorpe Hall, Westhorpe, Suffolk on 25 June 1533, and was initially buried at the abbey at Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Her body was moved to nearby St. Mary's Church, also in Bury St Edmunds, when the abbey was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Her husband soon married their son's fiancée, who was also their ward, fourteen-year-old Catherine Willoughby, by whom he had two sons.

Her relationship with her brother Henry VIII had turned sour over his sought annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Whom Mary had become close with. She strongly disliked Anne Boleyn, they had previously met in France when Mary married old king Louis XII.

After Louis died she secretly married the ladies man Charles Brandon. They had three children together, and Mary was also grandmother of the executed Lady Jane Grey. She spent most of her time in the country estate of Westhorpe Hall in Suffolk

Book Review: THE SECRET BRIDE by Diane Haeger

I decided to review this book today in Honor of Mary Tudors Birthday. Happy Birthday Mary! Though I finished it back in January I still find myself thinking about this book. Absolutely intriguing, Talk about growing up Tudor. I found it funny that Mary was very a aurny child. Especially when she was a snot to teen age Charles Brandon with herself being only a child. With her ever faithful childhood companion the french Jane Popyncourt by her side they emerge into the beginning days of the newly crowned Henry VII court. Mary witnesses Jane's trials of the heart and learns first hand a brutal life lesson about the ways of men. Mary was known as the most beautiful woman at court & her brothers absolute favorite. When Mary goes to France to marry the old King Louis, you know she has a secret plan for her real future. But you do not want her to go. Mary continually surprised me I have found myself thinking of this book when I read other books that tie to Mary. I would defiantly recommend this book. I love that this book is a swooney loves story, you want Mary to be happy. I just have to say Thank you to my husband for taking my "Xmas book list" to the book store and braving to stray from the list. It was a wonderful surprise. A must buy!

"Mary Tudor, the headstrong younger sister of the ruthless King Henry VIII, has always been her brother's favorite--- but now she is also an important political bargaining chip. When she is promised to elderly ailing King Louis of France, heartbroken Mary accepts her fate, but not before extracting a promise from her brother: When the old king dies, her next marriage shall be solely of her choosing."