Peruse The Tragic Daughters Of Charles I: Mary, Elizabeth Henrietta Anne Expressed By Sarah-Beth Watkins In Physical Edition

are supposed to have bright futures of glittering balls, grand marriages, and dreams of ruling a country as queen one day.
They are not supposed to be moving from place to place, worried about their family, and whether or not their

The three daughters of Charles I led sad and short lives.
None of them lived long, and each of them faced different challenges in their lives, From their father being beheaded while they were young, to the struggle of their brother to gain the throne of England, these princesses led very different lives from some of their counterparts.
Instead of having grand matches and large doweries, they were living on the generosity of others,

This book was amazing! I can't give it all away, you are going to have to read this one yourself.
The sad and short lives of these princesses still evoke sympathy for their short and dramatic lives, Add this to your to read shelf now! The period of the English Civil War has not historically been an area of reading interest to me however, a number of fiction and nonfiction books have crossed my path over the last couple of years and my interest has been piqued.
I will preface that statement by saying I was not unfamiliar with the historical aspects,

It is against this backdrop that SarahBeth Watkins, rather than focusing on the more famous sons, introduces us to Charles I's three eldest surviving daughters Mary, Elizabeth, and Henrietta Anne.
There were two other daughters, Anne, though she did not survive childhood toddlerhood, and baby Catherine bampd,.

Watkins presents the lives of these young women in accordance with the chronology of Charles I, We are treated to a family history before we start with the elder of the daughters, Mary Stuart, and then each successive daughter, their lives intertwining, not only with each other, but also with their brothers and mother.


I have not in the past actively sought out books on any of the offspring of Charles I, though Watkins' book does collate the biographical information of the surviving daughters into one.
Whilst I would have preferred each daughter to have her own dedicated chapter or chapters, combining them does cut down on the repetition of information, and the use of time markers as chapter headings does given us an idea of where they are placed in the chronology of both their father Charles I and their brother Charles II's reigns.


What I enjoyed, and what readers will enjoy, are the final chapters which sums up the genealogical legacy of Mary and Henriette Anne.


Full review here sitelinkMelisende's Library This is classic SarahBeth Watkins: short and enthusiastic, I dive right in whenever she publishes a new book, as I know it will be good, Don't let the size put you off, though, it's still full of information, It's perfect for an introduction to the topic or for those who want to read history but are daunted by bigger and/or more scholarly works.
What I find great about Watkins' books is that she makes reading history enjoyable and accessible, Watkins' books are definitely not boring,

I only had two issues with this book, The first is that Watkins sometimes makes a claim, but doesn't give a source for it, Having studied history for several years, I'm used to seeing sources as evidence for claims, and it always makes me a bit dubious when there is no source.
This might not bother everyone, though,
My second issue is the use of primary sources, Now, the use of primary sources is a great tool for evidence and authenticity, but it needs to be used sparingly.
Some of the passages quoted by Watkins are way too long in my opinion and made me lose the thread of what I was reading.
I think some of them needed to either be cut short or used in full in an appendix,
Although the title says The Tragic Daughters of Charles I, Henrietta Anne gets the most space in the book.
It might be caused by the fact there is more information known about her than about her sisters, I didn't really bother me, but I did notice it,

Disclaimer I received a free digital copy courtesy of Chronos Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Book: The Tragic Daughters of Charles I: Mary, Elizabeth, and Henrietta Anne
Author: SarahBeth Watkins
Rating:Out ofStars

I would like to thank the author SarahBeth Watkins and the publisher, Chronos Books, for sending me this ARC.
I promise I will have the other review to you as soon as I can,

So, I have read a number of Sarahs books over the past couple of months and I must say that I really do enjoy them.
I like how she able to fit an entire story into such a small book, Most of her books are underpages, which is nice if you are looking for a short weekend read, I know short history books make some people a little bit nervous, but dont let that get to you, What Sarah does here, as in the cases of her other books, is that she makes each and every word matter.
You dont get that stuff that really doesnt add to the story that she is telling, Everything flows and everything fits she also does an amazing job with setting the scene and making sure that reader knows just enough to understand what is going on.


