Customer Reviews

The Red Queen

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Intending to write a "transcultural tragicomedy," Margaret Drabble announces that this novel will ask questions "about the nature of survival, and about the possibility of the existence of universal transcultural human characteristics." Using the real memoirs of 18th century Korean Crown Princess Hyegyong as the inspiration for her novel, Drabble creates her own version of these memoirs, placing them within the context of world history by relating them to what was happening in western civilization at the same time.

Chosen to be the bride of the Crown Prince when both are ten years old, the Princess abandons her family and marries the prince that year. We hear her adult voice relating the sad changes her husband undergoes after their marriage, as he becomes increasingly fearful and eventually insane, committing atrocities, including murder. "I failed my husband," she says, unable to stop his rampages. Describing her training to be queen, the birth of her children and their fates, and her experience in the claustrophobic court, she breathes life into her descriptions of her unusual existence. Though her observations are honest and fair, her language, not surprisingly, is elegant and formal. She keeps her distance, not really sharing her innermost thoughts and feelings.

In Part II, Babs Halliwell, a contemporary scholar in Oxford, leaves for Korea to deliver a paper at a conference on globalization. Drabble creates obvious parallels between the life of the Princess and that of Halliwell from the outset of Part II. As Halliwell boards the plane, she brings with her a copy of the Princess's memoirs, "sent to her anonymously, packaged in cardboard, through Amazon.com," which she reads in flight.

No reader will miss the parallels between the life of Halliwell and that of the Princess, who "has entered her, like an alien creature in a science-fiction movie." Halliwell's background, her tragedies, her own difficult marriage to a mentally ill husband, and her uncertainties about the future are clearly created to show parallels to the Princess's life. Drabble draws additional parallels between recent news events from around the world and events in the life of the Princess, in an effort to continue the connections across cultures and time.

Those who have studied other cultures may find Drabble's themes obvious and her deliberate parallels lacking in subtlety. She explains these parallels, rather than allowing the reader to discover them. The construction feels artificial, and Drabble's tone is sometimes coy. The diary of the Princess, however, is especially interesting for the light it casts on a way of life almost unknown to contemporary westerners, and for this the novel is both important and fascinating. (3.5 stars) Mary Whipple

"The Red Queen" is a tale of two women struggling for survival in a world dominated by insanity, death, and some degree of oppression. The first part of the book is narrated by the Red Queen herself, a Korean woman married to the Crown Prince as a child and forced to navigate a series of political and familial struggles which ultimately lead to the Prince's insanity and death. The second part turns to Babs, an academic who has also lost her husband to insanity and who seeks to not only escape her past but embrace and exploit her present. Babs reads the Red Queen's memoirs on the flight to a conference in Korea, and the sprit of the Red Queen haunts her throughout the trip.

"The Red Queen" is intelligent and, despite requiring some effort to read, engrossing. Drabble tells a wonderful story and both portions of the novel are imbued with intelligent characters, well-constructed language, and a quiet sense of humor. The first part of the story, narrated by the Red Queen, is particularly unusual and insightful.

The novel's failing is that its central conceit - that Babs and the Red Queen are in some way linked, or more particularly that their stories are linked - falls flat. Although I enjoyed each part of the book, I saw little in the way of parallels beyond the obvious, and the consequences of these were not apparent. The second part of the book thus lacked focus, and resorted to an unnecessarily trite ending.

I found this book on a list of 100 books to read before you die, found the plot captivating and was terribly disappointed. I found the first part of the book (about the red queen) interesting, although not well written. The second "modern" portion was dull and predictable. I found I had to force myself to finish it and was not satisfied when I did. Would not waste your time.

As someone who is fascinated by Korean history and culture, I couldn't wait to read this book . It sounded so interesting, and was in fact in the first half which recounted Price Sado's time in Korean history. Once the second half started, it became a total bore, and before long I had to put it down. I just couldn't read anymore. How can a writer go from a story of historical intrigue to never-ending rambling about a boring medical conference she's attending in Korea.

Don't bother.

Korean Crown Princess Hyegyong speaks from her 200-year-old grave to reveal the true story of her life. Born in 1735, she was pampered as a child to compensate for her destiny in the palace. Her parents suffered depression; the Crown Princess knew at an early age that play was pretend but sorrow was real. Her childhood ended early when her parents entered her into the selection ceremony as a royal bride. The mother of the Crown Prince, Lady Sonhui, favored her and so she was chosen.

The little girl was horrified on her long visits to the palace, where she was petted and fed strange foods, and painted with cosmetics. At home, palace servants attended to her and her parents deferred to her. She wanted to die. Sick with fear on her wedding day, she was married at age ten to Prince Sado, also ten, who called his wife his "little Red Queen" because of her prized red silk skirt. The married children played together, with dolls, kites, a toy horse, and the toy soldiers Sado loved. The marriage was consummated five years later.

The Princess's first son died. Her father-in-law, King Yongjo, was an odd man with many obsessions and insecurities who treated his son, Sado, harshly. He decreed that the couple's second son, Chongjo, was to be groomed to be king because Sado was becoming mentally unstable. As the young mother worried over her beloved son's fate, her husband became madder and madder. Prince Sado blamed his mania on his father's lack of love toward him; his actions were violent and terrifying. Complex court and family maneuvering and catastrophes shaped the Princess's remaining years.

