Heiress to the red rose of Lancaster, Margaret Beaufort never
surrenders her belief that her house is the true ruler of England
and that she has a great destiny before her. Her ambitions are
disappointed when her sainted cousin Henry VI fails to recognize
her as a kindred spirit, and she is even more dismayed when he
sinks into madness. Her mother mocks her plans, revealing that
Margaret will always be burdened with the reputation of her father,
one of the most famously incompetent English commanders in France.
But worst of all for Margaret is when she discovers that her mother
is sending her to a loveless marriage in remote Wales.
Married to a man twice her age, quickly widowed, and a mother at
only fourteen, Margaret is determined to turn her lonely life into
a triumph. She sets her heart on putting her son on the throne of
England regardless of the cost to herself, to England, and even to
the little boy. Disregarding rival heirs and the overwhelming power
of the York dynasty, she names him Henry, like the king; sends him
into exile; and pledges him in marriage to her enemy Elizabeth of
York's daughter. As the political tides constantly move and shift,
Margaret charts her own way through another loveless marriage,
treacherous alliances, and secret plots. She feigns loyalty to the
usurper Richard III and even carries his wife's train at her
coronation.
Widowed a second time, Margaret marries the ruthless, deceitful
Thomas, Lord Stanley, and her fate stands on the knife edge of his
will. Gambling her life that he will support her, she then
masterminds one of the greatest rebellions of the time-all the
while knowing that her son has grown to manhood, recruited an army,
and now waits for his opportunity to win the greatest prize.
In a novel of conspiracy, passion, and coldhearted ambition,
number one bestselling author Philippa Gregory has brought to life
the story of a proud and determined woman who believes that she
alone is destined, by her piety and lineage, to shape the course of
history.
