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Margaret Beaufort never surrenders her belief that her Lancaster house is the true ruler of England, and that she has a great destiny before her. Married to a man twice her age, quickly widowed, and a mother at only fourteen, Margaret is determined to turn her lonely life into a triumph. She sets her heart on putting her son on the throne of England regardless of the cost to herself, to England, and even to the little boy. Disregarding rival heirs and the overwhelming power of the York dynasty, she names him Henry, like the king; sends him into exile; and pledges him in marriage to her enemy Elizabeth of York's daughter. As the political tides constantly move and shift, Margaret masterminds one of the greatest rebellions of all time—all the while knowing that her son has grown to manhood, recruited an army, and awaits his opportunity to win the greatest prize in all of England.
The Red Queen is a novel of conspiracy, passion, and coldhearted ambition, the story of a proud and determined woman who believes that she alone is destined, by her piety and lineage, to shape the course of history.
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Release date
August 3, 2010 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781442304413
- File size: 357620 KB
- Duration: 12:25:02
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Nine-year-old Margaret Beaufort fervently believes she is destined for greatness. She reveres Joan of Arc, spends hours each day kneeling in prayer, and is proud of her rough, scabby "saint's" knees. Bianca Amato expertly guides listeners through Margaret's turbulent life--from reluctant bride (she was forced to marry four times) to the agony of childbirth to her seething jealousy of Elizabeth Woodville (THE WHITE QUEEN) and her limitless ambitions for her son, Henry. As the War of the Roses rages (bloody battle scenes are read, uncredited, by Graeme Malcolm), Margaret's fortunes rise and fall and rise again. Philippa Gregory is the queen of British historical fiction, and Amato's performance in this second book in The Cousins War series is regal and riveting. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine -
October 25, 2010
While Gregory's The White Queen told a story of the War of the Roses from the viewpoint of the House of York, her latest takes the perspective from the House of Lancaster, where Margaret Beaufort, a descendant of King Edward III, accepts her duty to marry whoever the current king chooses, bear a male child, a potential heir to the throne, and to mastermind his path to power. Bianca Amato reads with quiet earnestness and carries Margaret from the fantasies of childhood to becoming a mature woman of experience and arrogance. As in her reading of The White Queen, Amato refrains from dramatic extremes or flourishes in favor of a spare, serene, and engrossing narration. A Touchstone hardcover (Reviews, May 3). -
May 3, 2010
Nobody does the Tudors better than Gregory (The Other Boleyn Girl), so it should come as no surprise that her latest—the War of the Roses as seen through the eyes of Henry VII’s mother —is confident, colorful, convincing, and full of conflict, betrayal, and political maneuvering. Gregory gives readers Margaret Beaufort in her own words, from innocent nine-year-old to conspiring courtier who stops at nothing to see her son on England’s throne. Gregory devotees will note the difference between the supernaturally gifted Yorkist White Queen and Lancastrian Margaret, who, despite saintly aspirations, grows worldly through three marriages; a powerless widow at 13, remarried and separated from her only son by 15, it is not until she’s 29 that Margaret is ready to realize her most audacious ambitions. Gregory clones have made historical novels from a woman’s perspective far too familiar to make this seem as fresh as her earlier works. Yet, like Margaret Beaufort, Gregory puts her many imitators to shame by dint of unequalled energy, focus, and unwavering execution.
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