We review The King’s Curse, the dramatic conclusion to Gregory’s The Cousins War series.
The King’s Curse – the blurb
The riveting story of Margaret Pole, daughter of George, Duke of Clarence, and was one of the few surviving members of the Plantagenet dynasty after the Wars of the Roses. Plantagenet, once carried proudly by Margaret like a crown upon her head, is now, at the end of the 15th century, the most dangerous name in England…
Girl power
The King’s Curse is the final book in the Cousins War series detailing the Kings and Queens who ruled during the Plantagenet and Tudor eras. I have now read them all and unashamedly loved every one. There is something about Gregory’s style of writing that draws you in. The book, just over 600 pages, was no novella yet I ate up the pages and finished it in no time. It details Henry VIII’s childhood right through to nearly the end of his reign and as always is based on a true story (albeit a work of fiction). At the center of it all is a woman, something I particularly love about Gregory’s work. Yes the women from that period had no power, it was all about the King, yet Gregory always puts the woman up first and central.
A history lesson
What was particularly interesting in The King’s Curse were the family tree illustrations highlighting how many Plantagenet there were v how many Tudors. As the book progressed the illustrations showed the tipping of balance as the former were slowly picked off one by one. I had never really thought of Henry’s reign in this way before. For me the coming together of the House of York and House of Lancaster was encapsulated by Henry VIII and his father, yet this wasn’t necessarily the case. If your face goes blank every time someone mentions the boys in the tower or the ‘divorced, beheaded, died’ rhyme then you can’t go too far wrong reading Gregory. Her books are a really good way to learn about history from an entertainment perspective.
An expert at turning the tables
What’s remarkable throughout the whole series is how totally in favour you are of the woman you are reading about. There are many women in the Plantagenet/Tudor times, (Henry VIII alone provided 6 excluding children, sisters and mother), all with reasons to hate one another. Yet when you are reading about Elizabeth Woodville you are with her. When you read about her rival Margaret Beaufort you are totally for her. If Gregory has a favorite woman, you can’t tell from the books and she manages to take you with her despite positively hating the woman in the book before.
The series
You can read the books in the series in any order. There are no parts that allude to previous books, no ‘in’ jokes. But do read the whole series if you get the chance. You will not only get a deeper understanding of that period of history you will enjoy them more thinking, ‘but I hated you two books ago’. As for The King’s Curse I enjoyed it, I didn’t know Margaret’s fate beforehand and was surprised at the ending. What I found most powerful was the Author Note at the end of the book. Gregory doesn’t hold back describing Henry VIII as a serial killer, a wife and child abuser. It’s an interesting thought from an interesting book and well worth a read.
If you like history but want to steer away from the Tudors try the very good non fiction Bess of Hardwick. Be warned, you may need to a trip to Chatsworth House after reading it!
