Mary, Queen of France: The Story of the Youngest Sister of Henry VIII

I loved Plaidy's book about Margaret (The Thistle and the Rose) and was excited to read this book about Henry's younger sister. I was not disappointed. I loved the politics of royal marriage and I was so happy when she was able to marry Charles Brandon. It was a great story about Mary's journey to find love while being a princess and a pawn of her brother. I highly recommend it! I am so glad that I got to learn about her. (It is hard to find other novels about Henry's sisters.)

This is the second book by Jean Plaidy I've recently read; and it far surpassed "The Thistle and the Rose" though I enjoyed that book as well. I guess it's the subject matter that I found more interesting. Mary, the younger sister of King Henry VIII, was exuberant and determined and deeply in love. The story follows her through they typical political betrothal, an eventual wedding to a sick old man and the turmoil of her brother's court...all while she single-mindedly seeks only to love one man. I hung on every word, hoping for her happiness and admiring her for how bravely she faced her brother during his decent into apparent power-crazed madness. As the book closed, I could only imagine what great things history would have recorded of the Tudor court had Mary been the Queen of England and not simply a secondary figure in King Henry VIII's court.

Mary Rose Tudor had a life story that makes for a terrific read. I was so glad to see this classic back in print, and I've always been surprised that more recent historical novelists haven't written more about her. Mary, Queen of France begins with Henry VIII sending his beautiful younger sister--who is only 15 years old--off to France to marry an elderly king old enough to be her grandfather. Mary tries just about everything to avoid going, since she is in love with an English duke, Charles Brandon. But ultimately, they know it would be too dangerous to defy Henry, so Mary is forced to go. Fortunately, the old king dies after only a couple years of marriage and Mary is able to return to England and secretly marry Charles Brandon, which is still risky because she needs Henry's permission to marry him. They do live happily ever after, and Mary wins her way back into Henry's favor (he was a lot nicer to his sister than he was to his wives). Mary's granddaughter was Lady Jane Grey, and I'm hoping that this publisher will reissue one of the novels about her next.

Mary Rose Tudor is one of the great romantic figures of the Tudor family who is overshadowed by her brother Henry VIII and his many wives. Jean Plaidy--a fantastic novelist who's finally back in print thanks to Three Rivers Press--tells the story of a beautiful princess who was celebrated throughout Europe, but died too young. Mary was doted on by her older brother, Henry VIII, but she was sent off to be married for dynastic purposes to the elderly, toothless French king Louis. She hated her husband, but loved the gorgeous, cultured French court. Fortunately, Louis did not live long, and Mary schemed to marry her true love, Charles Brandon. She and Brandon knew that Henry would never approve of their love match--Mary was too valuable a pawn in the marriage market. So they eloped--a disobediant and reckless move that could have resulted in their execution. Yet Henry was surprisingly soft-hearted towards Mary, and he eventually made peace with the match and was pleased to have his beloved sister home again.Unfortunately, true love escaped Mary. She and Brandon had children, but she died tragically young, which broke her older brother's heart. His daughter, Mary I, was named in honor of her aunt, Mary Rose, Queen of France. I was delighted to see this book back in print, because it has been nearly impossible to find in used book stores, and it's one of the few good books that tells the story of Princess Mary. I wholeheartedly recommend it to all fans of Tudor lore, and to any historical fiction reader who wants to learn about a less well-known, but fascinating woman of history.

I have been dying to read this book for years, so you can imagine my delight when I discovered that it was to be republished!Mary Tudor grew up knowing that she was to marry for state reasons, so it made no difference to her who it was. That all changed when she fell in love with Charles Brandon, her brother, Henry VIII's best friend. As she expected, she was forced to marry someone else. To cheer her up, her brother told her that if she became a widow, he would let her marry anyone she wanted. She then went to France and became the Queen, but that didn't last for long. After the death of her husband, she married Charles Brandon, and started her life.Since I was longing for this book for so long, I think I was a little let down with it. It was still an amazingly good read. I especially liked the information about the early life of Francois Premier and Mary's life after her marriage to Charles Brandon.