This focuses on the daughters of Charles I, Yes, the same Charles I who was kind of executed during the English Civil War, Now, a lot of people are probably expecting there to be a lot of information in this book on the English Civil War.
Im here to tell you thats theres not, This book is on just as the title says: the daughters of Charles I, Now, I knew about Mary, but I didnt know about the other daughters, It was kind of interesting to read about them and their lives, Yes, they all had their happy moments, but for the most part, they really didnt, It really is just amazing how hard life was back in thes, It really makes me glad about all of the technology that we have now,

I know a lot of you are probably thinking: how can their story be told in such a short book Well, its all there and its all told in a very well written manner.
Again, there was a lot going on in this time period, but Sarah just focuses on the daughters, Its a good change to focus on them, Like I said, I knew about Mary, but not the others, Its just almost like main stream history has shoved them to the side and nearly forgotten them, which happens a lot to historical women.


So overall, a very well written book, Its short, but to the point, This book will be released on April,,
I love history, but reading about history is often more of a chore than a pleasure, History can't be changed, the outcome is set, and, depending on how old the history is, history isn't surprising, Or is it What the best history books do, in my opinion, is show us the humanity behind the shadowy figures of history.
And The Tragic Daughters of Charles I does just that, Thanks to John Hunt Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


One of the things that fascinated me about The Tragic Daughters of Charles I was the sheer amount of letters that SarahBeth Watkins showed and quoted in her novels.
History can become dry very quickly when it is recounted coldly and impersonally, By quoting the princesses' letters to their brother Charles and others, we as the readers get a real sense of who they might have been, what their internal, emotional lives look like.
For me personally, I loved seeing how smart these women were in how they handled the fraught times in which they lived.
Both Mary and HenriettaAnne were crucial in their brother's attempts to bring Britain back after its Civil War, juggling their responsibilities to their old and new homes.
Mary consistently used her power to provide her brother with money and ships, while HenriettaAnne used her considerable

influence in the French Court to barter for peace.
Reading the words these women wrote brings them to life in a way no amount of details and facts could.


The Tragic Daughters of Charles I focuses on Mary, Elizabethand HenriettaAnne, There were two other daughters, yet neither survived childhood, Sadly none of Charles' daughters made it to thirty, Although I lived in the UK for a good few years, a lot of British royal history is actually a bit of a mystery to me, especially its Civil War.
Much of Britain's history is contextualized in The Tragic Daughters which definitely helped me, SarahBeth Waters starts her book with the execution of Charles I as a defining moment in all of his children's lives, before backtracking a few years to describe each child's birth and first few years.
Although his daughters are the main focus of the novel, his sons also play key roles, Perhaps the fewest pages are dedicated to Elizabeth, who spends most of her short life under control of Parliament and far away from her family.
Mary, Charles I's oldest daughter, takes up the central part of the book, as Watkins describes her move to the Netherlands and her troubles as she tries to fit in.
Although both Protestant countries, the Dutch monarchy is very different from the British monarchy, and Watkins describes Mary trying to find an even ground between helping her brother's attempts to regain his crown and settling into her new country.
The final part of the book looks at HenriettaAnne, who was smuggled out of Britain at ageby her nurse while dressed as a little boy.
Rejoining her mother in France, she becomes an elemental part of the French Court of the Sun King, She is perhaps the most fascinating of the daughters, simply because she becomes crucial to the peace efforts between Britain and France.


SarahBeth Watkins infuses her historical protagonists with a lot of life, Whether it is the sibling love shared between them or their own separate trials and tribulations, they feel like real people.
I think many of us still hold on to the idea of the princess as being mainly a bartering good for kings, whose sole goal is to provide heirs and then retire to convents when they become inconvenient.
Watkins doesn't shy away from these truths, showing the unhappiness many of the princesses felt at being displaced and removed from their homes and families.
She also shows how erudite, sharp and powerful these women could be, however, and how much the course of history relies on their behindthescenes work.
In the end what Watkins really describes is a family torn apart by political strife, scattered across Northern Europe, but united by a common goal.
The Tragic Daughters also drives home just how close and connected European countries are, just how entwined their histories really are.
In the time of Brexit this is a very important message to bring back,

Although I went into The Tragic Daughters of Charles I not knowing who these women were, I came out of it feeling strangely connected to them.
Watkins brings these women to life without burdening the reader with too much extraneous detail, Anyone interested in British history and women in history should absolutely pick up this book!,