The Tudor Rose by Margaret Campbell Barnes
It is the hot new trend in historical fiction: The War of the Roses. The Tudors are so passe. Oh, except Margaret Campbell Barnes blends the two by writing about Elizabeth of York: daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, niece of Richard III, sister of the Princes in the Tower, wife of Henry Tudor/Henry VII, mother of Henry VIII. Oh, and also Margaret Campbell Barnes wrote it over 50 years ago. Sourcebooks is releasing this one just at the right time, though, right when interest is high.
I actually think Elizabeth is a really great historical personage to focus on, because she helps us understand the transition between the Plantagenets and the Tudors. She basically connects a whole mess of interesting historical characters. Luckily, she’s fairly interesting herself – at least as Barnes writes her. This Elizabeth was not nearly so wishy-washy as many other authors draw her. With such strong figures for parents, it seems reasonable to me that Elizabeth would have inherited at least a bit of backbone. I found her strong, but not unbelievably so for a woman of her time period.
As with all books set in this place and time, I was especially interested to see how Barnes would treat the question of the Princes in the Tower and Perkin Warbeck. I really liked her answer for Perkin Warbeck. My idea of what happened to the princes has been forever tainted by Sharon Kay Penman so I didn’t totally buy Barnes’ answer for that, but she wrote it plausibly.
Except for a few turns of phrase, “The Tudor Rose” has held up very well over the past 50 years. If you’re looking for a War of the Roses fix, this is a solid, well-told, enjoyable read.
Buy this book from:
Powells.
A local independent bookstore via Indiebound.
Amazon.
I have this one up after the book I’m just starting. I’m glad to hear that it’s pretty good!
.-= Meghan´s last blog ..Review: Burnt Shadows, Kamila Shamsie =-.
I think I’d enjoy this one. I’m going to add it to my list.
another one goes on the list!
I’m late to the game! I haven’t even started reading about the Tudors and now I need to switch to the War of the Roses.
The good thing about that is you can do WotR THEN the Tudors and go in chronological order!
I would think that HenryVIII would have to have an interesting mother. I’ve been watching The Tudors on DVD and now have been wanting to read some HF about that period.
Another addition to my wish list. I don’t have this one yet.
I read this book a long, long time ago – in my youth (ha..ha)
I you need any background of how the war of the Roses actually started, try Katherine by Anya Seton It was great!
Definitely adding this to my wish list. I adore historical fiction.
Now that I’ve finished my review of Her Fearful Symmetry (so darn hard!), this is my next review. You did a great job with this one. I haven’t read Penman, so I’m really curious now about how she handled the Princes.
.-= Literate Housewife´s last blog ..#201 ~ Her Fearful Symmetry =-.
Thanks for this review – I’ll definitely pick this one up!
.-= S. Krishna´s last blog ..Ice Land – Betsy Tobin =-.
I’m completely loving all of the re-releases of classic historical fiction in the last few years (thinking of the Jean Plaidy releases here). This is definitely something I’ll add to my list of books to look out for!
.-= b*babbler´s last blog ..Book review: The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor by Sally Armstrong =-.
Thanks for the great review! You touched on everything we’d absolutely want to know before checking out this book!
I’ve been wanting to read this! Great review
.-= Martina´s last blog ..Booking Through Thursday =-.
I read this book 25 years ago and it got me hooked on history. I’ve long since lost my copy and will be buying the new publication, I hope it’s as good as my memory of it, and it sounds so from your description. Thanks
I first read this book as a teenager in the 1950s. I don’t remember much about the book except that I became very interested in English history of this era, and read 2 or 3 books about the wives of Henry VIII, and developed a reading interest in English HF that still exists today.
I might be the only one who *isn’t* over the Tudor craze…but I would also appreciate learning more about the Platagenets. I prefer reading about English history through the eyes of female protagonists — so this one sounds perfect of me. Thanks for the suggestion!
I vaguely remember reading this long ago when I became interested in historical fiction. I now want to read it again & am glad it was re-released.
Thanks for the great review!