The King’s Curse, the latest book in the Cousins War series, follows Lady Margaret Poole, a Plantagenet descendant, during the reign of Tudor king Henry VIII. She is in danger solely because of her background as she and her relatives represent a threat to the Tudors since they were the royal family up until the conquest of England by the previous king Henry VII. But when Margaret becomes a lady in waiting to Katharine Of Aragon she and her family become prominent again at court. However after a short rise, they gradually fall afoul of the increasingly tyrannical and illogical Henry VIII. This is one book where I had a feeling of dread throughout my reading because I already knew Lady Margaret’s fate and her story does not end happily. But for those of you who enjoyed the other Cousins War books, as well as those who enjoy historical fiction, this book is an interesting companion to the others in the series.

The Red Queen is the second book in the Cousins War series (the first book being The White Queen about Elizabeth Woodville wife of King Edward IV) which is set in medieval England during the War of the Roses. I’ve always found this part of British history confusing since there are so many people with the same names (too many Richards and Henrys and Edwards and the crown goes back and forth between them like a football) so reading about them this way, as characters in a novel helps as it gives them distict personalities. The main character is Lady Margaret Beaumont, a Lancastrian descended from Edward III, whom we see grow up from a young girl convinced of her holiness, wanting to be just like Joan of Arc and enter a convent, to becoming the mother of Henry Tudor who later becomes King Henry the VII. Margaret is not a very likeable heroine, she’s always convinced that she’s right and that her way is the only way, she blames others for her problems, but she’s still interesting in how she schemes to put her son on the throne, even putting aside the love of her brother in law as that would not be best for her plan. The book ends with Margaret looking like she will get her wish as Henry Tudor and Richard III meet on Bosworth Field. Though we know how that battle will end from history books I look forward to seeing how it will play out in the next book in The Cousin’s War series which according to Wikipedia will be called The White Princess and will focus on Princess Elizabeth of York the daughter of Elizabeth Woodville and daughter-in- law of Margaret.