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Monday, December 13, 2010

'Queen Hereafter' by Susan Fraser King (TLC Tour Stop)

Genre: Historical Fiction
About the book (from TLC) :

Queen Hereafter chronicles the life of Margaret of Scotland, a contemporary of the infamous Lady Macbeth, and a woman destined for sainthood.
Margaret, a young Saxon princess, is shipwrecked with her family on the coast of Scotland and forced to accept sanctuary from the recently widowed warrior-king Malcolm Canmore of Scotland.  Malcolm sees a political prize in Margaret, and promises to help her brother, the outlawed rebel Edgar of England, in return for his sister’s hand in marriage. When Malcolm brings a female bard, Eva, to court as a hostage to ensure good behavior of her kinswoman, his conniving enemy Lady Macbeth, Margaret, and Eva expect to resent one another.  Instead, they discover an unlikely bond as outcasts of a sort–Eva a wild Celtic spirit captive among her enemies, Margaret suppressing her passions as she endures increasing pressure as a queen and a mother of princes.



Why I wanted to read this book: I am very fond of historical fiction and once again I knew absolutely nothing about Queen Margaret of Scotland.
 
What worked for me:

  • Margaret found herself in a very bad situation. She felt her calling was to be nun and instead she finds herself as a pawn for her brother's desire to win back the throne of England. She was a very complex and unusual woman. I admired her piety, but at times I thought she went too far with her devotion to God and her prayers. If she were to be alive in present days I would consider her an anorexic. She ate very little and actually felt bad about the nourishment that she did intake. She felt the need to pray constantly and to pray for hours. She did however do many good deeds. She fed the hungry, clothed the poor, and educated the girls. She was a huge asset for King Malcolm and even though they were not a "love match" at the beginning, I truly feel that she loved Malcolm and he loved her.
  • I finally understood why Queens were often portrayed as cold-hearted towards their children. Margaret's mother advised her not to get too close to the babies as they most often died. Margaret finally found out that her own mother lost two children and she felt such an overwhelming amount of love and sympathy for her mother. But even though she knew her children could die at any time, she never put them second and amazingly enough she had eight children and all of them survived into adulthood!!!
  • I really enjoyed that the book took place in Scotland and it inspired me to look up some of the buildings that were talked about within the story.
  • Even though Eva was not a true character I absolutely loved the way the author wove her story into the plot. It worked and added another dimension to all of the characters. I especially enjoyed learning more about bards. I truly find them fascinating!
Recommend?  A resounding YES! If you are a fan of historical fiction you will enjoy this one and if you're interest includes learning about medieval queens then add this book to your list! Queen Margaret was canonised as a saint in 1250. I found her to be a remarkable and very interesting woman.

My Rating: 4/5


Thank you to TLC Book Tours. for sending me a review copy. I was not compensated for my review. My thoughts on this book were in no way influenced by the author or publicist. They are my personal reflections based solely on MY experience while reading this novel.

About Susan Fraser King

With graduate degrees in art and art history, former college lecturer SUSAN FRASER KING is the author of several bestselling novels praised for lyrical style and historical accuracy. Raised in upstate New York and a frequent visitor to Scotland, she lives in Maryland with her family.
For more info on Susan Fraser King, please visit her website.

 
Please visit the other tour stops HERE.

© 2010, Staci of Life in the Thumb. All Rights Reserved. If you reading this on a site other than, Life in the Thumb or Staci's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
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20 comments:

  1. Staci, this sounds like such a good book about a truly remarkable woman. Great review!

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  2. Definitely sounds like something I would enjoy. Great review!

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  3. That is sad that the children often died. You did a great review on this. Historical fiction isn't really my thing, but it does sound very interesting though!

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  4. This sounds really good Staci! :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

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  5. I do not know much of Mary Queen of Scots history either, but this sounds like a great book to find out more about her. I love historical fiction that introduces a fictional character into the mix and Eva sounds like a great character too. Lovely review.

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  6. I know nothing about Queen Margaret. I don't read a lot of historical fiction and have avoided all of the "Queen" books for some unknown reason but really do think I should try one.

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  7. Sounds pretty interesting. I'm sure glad I wasn't alive then! :--)

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  8. I do wanna read this book. For some reason I always liked her son, David, dunno why

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  9. Historical fiction and Scotland! It's definitely going on my TBR list.

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  10. Fantastic review!! I do enjoy fiction from this era but I'm also glad I didn't live back then! lol Sounds like a fascinating read!

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  11. Great review Staci. This was another one I wanted to read that I missed out on. It does sound fantastic and I'm glad you liked it.

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  12. I got all caught up in your review so I imagine the book would grab me too.

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  13. I'm so excited you liked it - I scrolled to the bottom of your review hoping for a 4/5 or 5/5! Now I will go back and read your review (this tells you how excited I was). :)

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  14. I'm still not sure how I feel about historical fiction....it seems to be hit or really big miss with me. I may give this one a go though. Thanks for the review.

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  15. this sounds as good as The Forever Queen.

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  16. Historical fiction isn't something I read a lot of, but this one does look good. I am always curious about historical women so this one may work for me.

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  17. Very interesting! I also know nothing of this woman so I enjoy reading books that teach me about someone. Thansk Staci :)

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  18. This isn't the type of book that I would normally be drawn to but your review makes me curious.

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  19. Really enjoyed your review Staci, Queen Hereafter is going on my wishlist. I love historical fiction and Scottish history is a fave!

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  20. I want to read more historical fiction this year so I am adding this one to my list. Thanks for the recommendation.

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