If you do not know Philippa Gregory, she is a British author who writes primarily historical fiction, mostly set in the Tudor period.

You may recognise her as the author of The Other Boleyn Girl, but she has many other books. To go through them all would take forever, and since I've only read about four, we're not going to do that. Instead, I'm going to give you my brief thoughts on the main big issue.

THE CHARACTER PROBLEM

As I said in my review of another historical fiction author, Alison Weir, Gregory's characters leave a lot to be desired. And I mean a LOT.

*takes deep breath*

THESE CHARACTERS ARE SOME OF THE MOST HORRIBLE ARROGANT SELFISH STUPID SHALLOW VAGUE BADLY WRITTEN IDIOTIC MARY SUES AND GARY SUES I'VE EVER COME ACROSS.

These characters are paper thin. The main characters are all stupid and bland, with the most basic personality outlines. Nobody ever questions the morals of the society they live in, or if they do it is intensely obvious that it's a clumsy attempt at a feminist message, with very little meaning behind it. Nobody ever questions their religion or their monarchs. The thing that I found it most difficult to get my head around is that everyone is so focused on the throne of England. They really do not care about anything else.

After the track record of all these monarchs, it seems a bit ridiculous to me that not one person in all these families didn't ever just say "yo fuck the throne, it's more trouble than it's worth."

And like I said before, these were real people. But that doesn't mean you write them with their only personality being the bare historical information we have on them.

Exhibit A: The Red Queen

The main character who infuriated me most was Margaret Beaufort, protagonist of The Red Queen. Margaret did have a hard life, and I gathered that this book's portrayal was supposed to make the reader have sympathy for her, but it is VERY DIFFICULT TO HAVE SYMPATHY FOR A SELFISH, SELF ENTITLED AND ALMOST DOWNRIGHT EVIL WOMAN WHO THINKS SHE'S SOME KIND OF SAINT AND THAT EVERY BAD THING SHE DOES IS GOD'S WILL.

Not even joking. The book starts with Margaret as a child, and we're introduced to her as she prays. The young Margaret wants to be like Joan of Arc, and says she has "saint's knees" and is destined to be a nun. Unfortunately, as a woman in 15th century England, nobody cares what she wants and at twelve years old she is sent off to be the wife of a man twelve years older than her who dies shortly after their marriage, leaving a pregnant thirteen year old widow.

I would feel sorry for this book's version of Margaret if she wasn't such an absolute bitch. So upon the birth of her son Henry Tudor, Margaret takes it upon herself to get her son onto the throne of England in whatever way she can because "it's God's will." She then proceeds to do truly horrific things like arrange the murders of two young princes, backstab friends, provide false testimonies, and basically be the worst human being of all time, all while proclaiming her plans are approved by God.

YOU CAN'T DO SHITTY THINGS AND USE GOD AS A SCAPEGOAT.

At what fucking point are you so desperate to have your son be king and have the fancy title of the Queen Mother that you literally murder people to get there, and then are like "it's not my fault it's what God wants."

I wouldn't mind Margaret being such a bitch if she had gotten her comeuppance. But she never does. She gets what she wants, and never has to repent for her crimes or takes responsibility for what she's done.

Exhibit B: The Backing Characters

These people are just there. Hanging around in the background sometimes, sometimes saying things. Having no personality. Just occasionally backstabbing each other, being horrible human beings. I know people back then had all psychological issues and bad family relationships, but the odd bit of maternal/paternal tenderness or legitimate friendship would be nice.

Basic message: They sound interesting but the characters are bad, random shit is shoved in along the way, and they start to become boring around halfway through.