Before this novel, I knew the basics of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Coming away from this book, I have a better understanding of her life, but I'm also aware that I should take everything I read with a grain of salt. Eleanor was a powerful woman who has traveled all over Europe and the Middle East; she had several children and two husbands. There was nothing she didn't see or experience. She truly was remarkable, but Plaidy defines her life by the men she knew, which at time felt like a very limiting perspective. One can't help but wonder what Eleanor was truly like when she wasn't constantly mooning over someone else.

Plaidy portrays Eleanor as a conceited, headstrong, and confident woman. She wants nothing more than to rule Aquitaine and any other country she can get her hands on. Honestly, I liked this portrayal of her. She's not likable, but Eleanor has bigger concerns than being "likable". Perhaps she's aware of her limitations as a woman, but another strong trait of hers is that she idolizes the men in her life. First, it's her grandfather and father, then her uncle (whom Plaidy argues she slept with), then her second husband Henry II, and then her sons mostly notably Richard. The whole "sleeping with her relative" thing is tricky because, for a long time, people thought it was okay to marry their cousins, so it's not entirely out of the question that Eleanor slept with her uncle. That said, it's also not uncommon to accuse powerful women of incest to knock them down a peg (the same thing happens to Anne Boleyn, as she was accused of sleeping with her brother).

Eleanor lives through such a fascinating time in European history, and she saw so much. She traveled for the Crusades, as Queen of France and Queen of England. In her younger years, she is clearly carried away by her passions: her demands to have Toulouse restored to her nearly destroy her first husband, and her affairs get her in trouble with the pope more than once. As she aged, she proved she was an extremely competent ruler, as evidenced in how she worked to make sure her son Richard was adored by the English people and the fact that she was left in charge to govern both England and Aquitaine several times in her husband and son's absences.

Once Eleanor's sons are grown up, the narrative then focuses on their conquests and their struggles. Eleanor's efforts as the stand-in monarch or her time at Aquitaine where she presides over the Court of Love are glossed over, when I wish they could've been explored a little more. These moments in her life are what Eleanor is known for! Instead, readers are led to believe that the whole "court of love" was actually a product of Eleanor's grandfather and hardly something she cultivated and immortalized.

As competent as Eleanor was, Plaidy also puts her faults on display. Eleanor is narcissistic to the extreme. She pits her children against their father and sometimes even against each other. She enables their worst tendencies and rarely takes accountability for her actions. Although, she does admit that some of her actions were due to "youthful folly". Additionally, Plaidy is convinced that all of Eleanor's children worship her. I would surmise that's because she didn't spend a lot of time with them, especially her daughters, so they don't remember her faults very well.

I'm not saying these things to be critical of Eleanor but to acknowledge that she was not perfect. I appreciate Plaidy's narrative style that lays bear all of Eleanor's traits, both positive and negative. She feels like a whole person, albeit an imperfect one. So, would I recommend this book? Absolutely. Plaidy has an angle, as all historical fiction authors do. One should never wholeheartedly believe what they read. That said, Plaidy covers a lot of ground in this book, and it is always entertaining. ( )

3.5 stars

Eleanor of Aquitaine was next in line to the throne in Aquitaine and married Louis, the next King of France in the 12th century. Louis never wanted to be king (he was second-born and wanted to become a monk), but when his older brother died, Louis was next. He really wasn’t interested in marriage, though, nor creating a heir, to Eleanor’s chagrin. Eleanor had been brought up in a court of “love” with music and dancing and fun and laughter and missed it. And did not enjoy not being close to her husband.

She and Louis did have two daughters, but Eleanor was eventually able to get a divorce and she married Henry, the next King of England. They were madly in love, but Eleanor hadn’t realized (initially) that Henry continued to have affairs after they married, and she was not happy when she discovered this. Despite that, they had a number of children. As they grew apart, Henry eventually imprisoned Eleanor for a number of years. In the end, Eleanor outlived most of her children.

This was good. It was long, but Eleanor lived a long life. I have read one or two books about her, but it’s been a while, and I don’t recall the stories of Thomas a Becket and Richard the Lionheart, which Plaidy included in her book here. (Becket was a friend of Henry’s and Richard was Eleanor and Henry’s son.) They were likely there, but maybe I just didn’t know who they were when I read about them originally, so the stories didn’t “stick” in my memory. Plaidy is very detailed with her history, and that is to be commended, but it doesn’t always make for the most interesting fiction. Even so, overall, I liked it. ( )

DNF page 118

Didn't remember how dry Playdy can be... ( )

This is one of my favourite books by Jean Plaidy.

The novel walks through Eleanor's early childhood life (in the Courts of Love), right up to her death. Her life certainly was full of adventures, betrayal and her trying to re-create her grandfather's court. Naturally, Eleanor is a strong and powerful woman who knows what she wants and how to grasp it, especially given how she would give everything up (the love of her adoring first husband, daughters and her own country), for passion and power.

As a passionate, yet powerful and ambitious woman, she certainly was a match for Henry
You can tell that Ms. Plaidy put in a lot of effort to research everything. While some aspects of the book may have been reinterpreted and modified to fit the book, it is still vastly exciting. ( )

I enjoyed this tome though felt like it could’ve been much better. I believe that if the author focused more on Eleanor’s life before the dispute with her husband Henry II then the story would be more condensed and entertaining.

The problem is, once Eleanor’s kept shut away from all that’s going on in the world, she begins to relate events that she hasn’t been involved with. Instead she tells the reader of the gossip that reaches her from her female attendants. At times she relates episodes about her husband or sons by stating how she “imagines” confrontations, and such like.

As a result, the book’s focus turns to other characters, thus the story no longer feels like it’s about Eleanor of Aquitaine. That’s not to say it isn’t good, because it is, but it’s almost like killing off the main character and having her narrate from beyond the grave, such becomes Eleanor’s lack of involvement. ( )