Three Sisters, Three Queens

The emotion and the struggles of these royal women are so real, even in our modern times. We compare ourselves and enjoy the fall of others then live in the regret afterwards. As always, Gregory has such beautiful writing that makes you feel like you're part of the court witnessing history firsthand.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, because I think in the first time in so very long I've seen character arcs that truly held me captive. I loathed Margaret and her jealous and her meanness towards her sisters but, I couldn't help but be drawn to her strength and resilience when crucial events in her life served her. So many of the characters in this novel were like this and though this was a more challenging book to read because I personally was attached to each, I came out with a tremendous respect or not for what each person achieved by using their character. This was a masterful piece written by Ms. Gregory. I thoroughly enjoy her novels.

Consider this a 3.5 review, rather than 4. The insights into Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland (who will eventually be grandmother to Mary, Queen of Scots, and great grandmother--on both sides--to James VI of Scotland and James I of England) were fascinating! I'm so grateful to Gregory for capturing these stories and telling us about the women who made history happen. Two things lessened my enjoyment, and the main one was Margaret herself. She is not a very likeable narrator. Her selfishness and one-upmanship with her sister-in-law Katherine of Aragon, and her younger sister Mary, were exhaustingly annoying. This particularly saddened me, because of what an apparently gentle and loving mother she had in Elizabeth of York. Her husband, King James V of Scotland, seemed especially kind and patient in light of Margaret's continual focus on how much more or less she had than her sisters. Once she began to truly focus on her adopted country of Scotland, later in the book, she became more likeable, but even then, she made some truly foolish decisions based on her self-centered values. My other issue was that, despite the title, this really is Margaret's story. She spends a great deal of time wanting to be better and wealthier and more loved than Katherine and Mary. But their stories are given to us mostly through brief encounters and their letters to her. I had hoped to get more of Mary's romance with Charles Brandon, but Mary's letters are so very materialistic (amusingly so) that we really don't get to appreciate it. Margaret's narration makes some effort to link the theme back to the book's title, to note that her relationship with her "sisters" is far more important in her life than her relationship to her brother Henry VIII or her Scottish king(s). But because it's not an especially loving relationship, and they see each other so rarely, the title strikes me as misleading. Still, it was a enjoyable read. I did not mind what others are calling the lack of an ending -- unless the book ends with the character dying, there will be some dangling threads (and even then!) Do not expect to love Margaret, and hopefully you will enjoy the book too.

Philippa Gregory puts the reader right in the middle of the lives of the rich and famous, even when it's over five hundred years ago. She makes historical figures come alive, giving them believable personalities, putting words in their mouths. We can watch a movie about historical figures accepting an actors interpretation without comment, yet when it is put in writing we somehow expect the author to know exactly what they were thinking. Gregory has created viable personalities for the famous women dotting the English monarchy and aristocracy. She does it with insight, making them feel like flesh and blood, rather than flat, boring characters. Margaret Tudor is no exception. She is haughty, conceited, jealous and quite full of herself. She was entitled, indulged,and spoiled. Not surprising when you read about her brother's personality in all the history books. I enjoyed this book. Gregory breaths life into the Tudor court, giving believable personalities to the players. Margaret Tudor was sent into Scotland as a child. She ended up being the ancestor of the current ruling dynasty, and it seems that most of the attention landed upon her grandson James Stewart, nieces, brother, and even her sister eclipsing both Margaret and her husband. Little Jane Grey, the nine day queen even gets more press. There is not much known about Margaret and the spotlight shining on the Tudor court seemed rarely to catch her. I think Gregory brings her into the warmth of that spotlight with an understanding of what a teenager might be feeling when left out in the cold.

I have mixed feelings about this work of Philippe Gregory. Usually I rave about her books, which I have loved in the past. She has a gift for making the characters of medieval Europe come to life as we get to know them up close and personal. The title of this book is misleading. There is only one sister that we come to know, Margaret Queen of Scotland. The other two, Katherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII, and Mary, the youngest sister of Henry and Margaret, are present only in letters written to Margaret as she proceeds through her troubled life.Margaret is a narcissistic spoiled brat who is constantly comparing her status to that of her two sisters and coming up short. Her belief that she is entitled to be the fairest, richest, and most powerful is obsessive and makes her an unlikeable heroine but not quite a villain.The book is tiresomely long. Even though Margaret's life runs through an endless cycle of ups and downs,it could have been told in fewer pages. Her alternating whining when down and bragging when up makes you want to rush to the end.However, I do recommend the book as an example of how a historical figure about whom little is known can be portrayed whole by a masterful writer.

As an avid reader of Gregory, I was disappointed in Three Sisters. It is pretty disjointed, repeats a number of its scenes and reuses a great deal of material from previous books she has written. It also lacks an ending. I was shocked find myself suddenly in the Authors Notes section. It's also overlong, a factor of the repetition.

.... author keeps that bit quiet. Ho. And that's the problem with it. Boy, is it repetitive. It goes on and on and on and - you know where it goes. Yes. On. There's clearly a whole lot of history in here, so it was interesting to read that. Getting married before you hit your teens and having no internet to fiddle about on sure meant those mediaeval types kept busy - having endless endless babies, forever fighting. The one-note characterisation dragged terribly and I did hesitate (the power!) over giving it a 2.

The title of this novel is a bit of a misnomer. This is not really a book about three Queens (Margaret and Mart Tudor and Katherine of Aragon). It is a novel about Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII, who married James IV of Scotland. It is true that a lot of the novel is about her feelings (mainly envy) towards her sister and sister-in-law but Mary and Katherine are very much bit players in this story. To be honest I didn't like either Tudor sister as portrayed by Ms Gregory. Mary is portrayed as a rather silly airhead without much brain whilst Margaret is the uber-arrogant and self-obsessed sister. Would Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland, really gone around telling everyone she was the "first Tudor princess" etc. The novel is very repetitive with so much of it devoted to Margaret's obsession with her status and jealousy of Mary and Katherine. It is very readable and it is good to see Margaret Tudor emerge from the shadows of her much more famous younger brother. But this was not quite the novel I expected or hoped it would be.

What I love about Philippa Gregory's books is the way she puts you right there in the minds of these historical characters. Right down to the nitty-gritty, and I don't just mean all the breeding that went on in those days. Imagine being Princess Margaret Tudor, going to meet your husband who you didn't even meet on your wedding day, then getting seven little surprises! Interestingly, in the author's notes, Margaret Tudor had been portrayed with some hostility by history, however, put a young woman, a young Tudor woman (with all those genes) in that situation and it's no wonder she became a corset wearing megalomaniac. The word count of the book was what I expected for a historical fiction novel, very enjoyable.

Another Tudor triumph from Philippa Gregory, and better than some of her earlier offerings (I'm thinking of 'The Other Queen'). We all know the story of how Catherine of Aragon saved England from the marauding Scots while Henry VIII was fighting in France, and how Catherine sent Henry part of the King of Scotland's bloodied coat as a trophy; but I had never really thought too much about how the death of its king affected Scotland, its history, or his widow Margaret (who also happened to be Henry VIII's sister). This book is based heavily on Margaret, whom Henry treated incredibly badly - just as he did most of his womenfolk. Margaret is an incredible character who has been mostly ignored by the historical novelists, so it's good that she has been draw here so strongly. This novel also reminds us that the young Katherine of Aragon was not submissive - instead she was truly the daughter of the Warrior Queen, Isabella - not the set-aside wife and sad figure she became with age.