I guess my UK-trip inspired interest in history is still continuing because I just finished She-Wolves by Helen Castor. After the death of Edward VI, England faced the prospect of female rule, something they considered unnatural. But as Castor shows, that wasn’t the first time England was in the hands of women. Before the Mary and Elizabeth, there was Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitane, Isabella of France, and Mary of Anjou, four women who either came close to power or held it behind the scenes.

This book reminded me of Blood Sisters, a book by Sarah Gristwood on the women involved in the War of the Roses. In fact, Marguerite of Anjou (in this book Mary of Anjou) appears in both books. But where Blood Sisters could occasionally be confusing, since it covered multiple people in the same period of time, She-Wolves keeps everything clear as each woman has its own section.

Since the book talks about six women in total, you won’t get very detailed biographies. The story of each woman focuses on their rise to power and the mistakes they made which resulted in them losing it, with background information being given if necessary. The result is a tightly focused tale that has enough details to ground the story in the time period without bogging down the reader.

Aside from the women, there’s also quite a bit on Edward VI and Jane Grey. Edward gets a lot more attention since the first chapter takes us through his chapter and concerns about succession as well. At first, I was a bit puzzled because I expected to start reading about the women named in the blurb immediately, but at the end, I understood why – the roles of men and women were distinct, which meant that the ability of women to assume overt power or the throne was heavily threatened by the norms of that time. What was seen as desirable in a king was considered unnatural in a queen.

Overall, this was an eye-opening book. I didn’t really think about how unusual the reigns of Mary I and Elizabeth I were, so I gained a new appreciation of their strength through reading this. I also liked learning about the other, lesser-known, figures in English history and would definitely read biographies about them if I can find it. I’d definitely recommend this to fans of history or people interested in how men and women have been seen in English history.

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