The King's Curse

Taking place after the Tudor victory at Bosworth in 1485, Gregory's dramatic conclusion to the "Cousins' War" (The White Queen; The White Princess) series is narrated by Margaret Pole, a member of the defeated Plantagenet family. To remain in safety, Margaret marries beneath her station to a knight in service to Henry VII. Her cousin Elizabeth finds a way to get Margaret a position in the household of the Spanish Infanta, Katherine of Aragon. Margaret happily serves until Katherine and Arthur, Henry's heir, wed. When a fatal illness strikes Arthur, Katherine's position in the royal hierarchy becomes uncertain. And when her own husband dies, Margaret is forced into seclusion. When Katherine eventually marries Henry VIII after his father's death, she is able to bring Margaret back into her service. But fortune changes quickly yet again for the two friends, and they are challenged by a monarch who has turned against them.