THE KING'S CURSE.

The sixth and final book read for this years 'What's In A Name?' challenge:  A book with  the word 'Ing' in the title. I'll be posting my Wrap-Up post soon but in the meantime would lie to thank Charlie over at The Worm Hole for being such a good host.



THE KING'S CURSE by PHILIPPA GREGORY.

INNER FRONT COVER BLURB: As an heir to the Plantagenet's, Margaret is seen by the King's mother (The Red Queen) as a rival to the Tudor claim to the throne. She is buried in marriage to a Tudor supporter - Sir Richard Pole, governor of Wales - and becomes guardian to Arthur, the young Prince of Wales, and his beautiful bride, Katherine of Aragon.

But Margaret's destiny, as cousin to the queen (The White Princess), is not for a life in the shadows. Tragedy throws her into poverty and only a royal death restores her to her place at young Henry VIII's court where she becomes chief lady-in-waiting to Queen Katherine. There she watches the dominance of the Spanish queen over her husband and her tragic decline.

Amid the rapid deterioration of the Tudor court, Margaret must choose whether her allegiance is to the increasingly tyrannical Henry VIII or to her beloved queen. Caught between the old and the new, Margaret must find her own way, concealing her knowledge that an old curse cast upon all the Tudors is slowly coming true ...

FIRST SENTENCE {Westminster Palace, London, 29 November 1499 }: In the moment of waking I am innocent, my conscience clear of any wrongdoing.

MEMORABLE MOMENT {Page 90}: But I know in my heart that if God fails to call this little boy to a lifetime of holy service then I will have put my bright, loving boy in a wordless prison for life.

SOURCE: A Book People purchase.

MY THOUGHTS: A big fan of Philippa Gregory - she is my favourite author when it comes down to historical fiction - I have however had mixed thoughts about The Cousin's War books.

On the whole an enjoyable series, well researched as you'd expect from this author BUT after a good start I'm afraid I found the last two books, The Kingmaker's Daughter and The White Princess, a bit of a let down.

Back on form with this the sixth book. As entertaining as it is educational for lets not forget that whilst based in fact as the author herself admits there is a certain amount of poetic licence and imagination involved. I know I've said it before with both The Red Queen and The Lady Of The Rivers but for me The King's Curse really has been the strongest and most gripping book in the series .... so far. (I had heard rumours of a seventh book, The Last Rose, but I could be wrong.)

Largely chronicling life at the court of Henry VIII, perhaps the most famous and definitely the most notorious of English monarchs, this is the story of the last Princess of the House of York Margaret Pole/Plantagenet and what a story it is.

Spanning some forty years and the deaths of no less than four queens. The witness to the rise of an increasingly tyrannical King, this is the tale of a woman who, a potential rival to the Tudor destiny, is 'hidden in wedlock' for her own safety, a woman who finds herself both in and then out of favour with a court ruled over by a regent determined to break away from Rome.

A character I changed my mind about a hundred times, my emotions varying from a real dislike for to total empathy for and, ultimately, a great sorrow for. Whilst Margaret Pole may not have been a typical woman of her time - even as a privileged member of society she was more privileged than most - this book spells out loudly and clearly the perils of women whether it be in childbirth or as pawns, their fate in the hands of their husbands and their fathers before that or, as in this case, at the whim of a increasingly paranoid (mad?) king.