Historical Romance

The King’s Curse shows the love Margaret Pole had for all those around her in a time of hate and war and demonstrates a want to live every moment. She saw the highs and lows of Henry and his wives and how he changed for the worse. It is great to see almost an onlookers version of events of the time. ( )

9780857207586

I was not a fan of this book in the series. For me it was way too long and drawn out. The narration was repetitive and didn’t have me gripped like earlier books. ( )

My hat is always off to Philippa Gregory and the way she can make English history come alive. She has told the same story dozens of times now, with a different perspective each time and without flinching from the truth.

This tale belongs to Margaret Pole, Henry VIII's oldest Tower victim and a direct descendant of the Plantagenet line. Because she was present for so much of what occurred in Henry's reign and because her life was long enough to witness both beginnings and ends, she is a great narrator. From any perspective, life during the time of Henry was hard and uncertain. It hardly mattered who you were, you would be on top or on the bottom in a blink of an eye, subject to the whims of a maniacal ruler.

I found this book particularly interesting, since I have recently read Wolf Hall and found myself confronted with a completely different view of Thomas Cromwell than the one found there. Of course, most of the histories I have read paint Cromwell as a monster, but having just looked at this world from his point of view, it was interesting to see how he would most certainly have been viewed by someone in Margaret Pole's postion. In the end, the horror always comes back to Henry, doesn't it.

I have loved all of Gregory's novels, but some are stand-outs, and this is one of those. Margaret Pole is a gripping and defiant woman, with strength and endurance enough to stand in situations where most would fall. Gregory is particularly wonderful at portraying women as part of the strength and power of this era and helping us to see them as full-blown and strong (which they must have been to survive these times) and never as pawns in the service of men.

I hope to read all of the novels in this series that I have not yet gotten to. If I could do anything different, I would read them in order...but that is not possible for me and I do not think they suffer from being read out of order, since each stands beautifully alone. ( )