King's Curse by Philippa Gregory - book review

Hey guys! As promised, in February I read the 7th book in the Plantagenet and Tudor novel book series by Philippa Gregory, so I owed you this review!!!


Every book can be read separately (they were not even published in chronological order) but since it's a historical fiction series I would recommend reading it in chronological order so that you get that book series feeling, and read all those historical facts in order, if that makes any sense!! Hahaha!!!

So, if you are familiar to this series, the author chooses a different heroine (for the first 7 books at least) for each book (usually a Queen) and follows her life and how the decision of men changed women's lives.

This book focuses on Margaret Pole, born Princess Margaret Plantagenet, daughter of Duke of Clarence and niece to both King Edward and King Richard, and aunt to princes Arthur and Henry. It is the first time that the main character is not a Queen! That was a first! And also I believe that you are really confused by what I wrote above so here is a family tree to help you understand! 

Margaret, was royal born as you see. Her brother, a York heir to the throne, was executed by Henry Tudor, and she was saved only because she was a woman and was lowly married to a man far beneath her.
She was always loyal to the Tudor King (Henry VII), cause she knew what awaited her in case her loyalty was doubted. And when his son Henry assessed the throne, everything seemed to get better. She was a close friend to the Queen, she got her lands and titles back and felt safe for once.

However, when Queen Katherine had not given a Tudor male heir, King Henry VIII believed there was a curse against him for marrying his dead brother's wife and wanted to divorce her. Someone had to object to this new 'mad' king and the responsibility fell to those with royal blood. Will Margaret defy the king and risk the safety she so hardly built all those years? I am sorry, but you have to read the book to find out!! I don't want to spoil you! 

I rated this book with 5 stars.

Some of my favorite quotes:

''I have a daughter, Ursula. I was allowed to call a mere girl whatever I wanted, so I named her for a saint who chose death rather than be married to a stranger and forced to take his name. I doubt that anyone has observed this small rebellion of mine; I certainly hope not.''

“Thomas More once told me: lion or king, never show fear or you are a dead man.” 

“Life is a risk, who knows this better than me? Who knows more surely that babies die easily, that children fall ill from the least cause, that royal blood is fatally weak, that death walks behind my family like a faithful black hound?” 

“If everyone in Christendom ate nothing but fish on Friday, then the fishermen and their children would eat well the rest of the week.”

“A single man’s imperfect conscience can never be superior to centuries of tradition.”

“But Elizabeth and I are accustomed to loss, we are Plantagenets—we dine on a diet of betrayal and heartbreak.” 

More links:
Books no1-no4 to the Plantagenet and Tudor Novels (The Lady of the Rivers, The White Queen, The Red Queen, The Kingmaker's Daughter)
Book no5: The White Princess
Book no6: The Constant Princess

Thank you all for reading!
Don't forget to join me this month as I am reading Three Sisters, Three Queens, the 8th book in the series!
See you soon!
xoxo Joan!