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Blood and Roses, by Catherine Hokin
Free Ebook Blood and Roses, by Catherine Hokin
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Blood and Roses tells the story of Margaret of Anjou (1430-82), wife of Henry VI and a key protagonist in the Wars of the Roses. This is a feminist revision of a woman frequently imagined only as the shadowy figure demonised by Shakespeare - Blood and Roses examines Margaret as a Queen unable to wield the power and authority she is capable of, as a wife trapped in marriage to a man born to be a saint and as a mother whose son meets a terrible fate she has set in motion. It is the story of a woman caught up in the pursuit of power, playing a game ultimately no one can control...
- Sales Rank: #376902 in eBooks
- Published on: 2016-01-11
- Released on: 2016-01-11
- Format: Kindle eBook
Most helpful customer reviews
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
History is written by the victors
By Barb Taub
There are two problems with history. First of all, it’s boring. And second, it’s wrong. In her debut novel, Blood and Roses, author Catherine Hokin brilliantly solves both of those problems as she invites us to reconsider what history “tells” us about Margaret of Anjou, the English Queen who led Lancastrian forces in the Wars of the Roses.
So…Margaret of Anjou. Isn’t she the French princess who married Henry VI of England, had an affair with the Duke of Suffolk and bore him an illegitimate son before wandering around carrying his severed head? Wasn’t she Shakespeare’s “she-wolf of France” who led the army of rapists and murderers bent on sacking Ludlow until confronted by heroic Cecily of York? And when Margaret triumphed over her great enemy, the Duke of York, didn’t she wipe his brow with a handkerchief soaked in the blood of his child, before putting a paper crown on his head, stabbing him, and putting his severed head on a pike? Wasn’t she just the mother-in-law from hell to her son’s wife, Anne of York? That Margaret of Anjou?
Um…no. Sometimes, when “history” has passed judgement on the losing side, we can turn to fiction for a closer reality. Catherine Hokin starts with what we do know.
Marguerite’s life is introduced by the older version of herself, a woman desperately trying to stave off the judgement of history by writing her own truth—a desire she knows is almost certainly doomed.
[Quote] “She wants, well it is simple really, she wants to be remembered as more than the monster she feels sure history will paint her. A simple wish but it is out of her hands.” [End Quote]
The child Marguerite was raised by two of the strongest women in medieval Europe, her mother Isabelle and grandmother Yolande, famously known for being strong leaders in the place of their weak husbands. “My childhood was shaped by women, women so strong they made the men around them fade to shadows.”
With introductory comments and remarks from her future self, we meet Marguerite as a young girl, excited with the prospect of marrying a handsome young king and becoming his queen. Throughout her proxy marriage and journey to finally meet her husband, the truth of her marriage is kept secret from her—that Henry VI is obsessed with religion, his hold on reality tenuous at best.
When they finally meet, Henry makes it clear that he sees himself as a man of God, devout and above all celibate. After years of frustration, in fact, he tells her:
[Quote] “I have my God, Margaret, and I will turn to him when the demands around me become too great. I will find solace. You will have nothing.’ It was not a curse, it was not a threat; he said the words as though they were a simple truth and then he left her, bruised and shaking as though from a blow.” [End Quote]
Alone in a foreign court, with even her name changed from Marguerite to Margaret, the young queen realizes that the slightest misstep could be fatal. But she also realizes something else. As the daughter and granddaughter of strong women, she recognizes the uses and seduction of power.
Thus she charts a path over the next ten years designed to solidify her power. At the same time, she hides her secret—her virginity in an era where a woman’s greatest value lies in her ability to produce sons. And when at last, her greatest dream and triumph is achieved and she does have a son, everything she has is devoted to the single-minded determination to see him crowned king.
Catherine Hokin has imagined many insightful explanations for the events of Margaret’s life. Most spectacular and surprising are the machinations leading to the conception and birth of her son Edward—in a brilliant development that I didn’t see coming. (Of course, neither did Shakespeare, Margaret’s contemporaries, or future historians!)
We watch as Margaret becomes not just a woman, but a queen who walks a minefield where any misstep means death. She uses friends, forces opponents to serve her demands, and ruthlessly eliminates enemies. She tells herself that every action is justified by her concerns for her son and her crown.
But as an old woman, alone and (relatively) poor, Margaret acknowledges the real truth.
[Quote] “She has endured pain and loss that would have broken many but she still survives. She has enjoyed power and knows what a strange thing it is: she has learned how, once tasted, it is very hard to lose the love of it and, too often, the pursuit of it becomes more than the getting. She has had it and she has lost it; she has never learned not to want it.” [End Quote]
Blood and Roses is a big story, played out on epic battlefields, with the fate of a nation as the stakes, her son’s life as the entry fee, and a crown as the prize. Catherine Hokin’s meticulous research into the historical elements, her obvious empathy for the decisions Margaret makes, and her ability to weave Margaret’s story as woman, mother, and queen are remarkable.