After the princess narrates the balance of her tragic life, the story switches to modern-day England, focusing on Dr. Barbara Halliwell, who appears on the surface to be the opposite of the powerless princess. Babs is puzzled to receive a book of the Korean Crown Princess's memoirs anonymously. She reads the book during her flight to Seoul to attend a conference. As she reads, Babs is astounded at the number of connections and similarities to her own life. Along with other parallels, her own first husband went mad because of his relationship with his father, and her own first son died in infancy. Babs cannot stop thinking about the memoirs.

In Seoul, Babs escapes her conference to search out the places the Crown Princess experienced. Because of her fascination with the Korean princess's life, Babs experiences a significant chapter in her own life --- one that reverberates past her return to London and changes her future drastically.

The surreal yet extremely satisfactory ending includes a surprise appearance by Margaret Drabble herself. A short afterword reinforces the conclusion's mood of circularity and completion. THE RED QUEEN was a bit of a slow start for me (chalk it up to a few too many beach books over the summer), but I was soon ensnared by the haunting plot of this ambitious and unusual ghost story.

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (...)

I was pretty disappointed with this novel and started skimming about 25 pages in. Talk about random tangents and disconnected thoughts - Ms. Drabble hardly ever finishes a thought concisely. She jumps around all over the places, and you will have forgotten what she started talking about by the time she finishes. Nothing is described in enough detail, no emotion is fully developed and no character can truly be realized.

I have to say I found this book very disappointing. Like some other readers, I found this book in a list of the 100 Must Reads and thought the concept was intriguing. I really wanted to like it, and I did in the first part. I was anxious to see what happened, but at the end of that section, I wasn't satisfied. I didn't get enough of the story of their real life and the prince's death to make me CARE about it. And then nothing much happened after that to the princess. She just kind of kept going. And now she's a ghost. Although it was a sad and horrific tale, it wasn't told with passion.

The second half of the book was REALLY annoying. In the first part there had been just this broad sweeping story, not much detail at all. Now the author's making up for it by siting every possible little detail, thought, miniscule movement, or obsession. Why? I wasn't interested in Dr.Babs Halliwell, her dalliance with Jan, or her trips to Korean sites. Maybe I didn't remember them well enough from the first section to care. And then he DIES? So what's that all about? The only thing was to set up the implausible ending with the Chinese girl.

If the author's point was to tell the story of the prince's death, I think that's laudable, but it didn't compel me. The device of the two stories was clever, but I don't think it worked. Why this is in the 100 best books is a mystery to me.

Sent to me by a family member as a recommended good read, I barely think it qualifies for three stars. The first section, narrated by the dead queen's spirit, was culturally and historically interesting. The second section, marked by a dry, removed narrator left me cold...cold to a learned but never profound and totally unsympathetic Babs Halliwell.

I had this on my bookshelf for over four years before I finally decided to read it. As a Korean American who has taught some Korean history, I just wasn't in the mood to read yet more about Korea from a "Western" point of view. So I was pleasantly surprised to find how much the author got right about the history, and how much she could make me care about the ancient heroine.

However, as I was reading, I couldn't help but compare it to People of the Book: A Novel. I thought the structure of that book "worked": it started in the present and alternated with the past, each time going a little deeper. But this had all of the Crown Princess' story, then all of the modern professor's story. The Crown Princess was truly compelling- why would I want to leave her for the professor?

Because Drabble did an excellent job with her. It was slower going, but that's to be expected as the Princess spoke in the first person and the professor's story was told, from the "limited omniscient" (and let's leave it at that). She has more freedom from the princess, but she is, in her own way, just as lonely. Her choices made me cringe- sorry, being a concubine is even less attractive in the modern era than it was in the ancient- but in Drabble's hands I could understand why she made them.

Yes, some of the parallels were too obvious, but some were subtle and touching. I did not like the way the author inserted herself into the story- let's keep that fourth wall up, please- but it felt, in a way, as if she didn't want to let go of the characters and wanted to make sure she helped play as much of a part as she could. It's difficult to find too much fault for that.

Although much happens to both heroines, I believe the "scarlet thread" that goes through both stories is parenthood. We see how horribly wrong it can go, and we see the great lengths which parents will go to in order to protect their children and legacy. That, perhaps, is why this story IS so universal, however the author may have stumbled in certain places.

Worth reading.

This book is one of the recommended "Must Reads" in the "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die", and I must admit, I fail to see why.
The concept is simple but full of potential. Two stories, each of a strong woman fighting for survival in a man's world. One woman is a Queen, the other is a modern day working woman, and despite their differences- surprise!- they're actually a lot alike.
With a plot device this simple, and with the stories simply presented one after another with a short connecting "interlude" between them, the success of the novel depends on how well the author creates the characters-whether she is able to make us care enough about them on their own to further care about the similarities between the two; and while the writing is intelligent and focused, it just may be too intelligent and focused. The Queen's daily struggles never come to life; the modern woman's conflicts, which we should be able to relate to, seem foreign and distant. Drabble writes with such a detached voice that both characters, and the stories surrounding them, lie on the page like the dullest of documentaries.
It's an account of two struggling yet powerful woman retold without dialogue. The fire of their daily interactions is told from a distance. The reader never finds herself immersed in the action, feeling the sweat and intensity of the characters. From page one to the very end, it's as if we are observing the story from behind a one way mirror, unseen, separated, in a cold, cushioned room unaffected by the drama on the other side.
For a story about characters we are supposed to feel for, this is not a good thing.