Mary, the red queen's daughter

Mary, the orphaned daughter of former Queen Katherine, the last wife of King Henry VIII, and Sir Thomas Seymore (who was brother to the king's third wife, Jane)was a real girl. But Mary seems to dissapear from history after her mother's tragic death shortly after Mary's birth. So the author chose to write about this Mary. In the story Mary is a strong and curious child to begin with, and grows into a beautiful young woman. In the book, she is also studying magic with her guardian, Lady Strange. She wishes to learn as much as she can about her mother and follow in her footsteps. She is quick and clever, and very observant. Already she has decided that love is the enemy, and can turn the most sensible women sensless, as it did to her mother and first guardian. She is a very interesting main character, and it makes me wonder what really did become of Mary Seymore?

Listening at the gate

Kat, the main character, is a girl somewhat like me. She can be stubborn, but also unsure of herself. And she just wants to be loved for who she is. Unlike me though, she has a lover, a loving brother, a sister-in-law, a soon to be neice or nephew, and many loving friends. She has scars and just wants her life to go back the way it was, when she was happy, and nothing else mattered. But now she must be brave, for her lover, for her brother, and for herself. She is also very forgiving, something that i am not. she forgives her father who tried to force her to marry to help himself, and who hit her. I don't think I could ever do that.

Outside Reading Reflection

Listening at the Gate by Betsy James is the third and final book in the Seeker series about a girl named Kat who is on a path to self discovery, and to find where she belongs. Her father’s people shun her because of her father’s shameful marriage to her mother, who was a native and therefore inferior. Her mother’s people, aside from her aunt and cousins, dislike her because of her father. Then she is in love with an outcast from another people who relate themselves to seals. I chose this book because I have read the first two books about Kat and liked them a lot. And as the last book ended in a cliff-hanger, I had to read the last one and find out what happens next.