About the book…

Mary, Elizabeth and Henrietta Anne, the daughters of King Charles I and his queen, Henrietta Maria, would be brought up against the background of the English Civil War. Mary would marry William, Prince of Orange, and be sent to live in the Netherlands. Elizabeth would remain in England under Parliamentary control. Henrietta Anne would escape to France and be the darling of the French Court. Yet none of the Stuart princesses would live to reach thirty. The Tragic Daughters of Charles I is their story.

My thoughts…

If the description for this book seems a little short, that’s probably because there isn’t a lot you can say about the daughers of Charles I.  None of them would live for long, and none of them would ever truly escape the political turmoil brough about by the execution of their father (and subsequent Republic under Oliver Cromwell). This doesn’t mean there lives weren’t interesting – they were – it’s just you get the feeling they could have been so much more hand history not played them such a rubbish hand.

I didn’t know much about the Stuart monarchy, and knew even less about Charles I, when I started reading this book, but now feel like I’ve had a great introduction to a truly chaotic era.  By focusing on Charles’ daughters, I don’t feel like I was overwhelmed with facts, figures and dates I won’t be able to remember, making it a great way to start learning  more about this period in my countries history.

This was aided by Sarah-Beth Watkins’ writing style, which I’m a big fan of.  She makes history easy to read and engaging and has a great way of bringing female characters to life, even when she obviously as limited material to work with (history was, after all written by men who thought women weren’t worth much more than to a good marriage).  I can’t recommend her books enough and woudl put this near the top of the list.

Emma

Note: I received a copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review.  All thoughts, feelings and opinions are my own.