BR: The King's Daughter: A Novel of the First Tudor Queen

The King's Daughter: A Novel of the First Tudor Queen

by Sandra Worth

The King’s Daughter: A Novel of the First Tudor Queen is a complex but approachable historical fiction novel narrated by Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV and the wife of Henry VII.   Without a doubt I was captivated from beginning to end by Worth’s ability to weave the intrigue and suspense, plotting, murder, love and intense hatred of the period into a suspenseful but historical based thriller.  

Elizabeth, though the favorite daughter of the charismatic King Edward IV, her life is full of sacrifice and disappointment. After her father’s death she flees into sanctuary at Westminster with her mother, sisters and brothers and watches helplessly as her parent’s marriage is declared bigamous and the royal children, herself included, declared bastards.  Her mother rages at the ambition and treachery of her once beloved uncle, Richard of Gloucester, which seems to confirmed when her brother’s disappear into the Tower and Richard claims the throne for himself.  

Elizabeth has great difficulty reconciling Richard, the uncle she loved, with the tyrant her mother claims he has become. It is only through the eyes of the ailing Queen Anne that Elizabeth sees Richard again as a man of dedication to England and one worthy of respect.  Only after this life changing conversation with Queen Anne does Elizabeth find the courage to accept her destiny, to marry Henry Tudor and thereby unite the White Rose of York with the Red of Lancaster and forever end the bloodshed that has torn England apart.  Elizabeth’s first love, much like that of her namesake and granddaughter, is England.  Elizabeth admirably sacrifices her own personal happiness to bring peace to her beloved county. 

As Queen, Elizabeth endures every disappointment with an innate regality few around her possess.  Though Queen, Elizabeth finds that she is virtually powerless, constantly spied upon and watched by the Countess of Richmond, the King’s mother, the true font of power at court.  Rather than fill her heart with spite and hatred she turns her affection to her children, especially Arthur, the heir and true human embodiment of the united England.  Elizabeth learns to love her husband, and remarkable they seem to have a happy marriage. 

Pretenders and threats to his new dynasty and especially from Perkin Warbeck, who claims to be the George, the Queen’s youngest brother, haunt Henry Tudor throughout his reign.  Is this Perkin Warbeck her brother, Elizabeth cannot be sure and doesn’t have the power to find out.  Many around her find her too complacent, but to this reader she seemed to possess a very important quality at this tumultuous time – she was a survivor. 

Worth gives her reader a well-researched novel with close attention to historical detail and accuracy.  Her author notes describe the writing process and the liberties she took with explanations for the same.  Also, Worth provides her reader with a bibliography and historical notes.  There is little criticism to offer regarding The King’s Daughter.  This reader found it engaging, informative and a thoughtfully written account about the first Tudor Queen.  A true must read!

This review qualifies for the following challenges:
Historical Fiction Book Review #27
Tudor Book Blog Reading Challenge #23

The Pleasure Palace was a true pleasure...

The Pleasure Palace

Secrets of the Tudor Court

by Kate Emerson

From the beginning to the end I was captivated!  I dare say that Kate Emerson has written a classic historical fiction – a fictional account framed by hard historical fact.  This novel was a refreshing breath of air for me.  In The Pleasure Place, the first in Emerson’s Secrets of the Tudor Court series, the story comes from the point of view of Jane Popyncourt, a name I recognized but knew little about.  For me Emerson’s use of a real person, albeit a marginal person within the Tudor court, made the story even more engaging.  Since little is known about Jane Popyncourt the reader does not have an archetype in mind for the character and can enjoy Emerson’s wonderfully crafted tale of her life. 

Jane arrives in England from France with her mother, who left the French court where she served Queen Anne immediately following the death of King Charles.  The pair are welcomed to the court of Henry VII and while her mother is sent into service with Queen Elizabeth, Jane joins the royal nursery at Eltham Palace in order to converse daily with the Princesses Margaret and Mary in French.  Jane is never quite sure of her position within the court; feeling at times a servant and at others a member of the family.  Jane’s mother passes away shortly following their arrival and Jane is left with many unanswered questions about her family and the reason for the departure from France and subsequent warm welcome at the Tudor court.

As Jane matures she is drawn to Princess Mary and eventually becomes a member of Mary’s household, and serves the princess at the courts of both Henry VII and Henry VIII.  During the early years of Henry VIII’s reign England is at war with France.  During one of the battles the French noble, duc de Longueville, is captured by King Henry and returned to England and await payment of his ransom.  He is a prisoner but due to his rank he is also a guest at court.  Jane is residing at the Tower with the Princess Mary, as Queen Catherine is defending the northern border following a Scottish attack, and finds herself immediately drawn to the duc.  Unexpectedly, a childhood friend, Guy Dunois, is among the men serving the duc and Guy’s presence prompts Jane to begin inquires about her mother and her death.  Jane is unable to resist the charms of the duc and becomes his mistress soon after his arrival.  Eventually, she comes to see the duc for the cad he is but King Henry urges her to continue the relationship and serve as a spy. 

What I found fascinating is that Jane Popyncourt lived and was a member of Princess Mary’s household and was mistress to the Duc.  The fictional twist that Emerson very cleverly spins is Jane’s familial relationship to the Tudors.  Emerson also presents a wonderful character in Jane.  She is not only likeable but also intriguing and the “fictional” Jane is so wonderfully crafted by Emerson that she emerges as a dynamic figure, in her own right, against the backdrop of Kings and Queens and the dynamics of life at the Tudor court.  

