The Red Queen: A Novel

Philippa Gregory always does a wonderful job with details.

Love the history of Old England. Great listen..many details of political intrigue.

I usually like Philippa Gregory novels. This is the first time I've been disappointed. Not only was the change in narrators for two sections of the book very disconcerting, the male reader was annoying. My major complaint, though, concerns the main character. By the middle of the novel, I wanted to just slap her silly and tell her to shut up and sit down. She made all these professions of faith and of "knowing" her son was to be King, but then said or did the most stupid things that contradicted everything she said she believed in. But most of all, I just found Margaret to be so pathetic as a character that I was almost hoping Henry never made it to the throne.

So disappointing. I expected this book to pick up where The White queen left off but instead its just the same story told through the eyes of the most boring, annoying Character of the last book. No new information was given beyond the last battle told of in the White queen. This character is so hard to like.

Loved this book!!

This was a difficult book to read because you just cannot like this woman. Yes, she was strong, yes, determined. Totally nuts. Religious but, Thomas Stanley( also not likeable) had the cynical view of religion that fit right in the time .

This was a tough read, Gregory's seething anti-Tudor hatred has been evident in her other books, and her it comes through to make this character really unlikeable. Why write about someone you clearly dislike? Margaret Beaufort was a far more interesting person than the caricature Gregory has created here. As usual, Amato's narration is flawless on these books but the book itself is not worthy.

girl is a pretentious b****! but an interesting read as the main character is an antihero, except that you really never like her. interesting read when you compare it to the white queen and hear things from differing perspectives. not my favorite philipa gregory book, but still good. bet it is a better read than listen though, thus the 4 stars...

Book is great. Audiobook not so. Skipped portions and pages

Enjoyed this book it made me curious about English monarchy and its history..Great story

I love how this book made the hisotory of the English War of Roses era come to life. Not that I've ever heard of the era before listening to this book. (-: But I was so intrigued by the characters I went on line and further researched the historical accounts, and sure enough, Phillipa Gregory provided a very accurate account of what happened. Love listening to books that entertain AND teach at the same time. Fascinating!

2 1/2 stars is good for this, for the author did create some engagement with her characters and her story. But I could not finish it because she is a whiner! Yes, I realize that some of her experiences and her being "done to" all her life would be hard to take, but find something positive in there somewhere! I just couldn't listen to the nonstop whining anymore!

There are a few negative reviews, but I didn't think this book was bad. It does take about an hour of listening to get past the exposition & initial character development to become involved in the real conflict, but then I was hooked! The main character is NOT likable; that might make it hard for people to feel they enjoyed the story. At the end, you (almost?) don't want Margaret Beaufort to win- but that is part of Gregory's ability to create such a believable character. You have to appreciate the portrayal of Margaret's religious fanaticism, ironic juxtapositions, & obsessive nature. It's good writing! My only complaint is in the brief, monotone male narration. The mostly female narration, on the other hand, completely embodies the spirit of the main character so that I will probably hear that voice as I read other books about Margaret Beaufort. Don't pass this one up because of the other reviews. If you like Gregory & you like historical fiction, give it a try & decide for yourself.

I normally love all books by Philippa Gregory this is the first one that I have listened to. I believe this is a book that you need to read to many names to keep up with.

I cannot believe this is one of Philippa Gregory's books, it was horrible. going on and on and on

An odd books with a very repetitious, narrow minded, hard to like main character (not that I don't like a difficult character if they have complex personalities). The story is told from the main character's point of view. Just when it gets interesting at the denouement, the narrative switches to the male viewpoint as the battle rages for the next king of England, but we never get to see the original main character's reaction to the ending after all her plotting to make her child the next heir to the English throne.

Everything historical fiction should be. Actual events and characters along with an interesting story that seems completely believeable.