The Red Queen - Philippa Gregory

1453. Heiress to the red rose of Lancaster, Margaret Beaufort is a strikingly pious child. Saints’ knees her stigmata, she has a fierce and unwavering sense of destiny. If not a nun, then she’ll be Queen of England and sign her name Margaret Regina: Margaret R.

Still a girl, Margaret is sent to a loveless marriage in remote Wales. There, she gives birth to a son whom she names for the King, her cousin, Henry VI of England, fast sinking into madness. Determined to put her son on Englands throne, regardless of the overwhelming power of the York dynasty, she sends him into exile and pledges him in marriage to the daughter of her enemy Elizabeth Woodville.

Meanwhile, devoted in her belief that her House is the true ruler of England, Margaret feigns loyalty to the usurper King Richard Ill and masterminds one of the greatest rebellions of all time.