The Red Queen

Philippa Gregory has a way of making the women in history relatable and real, and in The Red Queen she manages to make Margaret Beaufort (mother of King Henry VII) into a woman characterised by her ambition and care for her son. The thing that is so unique about Gregory's female leads is that they are likeable, but they still have flaws. Margaret is consumed by the idea of fulfilling God's calling for her son's life, to the point that she continually sends him away from her to keep him safe. She thinks she is doing the right thing, and maybe she is, but she finds it hard to be a mother to the boy who barely knows her. Instead he is loyal to his uncle, the one man she has ever loved but can never be with. But, as with all of Gregory's books in this series, there are questions and doubts about what it means to be a powerful woman in a time and place dominated by rich and powerful men. The main question of this text is this: is Margaret trying to follow God's desires for her life, or her own desires? And is it wrong for her to want something more for herself and her son (especially considering her family and the way she was raised)?
Having seen the TV show and read the first book in the series, I didn't hate Margaret, but I certainly didn't like her a lot of the time. She often comes across as a bit of a villain in this series, but being able to understand who she was as a young girl made her far more likeable. And I admire that she was so determined to be Margaret Regina that she was able to become just that. She may be condescending and conniving, but she does her best to make up for everything she and her son have gone through because of the end of the Lancastrian reign.
This book, unlike the rest in the series, is truly about the strength of a single, young woman and the difficulty of being a single mother (especially when your son is the only remaining heir to an overthrown dynasty, essentially). I really enjoyed getting to know Margaret from her own perspective. These books are great for anyone interested in understanding the women in the Wars of the Roses, and I recommend them to everyone.