Being greedy, I could have wished for just a bit more. The book is already huge, but I’d have liked to see more description of the settings, a sense of what Margaret sees, smells, touches, tastes, and surrounds herself with. Dialog is always going to be a problem, and certainly I don’t expect the book to read like lines from Shakespeare’s plays. But it would have been fun to get a little more sense of the time and place in history. As a woman and even as a queen—especially a queen—Margaret of Anjou had to maintain the fiction that she was what her grandmother advised all those years ago.
[Quote] ‘Because people believe that power rests with kings and with men and they believe that a woman’s greatest strength lies in her virtue and her meekness. They like their queens to smile and obey their husbands like all women are expected to do. You may not like that, you may not find such a part an easy one to play but it is what the world expects and you have to learn it.’
You will struggle with it as we all struggle, that is the real truth you need to learn.[End Quote]
And even more, I would have liked to see or hear about the passion that clearly lives within the quiet face Margaret guarded so carefully. But overall, Blood and Roses is a huge achievement. By reimagining the life of a woman history labelled a villain, Catherine Hokin reminds us to look carefully at the things we think we know about history that just aren’t so. I would give it four stars for a spectacular debut effort, and certainly look for more from this very talented writer.
***I received this book for free from the publisher or author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.***
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
one can more easily understand why Margaret continued to fight against him when ...
By Carpe Librum
Striving to make Margaret of Anjou a sympathetic character is a task that few authors have taken on. Conn Iggulden did an admirable job with her younger years in Stormbird, and Susan Higginbotham successfully created a Margaret that the reader understands if not always feels sorry for. Catherine Hokin set out in this novel to establish that, while Margaret may not have been a saint, neither were the power players she found herself surrounded by.
Let's face it. It isn't entirely possible to turn Margaret from she-wolf into prim princess, but Hokin demonstrates how her hand was forced. Margaret may not have always responded to events the way she should have, but she was fiercely loyal to a husband who continuously failed her, a son who never reached his potential, and, in her own way, a country that never accepted her. Watching Margaret thrust into a situation that was impossible from the beginning creates a little bit of sympathy for her, even in the heart of the most devoted Yorkist.
Part of what makes the reader appreciate Margaret's position is the more negative portrayal of those she is opposed to. By leaving Edward of March his golden sheen but also exposing some of the ruthlessness and cruelty beneath, one can more easily understand why Margaret continued to fight against him when everyone else accepted his rule.
She is stubborn or devoted, depending on how you look at her. She makes some really bad decisions, regretting some of them and justifying others. She is a mother who would do anything for her child . . . . no matter who his father might be.
On the topic of Prince Edward's paternity, Hokin takes a rather different track than any I've read previously. I won't give anything away, but (whether I agree or not) at least it's unique.
I appreciate the author's goal of propping up the reputation of Margaret of Anjou, a woman who was dealt a losing hand right from the get-go. Still, it is challenging to feel sorry for one who caused so much death and destruction. Even with the York boys given rather nasty personalities in this novel, I couldn't help but wonder how many lives would be saved if Margaret would simply accept her defeat. Of course, eventually she is left with no other choice.
I thank Catherine Hokin for my copy of this novel in return for an honest review.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
A Rose by Any Other Name
By sagababe
Written from her perspective, this book traces the fortunes and misfortunes of Margaret of Anjou from her childhood in the 1430s to her lonely and isolated exile in France in 1481. The narrative follows her as she is prepared for her marriage to the austere and monk-like King Henry, a diplomatic marriage that goes nowhere, through the rise of the House of York, and the start of the brutal civil War of the Roses.
The story unfolds retrospectively, each chapter beginning with Margaret's thoughts about what has happened, which we then experience. The politics are complicated, with people changing sides and armies appearing, being slaughtered and re-forming. The brutality of the times is clearly depicted as well as the duplicity and expediency that Margaret had to employ to stay in shaky control. Despite being the 'heroine' she is portrayed and portrays herself with unflinching honesty.
This is little known period of history in fictional terms - it was not known to this reviewer, but by the end of the book, I had a far better grasp of the events. What, for me, made this an outstanding read, was the writer's prose style, which lifts off the page with its imagery.eg: 'We know when a momentous event is about to happen; that shiver, a coldness, a sign passes across the day that brings a calamity with it.'
I recommend this book for the writer's skill in dealing with a complex and convoluted period of history, and for the rich and lyrical style with which she deals with it.
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