Cousins' War #2
Simon & Schuster
August 2010
On Sale: August 3, 2010
Featuring: Henry Tudor (Henry VII); Margaret Beaufort; Thomas Stanley
448 pages ISBN: 1416563725 EAN: 9781416563723 Hardcover Add to Wish List
Heiress to the red rose of Lancaster, Margaret Beaufort
never surrenders her belief that her house is the true ruler
of England and that she has a great destiny before her. Her
ambitions are disappointed when her sainted cousin Henry VI
fails to recognize her as a kindred spirit, and she is even
more dismayed when he sinks into madness. Her mother mocks
her plans, revealing that Margaret will always be burdened
with the reputation of her father, one of the most famously
incompetent English commanders in France. But worst of all
for Margaret is when she discovers that her mother is
sending her to a loveless marriage in remote Wales.
Married to a man twice her age, quickly widowed, and
a mother at only fourteen, Margaret is determined to turn
her lonely life into a triumph. She sets her heart on
putting her son on the throne of England regardless of the
cost to herself, to England, and even to the little boy.
Disregarding rival heirs and the overwhelming power of the
York dynasty, she names him Henry, like the king; sends him
into exile; and pledges him in marriage to her enemy
Elizabeth of York’s daughter. As the political tides
constantly move and shift, Margaret charts her own way
through another loveless marriage, treacherous alliances,
and secret plots. She feigns loyalty to the usurper Richard
III and even carries his wife’s train at her coronation.
Widowed a second time, Margaret marries the ruthless,
deceitful Thomas, Lord Stanley, and her fate stands on the
knife edge of his will. Gambling her life that he will
support her, she then masterminds one of the greatest
rebellions of the time—all the while knowing that her son
has grown to manhood, recruited an army, and now waits for
his opportunity to win the greatest prize.
In a novel
of conspiracy, passion, and coldhearted ambition, number one
bestselling author Philippa Gregory has brought to life the
story of a proud and determined woman who believes that she
alone is destined, by her piety and lineage, to shape the
course of history.