It introduces the idea that England would for the first time have a queen, but then gave the event context by going back to the biographies of the four previous female rulers. She-Wolves is a very engaging piece of nonfiction which chronicles the lives of four English queens: Empress Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, and Margaret of Anjou.The book was framed around the year 1553 when King Edward VI died and all potential heirs was female. Revealed in vivid detail, the stories of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, Margaret of Anjou, and the Empress Matilda expose the paradox that England’s next female leaders would confront as the Tudor throne lay before them-man ruled woman, but these women sought to rule a nation. But over the centuries, other exceptional women had struggled to push the boundaries of their authority and influence-and been vilified as “she-wolves” for their ambitions. The question was: Who?įour women stood upon the crest of history: Katherine of Aragon’s daughter, Mary Anne Boleyn’s daughter, Elizabeth Mary, Queen of Scots and Lady Jane Grey. With the death of Edward VI in 1553, England, for the first time, would have a reigning queen.

In the tradition of Antonia Fraser, David Starkey, and Alison Weir, prize-winning historian Helen Castor delivers a compelling, eye-opening examination of women and power in England, witnessed through the lives of six women who exercised power against all odds-and one who never got the chance.

“Helen Castor has an exhilarating narrative gift. . . . Readers will love this book, finding it wholly absorbing and rewarding.” -Hilary Mantel, Booker Prize-winning author of Wolf Hall

She-Wolves by Helen Castor