Review: The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As much as I enjoy Philippa Gregory's rich depiction of historical scenes and vibrant characters, this is not among my favorites in her collection.

I felt that the portrayal of Margaret Beaufort was inconsistent in that she had vastly differing opinions of herself as the plot progressed. I'm not sure if this was in an attempt to represent real vacillations in her character, or if it was pure invention, but the result was that the story felt a little disjointed and left me with no real protagonist to root for. Normally I can find something compelling in even the darkest of Gregory's character inventions, but this time I was lost.

The book is still a good read, and I would recommend it to others who have a love of Tudor history - although I would suggest reading the White Queen first as it is, to my mind, a better novel overall.

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