Review: Marguerite: Hell Hath No Fury! by Judith Arnopp

Marguerite: Queen of England

From the moment Henry VI’s new queen, Marguerite of Anjou, sets foot on English soil she is despised by the English as a foreigner, and blamed for the failures of the hundred years war in France.

Her enemies impede her role as the king’s consort and when Henry sinks into apparent madness, her bid to become regent is rejected. Marguerite must fight, not only for her own position but to maintain Henry’s possession of the crown.

The ambitious Duke, Richard of York, seizes control of the country, thrusting Marguerite aside and inflating the mutual hatred between the houses of York and Lancaster. But the queen refuses to relinquish power and fights determinedly for the rights of her son, Edward of Lancaster.

The long and bitter civil conflict, that has come to be known as the War of the Roses, commences.

My Review

After years of disliking Marguerite, I forced myself to look at the reign of Henry VI from her point of view. Judith is a trustworthy guide, and she shows us a young and innocent girl sacrificed to her family’s ambitions—as was usual for a nobly born daughter. She went to her marriage bed not knowing what to expect, and at first, King Henry seemed like a promising husband. But that didn’t last. His natural disinclination to a physical relationship was more than disappointing; it was downright dangerous:

It has been two years since I first went to Henry’s bed, and still there is no sign of a child. Each month I hope but every time those hopes are dashed. I feel responsible, as if I am doing something wrong. People are beginning to whisper that not only did I come to this marriage with no dowry but I am also failing to fulfil my most important role. The royal womb is as empty as the king’s coffer, they mock.

In these early years, her focus was on her own loneliness. No wonder she was susceptible to attentions from another man. At least she finally fell pregnant, never knowing whether the baby was Henry’s child or not. It didn’t really matter. He was the only heir and needed to be cherished. Once the war in France took a disastrous turn and King Henry fell into a stupor, Marguerite’s focus changed to preserving the throne for her son at any cost. Internal divisions and the Duke of York’s aspirations drove the country to civil war. Personal antagonism was inevitable, and we could see vindictiveness creep in to Marguerite’s behavior. That’s when we begin to see the queen we love to hate. But circumstances certainly explain her attitude. She was truly in a no-win situation. What a sad life!

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Meet Judith Arnopp

A lifelong history enthusiast and avid reader, Judith holds a BA in English/Creative writing and an MA in Medieval Studies. She lives on the coast of West Wales where she writes both fiction and non-fiction. She is best known for her novels set in the Medieval and Tudor period, focusing on the perspective of historical women but recently she has been writing from the perspective of Henry VIII himself.

Judith is also a founder member of a re-enactment group called The Fyne Companye of Cambria which is when she began to experiment with sewing historical garments. She now makes clothes and accessories both for the group and others. She is not a professionally trained sewer but through trial, error and determination has learned how to make authentic looking, if not strictly historically accurate clothing. Her non-fiction book, How to Dress like a Tudor was published by Pen and Sword in 2023.

Her novels include:

A Song of Sixpence: the story of Elizabeth of York
The Beaufort Chronicle: the life of Lady Margaret Beaufort (three book series)
A Matter of Conscience: Henry VIII, the Aragon Years (Book One of The Henrician Chronicle)
A Matter of Faith: Henry VIII, the Days of the Phoenix (Book Two of The Henrician chronicle)
A Matter of Time: Henry VIII, the Dying of the Light (Book Three, Coming soon)
The Kiss of the Concubine: a story of Anne Boleyn
The Winchester Goose: at the court of Henry VIII
Intractable Heart: the story of Katheryn Parr
Sisters of Arden: on the Pilgrimage of Grace
The Heretic Wind: the life of Mary Tudor, Queen of England
Peaceweaver
The Forest Dwellers
The Song of Heledd
Previously published under the pen name – J M Ruddock.
The Book of Thornhold
A Daughter of Warwick: the story of Anne Neville, Queen of Richard III