This was the first I have encountered Kate Emerson, but I look forward, with anticipation, to the rest of this series.  Kate Emerson is, in my opinion, as meticulous with her research as she is clever and creative with her plot twists and character development.  The use of Jane Popyncourt, the true details of a real person’s life enriched by a fictional but plausible plot-line makes The Pleasure Palace a wonderful engaging read and I recommend it without a moment’s reservation.  

This review qualifies for the following challenges:
Historical Fiction Book Review #10
Tudor Book Blog Reading Challenge #8

Before the Tudors II

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

The second installment in Gregory’s series on the women of the Wars of the Roses is The Red Queen, the story of Margaret Beaufort, the red rose of Lancaster.  I must admit I have never cared for Margaret Beaufort who I have always found to be the impetuous for much of the cruelty of Henry VII.  I have always thought an evil and vengeful women was hidden behind her religious habit but Gregory’s depiction, while not changing my option, has made me rethink the bases of those opinions. 

The story begins with Margaret as a nine-year-old child.  She is fervently religious often attending mass multiple times a day.  Her mother uses this devotion and schools her daughter to believe that it is God’s wish that she give birth to royalty and that this role was ordained from birth.  In turn, Margaret believes with the kind of faith belonging to the righteously devoted that fervently pursuing the violently contested crown is her birthright. She is told and believes from an early age that she is “especially favored by God” and she clings to this notion with unwavering conviction throughout her life. 

Since Margaret feels that God has selected her for this special honor she grows into an unyielding and ruthless crusader for her cause.  She will go to any length necessary to see her destiny fulfilled.  It is this ruthless scheming that has shaped my own opinion of Margaret Beaufort.  She is not a likeable character fictional or otherwise, but I am willing to consider that she was herself manipulated into this mindset.

Margaret is married the age of twelve to Edmund Tudor and nearly dies giving birth to her son Henry.  During the delivery the midwives ask Margaret’s mother if they should work to save the child or the mother; without hesitation she tells them the child.  Who could not feel sorry for this girl of thirteen who has just realized, while in the throws of physical agony, that her own mother values the life of potential heir, the hope of the Lancastrian’s, more than that of her own daughter.  I pondered myself while reading if this made Margaret into the woman she became, so fiercely dedicated to the child that nearly cost her life, but whose birth certainly took away what was left of the child within herself.  I would imagine that such an event at such a young age would have had an enormous impact on the psyche of any young girl and while the event as portrayed by Gregory is fictional as to the emotions it did serve to remind me to remember that the historical figures I have so long studied are human and therefore influenced by a myriad of encounters and events lost to time.  

While Gregory gives the reader some pause to understand Margaret’s indoctrination into her worldview from birth and that she herself was of little value in the quest for an heir.  Married while still a child and enduring a long and life-threatening birth seem to have firmed planted the idea of being chosen by God within Margaret.  This seed grows within her, as she becomes a selfish, self-centered and controlling woman with ruthless ambition.  Every moment of everyday seems consumed with the pursuit of the crown for her son.  

However, the reader must remember that Margaret was herself cruelly used.  Throughout her life she is unwanted, unimportant and unloved for herself.  She is the means to a greater end.  Margaret, through sheer force of character, inserts herself into her position otherwise she would be forgotten to time.  Despite being separated from her son for long periods of time they remain devoted to one another and she one of his most trusted and influential advisors.  Perhaps Margaret had to become self-serving to survive and remain an essential piece to an all male puzzle?  

Gregory puts Margaret as an essential co-conspirator in the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower.  This theory is certainly a possibility but is one amongst many.  Gregory does not attempt to humanize Margaret, but follows the most popular perspective of her.  There is no attempt to humanize or explain her actions and reactions, which would have been more interesting.  Perhaps Gregory found it impossible, but it certainly would have been an interesting take on a dynamic woman who remained influential throughout her life despite her sex. It would have been interesting if Gregory had pursued Margaret’s obsession with her son as compensation for her own life that was taken from her at such a young age so that he could live.  Perhaps Margaret’s sees Henry’s success as her own vindication?   

Margaret Beaufort and Elizabeth Woodville, of The White Queen, find themselves united begrudgingly but as survivors the allegiance becomes a necessary one.   Henry’s claim to the throne is a weak one, and despite Richard III’s declaration that the children of his brother and Elizabeth Woodville are illegitimate, the two adversaries find themselves allies through the marriage of their children.  Elizabeth of York, Edward and Elizabeth’s elder daughter, has a stronger claim to the throne, but because she is a woman it would be a contested claim.  These two mothers’ see that each needs the other for validation and by the marriage of Henry and Elizabeth the houses of Lancaster and York are united at last.

Indeed, Henry’s victory at Bosworth is reliant upon the aid of his stepfather, Thomas Stanley, who is notorious for his double dealing so that he is always on the side of the victor.  Fortunately for Henry Stanley’s forces watch the battle until it begins to turn in Tudor’s favor and then charge in on his side.  

All of my criticisms aside I still found The Red Queen an enjoyable read.  Also, though part of a series, neither novel is reliant on the other.  The next novel in the series is The Lady of the Rivers which is the story of Jacquetta, mother of Elizabeth Woodville, who I must say was the most interesting of the characters in either novel and so I look forward to reading that as well.  The Red Queen gives the reader the Margaret Beaufort that they would expect to find but is an enjoyable well written book.

This review qualifies for the following challenges:
Historical Fiction Book Review #6