Reviews for Margaret of Anjou
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
In the second volume of his War of the Roses trilogy, Iggulden (Stormbird, 2014, etc.) follows beautiful young Queen Margaret as she defends the Lancaster realm against York rebels.Iggulden tells of blood flowing riverlike across "this earth, this realm, this England" in royal-upon-royal confrontations at St. Albans, at Ludlow, and finally in the fields outside Sandal Castle. Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, sparks the violence by sending warriors led by his son Thomas to strike a Salisbury wedding party. Percy, a supporter of the king, had grown weary of York ally Salisbury's incursions on his lands. Iggulden thereafter moves the action swiftly to the clash between mentally fragile and often stuporous King Henry VI, aided by loyalists Buckingham and Somerset, and York, Salisbury, and Warwick. "There will be no peace while York lives," says Margaret. But York only seeks "to strip the whisperers away from King Henry's side before his house was destroyed by them." From such disputes thousands die as battles clang with sword and axe. Iggulden deftly describes the keys to victories: Warwick's breakthrough at St. Albans; Trollope's betrayal at Ludlow; and Margaret's bartering for Scots allies to corner York and Salisbury at Sandal. Iggulden's fictional Derry the spymaster reflects Margaret's court activities, but other characters peek from history's mists to populate the narrative, like York's son, giant Edward of March, only 18 and carrying "a weight of muscle that made experienced warriors want to look at their feet in his presence." But it is the yowling, pain-riven, spine-twisted Richard, who York believes should have been put out "on a winter's night and let the cold take him," who foreshadows the bloodletting to come. Highly readable as a stand-alone novel, but those who loved Stormbird will be anticipating Iggulden's take on the mesmerizing Richard III. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
The compulsively readable and historically reliable Iggulden provides the second installment in his Wars of the Roses series. Following fast on the heels of Stormbird (2014), this novel picks up the twisted threads of the royal feud that sparked a myriad of historic battles, including those at St. Alban's, Ludlow, and Wakefield, which the author describes in appropriately bloody detail. As Margaret of Anjou plots and schemes behind the scenes to protect ailing husband Henry VI's tenuous grip on the throne, Richard, Duke of York, is ready to exert his own strong claim to the crown. With a cast of characters (except, notably, spymaster Derry Brewer) and a convoluted plot ripped straight from the pages of history, this retelling of a legendary dynastic struggle will appeal to the legions of historical fiction fans that have contributed to the popularity and fictional longevity of the Yorks and the Lancasters.--Flanagan, Margaret Copyright 2015 Booklist
Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
The second installment (after Stormbird) of this retelling of the 15th-century struggle for the English throne doesn't have the queen front and center, but she is behind everything that happens. Margaret plots to take the royal power back from the Duke of York, Henry VI's cousin and competitor for the Crown, as her husband lies abed, incapacitated by his mental illness. Covering just six years of the half century that saw four men and a boy become king on seven occasions, this is the tale of Henry's recovery and relapse, York's rises and falls, and the family feuds that colored each move by queen and duke. There is less derring-do from master spy Derry Brewer this time, but the politicking and conniving are worthy of a Washington potboiler. The battle scenes turn on the flick of a decision, adding to the excitement of this twisting chapter in English history. VERDICT Royal watchers, history buffs, and those who love their war tales will be marching alongside the author as he illuminates the ups and downs of royal control in that uncertain era. [See Prepub Alert, 1/25/15.]-W. Keith McCoy, Somerset Cty. Lib. Syst., Bridgewater, NJ © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
