Friday 28 March 2008

Uneasy Lies The Head by Jean Plaidy

In the aftermath of the bloody Wars of the Roses, Henry Tudor has seized the English crown, finally uniting the warring Houses of York and Lancaster through his marriage to Elizabeth of York.

But whilst Henry VII rules wisely and justly, he is haunted by Elizabeth's missing brothers; the infamous two Princes, their fate in the Tower forever a shrouded secret. Then tragedy strikes at the heart of Henry's family, and it is against his own son that the widowed king must fight for a bride and his throne...

This was another interesting view for me for life with the Tudors, there was more here on Henry VIII's parents and life then something I have not really read a great deal on, most of my Tudor reading surrounds life from Henry VIII's rule, It was nice reading something different.

This is not the first Jean Plaidy book I have read but, this was the first from this particular Tudor series and also being book 1 in that series. Not only did this concentrate more on Henry's parents but, also on Henry's sisters, I think we know most of Arthur's story - and how tragically short that was - the only thing I think could have been done better was how quickly Ms Plaidy described what happened around Arthur's death one minute he was ill the next gone but, I wouldn't say it detracted from the story at all.

Another way of looking at Katherine of Aragon too - I can't say she is one of my favourite of Henry's wives but, I really felt for her here being sent to England to marry a future king must have been so daunting.

I found Henry's mother, Elizabeth of York a little bit of a walkover, she didn't seem to have any control over Henry VII, although he seemed quite a dominant figurehead. I would like to have seen more of Henry & Elizabeth's marriage written about as again this was, I wouldn't say skirted over but, maybe a little rushed.

This was a really good book and very easy to read. I have the whole of the Tudors series and the way its going I will be reading them all one after the other, I don't think I will ever tire of reading about the Tudors!

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