Title: The Forgotten Queen
Author: D.L. Bogdan
Series: Stand Alone
Pages: 384
Published: January 29th 2013
by Kensington
ISBN: 9780758271389
Source: Publisher via Netgalley
Description: From her earliest days,
Margaret Tudor knows she will not have the luxury of choosing a husband.
Her duty is to gain alliances for England. Barely out of girlhood,
Margaret is married by proxy to James IV and travels to Edinburgh to
become Queen of Scotland. Despite her doubts, Margaret falls
under the spell of her adopted home. But while Jamie is an affectionate
husband, he is not a faithful one. And nothing can guarantee Margaret’s
safety when Jamie leads an army against her own brother, Henry VIII. In
the wake of loss she falls prey to an ambitious earl and brings Scotland
to the brink of anarchy. Beset by betrayal and secret alliances,
Margaret has one aim—to preserve the crown of Scotland for her son, no
matter what the cost…
I Give This ...
Normally I would consider myself pretty well schooled in Henry VII, but until recently I didn't know he had sisters. But, women are often forgotten in history and its no surprise I didn't realize they existed. Since that time, I've read about his younger sister Mary. I was extremely pleased when I noticed this one to round out my knowledge on the Tudor family.
Margaret didn't really impress me through much of this book. It's not really that I didn't like her. She just had so many qualities that grated on my nerves. From the start of the book it seems like shes complaining. Her younger brother Henry is sort of a bully. Everybody dotes are her younger sister Mary. The only person she feels remotely connected to is her older brother and possibly her mother. But they both die before and she feels shes been left utterly alone. It doesn't help that her father bartered her off in marriage to King James IV of Scotland. Daughters are always political pawns afterall.
Margaret's life in Scotland is not easy. They do not accept her at first. She's the English princess and not to be trusted. Her husband intrigued me greatly. It's common knowledge that kings took mistresses, but I'm pretty sure this was a whole new level. But then to punish himself afterwards as a repentance for his sins? I wonder how many times Margaret wondered what kind of man her father gave her to. Plus, he just seemed extremely foolish. There are those who are perfectl for ruling and those who wear the crown because it just happened to fall to them. I think James fell in later category.
From the point of James' death, I think Margaret was so desperate for somebody to love her and only her. She latched on to the first person who would show her any type of affection. But, he only had his sights set on what Margaret could do for him. Because of her crazy obsession with love it caused her to see things unclearly. She ended up losing her children. She fled Scotland and tried to enlist her brother for help.
Eventually Margaret realized that love was not going to save her. She needed to be a mother to both her son, The King, and to the rest of Scotland. It was land that had been ravaged by constant struggle for those in power. She grew on me at the point. She knew what her priorities should be.
An interesting book that showed how me how Scotland fit into the picture with England. I felt it did an excellent job of setting up the ongoing tensions between Scotland and England at the time.
Normally I would consider myself pretty well schooled in Henry VII, but until recently I didn't know he had sisters. But, women are often forgotten in history and its no surprise I didn't realize they existed. Since that time, I've read about his younger sister Mary. I was extremely pleased when I noticed this one to round out my knowledge on the Tudor family.
Margaret didn't really impress me through much of this book. It's not really that I didn't like her. She just had so many qualities that grated on my nerves. From the start of the book it seems like shes complaining. Her younger brother Henry is sort of a bully. Everybody dotes are her younger sister Mary. The only person she feels remotely connected to is her older brother and possibly her mother. But they both die before and she feels shes been left utterly alone. It doesn't help that her father bartered her off in marriage to King James IV of Scotland. Daughters are always political pawns afterall.
Margaret's life in Scotland is not easy. They do not accept her at first. She's the English princess and not to be trusted. Her husband intrigued me greatly. It's common knowledge that kings took mistresses, but I'm pretty sure this was a whole new level. But then to punish himself afterwards as a repentance for his sins? I wonder how many times Margaret wondered what kind of man her father gave her to. Plus, he just seemed extremely foolish. There are those who are perfectl for ruling and those who wear the crown because it just happened to fall to them. I think James fell in later category.
From the point of James' death, I think Margaret was so desperate for somebody to love her and only her. She latched on to the first person who would show her any type of affection. But, he only had his sights set on what Margaret could do for him. Because of her crazy obsession with love it caused her to see things unclearly. She ended up losing her children. She fled Scotland and tried to enlist her brother for help.
Eventually Margaret realized that love was not going to save her. She needed to be a mother to both her son, The King, and to the rest of Scotland. It was land that had been ravaged by constant struggle for those in power. She grew on me at the point. She knew what her priorities should be.
An interesting book that showed how me how Scotland fit into the picture with England. I felt it did an excellent job of setting up the ongoing tensions between Scotland and England at the time.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love comments!