Princess Margaret Tudor is just a child when she is wed to King James IV of Scotland, but she has been entrusted with a mission from her father.

"The peace of kingdoms depends on you," he tells her when she is ten years old.

It is a message she keeps close to her heart throughout D.L. Bogdan's THE FORGOTTEN QUEEN.

Margaret is just 13 years old when she travels to Scotland to marry the much older King James, and she is still a young woman when he is killed in battle, leaving her to protect their infant son and lead the country. This fictional memoir recalls the most powerful and emotional points of Margaret's life, when she is torn between being a daughter of England, a queen of Scotland, and a woman who just wants to be loved.

Author and historian Bogdan infuses the book with the color of the time, helping us understand the delicate political machinations between Scotland, England, France and Rome. THE FORGOTTEN QUEEN is an entertaining and enlightening story about a woman who is at once strong and weak as she tries to hold her own against those who would manipulate her and her son. It also gives us some insight into the childhood events that shaped the lives and rules of James IV and James V.

The book doesn't shy away from Margaret's sexual relationships with her husbands, but the scenes are not graphic, and I believe the book is appropriate for teenagers.

Fans of "The Tudors" television series may be surprised by this portrayal of Margaret. The series never talked about Henry VIII's older sister, and the writers gave her name to his much younger sister. Little Mary is the one who grew up to marry first a foreign king and then Henry's good friend Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.

I enjoyed reading THE FORGOTTEN QUEEN and would recommend it to anyone interested in the Tudor family or Scottish history.