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jinny89's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars, rounded up!
This is my second Alison Weir book. I loved her first one, Innocent Traitor, on Lady Jane Grey and was very excited to read more of her works. Captive Queen is about Eleanor of Aquitaine, who, despite my limited knowledge on her, is a favourite Queen of mine from history. This book has its flaws, but I thought overall it was quite well done and I was pretty addicted to reading it. The book starts off a bit slow, but builds up increasingly. By the middle of the book, I couldn’t put it down at all.
Captive Queen begins when Eleanor is almost thirty years old, beginning with her failure of a marriage to King Louis of France. Eleanor is a beautiful, headstrong Queen with a high sex drive; unfortunately, her husband is so pious that Eleanor practically needs to beg him to come to bed with her, for the sake of an heir at least. When Eleanor lays her eyes on young Henry of Anjou (future King Henry of England), eleven years her junior, she is instantly attracted — and so is he. Daringly, Eleanor arranges for her marriage to Louis to become annulled and before anyone can say anything, she is wed to Henry. Their relationship is extremely passionate, as Henry shares the same sexual appetite as her and together, they eventually come to have eight children.
However, as the years go on, Eleanor and Henry’s relationship begins to break down. Though they can’t get enough of one another in the bedroom, outside they are butting heads politically over land and over their children. Finding out about Henry’s faithlessness also drives the wedge deeper between them. When Eleanor’s sons revolt against their father, Eleanor can’t help but side with her sons, a decision that will cost her her freedom.
As I mentioned earlier, the book begins a bit on the slow side. I still liked it, but it wasn’t anything too impressive. I read some reviews where people were unhappy with how much sex Eleanor and Henry had in the book, but that didn’t bother me one bit. I mean, they were both known to be quite into sex, it’s kind of hard to leave that out. However, I do agree that the beginning of the book seemed to be overly dominated with sex scenes and sexual-related scenes and the like. I guess it just drove home how much of Eleanor and Henry’s relationship was built upon pure, unrestrained lust — and unfortunately, lust doesn’t last.
What I loved was reading about Eleanor and Henry’s relationship dissolving. In some ways, this book isn’t really about just Eleanor, but rather, Eleanor and Henry. They couldn’t agree on so many things outside of the bedroom. Henry wanted things one way, Eleanor wanted things another way. Eleanor, who was quite an intelligent woman herself, resented the fact that Henry technically had control of her lands as her husband, even though none of her vassals liked Henry. She would try to persuade Henry to let her handle her own vassals since they like her more, but Henry is too prideful, too “manly” to let a woman handle his affairs. Then there was also Becket, Henry’s new BFF, who came between Eleanor and Henry’s relationship even more. She hated that she wasn’t the first person Henry would turn to for advice anymore. When their children grew older, she sided with her sons who felt their father was hogging all the power, which of course, drove Eleanor and Henry apart even more. As morbid as it sounds, I loved reading about their marriage and relationship falling apart. It was exciting! Dramatic!
I loved this book a lot! No, it’s not perfect — I do wish the author focused a bit more on Eleanor’s children, specifically her sons — but it’s a great book on its own. Whether you are knowledgeable about Eleanor’s life or not, I think many people will find this book quite exciting to read.
This is my second Alison Weir book. I loved her first one, Innocent Traitor, on Lady Jane Grey and was very excited to read more of her works. Captive Queen is about Eleanor of Aquitaine, who, despite my limited knowledge on her, is a favourite Queen of mine from history. This book has its flaws, but I thought overall it was quite well done and I was pretty addicted to reading it. The book starts off a bit slow, but builds up increasingly. By the middle of the book, I couldn’t put it down at all.
Captive Queen begins when Eleanor is almost thirty years old, beginning with her failure of a marriage to King Louis of France. Eleanor is a beautiful, headstrong Queen with a high sex drive; unfortunately, her husband is so pious that Eleanor practically needs to beg him to come to bed with her, for the sake of an heir at least. When Eleanor lays her eyes on young Henry of Anjou (future King Henry of England), eleven years her junior, she is instantly attracted — and so is he. Daringly, Eleanor arranges for her marriage to Louis to become annulled and before anyone can say anything, she is wed to Henry. Their relationship is extremely passionate, as Henry shares the same sexual appetite as her and together, they eventually come to have eight children.
However, as the years go on, Eleanor and Henry’s relationship begins to break down. Though they can’t get enough of one another in the bedroom, outside they are butting heads politically over land and over their children. Finding out about Henry’s faithlessness also drives the wedge deeper between them. When Eleanor’s sons revolt against their father, Eleanor can’t help but side with her sons, a decision that will cost her her freedom.
As I mentioned earlier, the book begins a bit on the slow side. I still liked it, but it wasn’t anything too impressive. I read some reviews where people were unhappy with how much sex Eleanor and Henry had in the book, but that didn’t bother me one bit. I mean, they were both known to be quite into sex, it’s kind of hard to leave that out. However, I do agree that the beginning of the book seemed to be overly dominated with sex scenes and sexual-related scenes and the like. I guess it just drove home how much of Eleanor and Henry’s relationship was built upon pure, unrestrained lust — and unfortunately, lust doesn’t last.
What I loved was reading about Eleanor and Henry’s relationship dissolving. In some ways, this book isn’t really about just Eleanor, but rather, Eleanor and Henry. They couldn’t agree on so many things outside of the bedroom. Henry wanted things one way, Eleanor wanted things another way. Eleanor, who was quite an intelligent woman herself, resented the fact that Henry technically had control of her lands as her husband, even though none of her vassals liked Henry. She would try to persuade Henry to let her handle her own vassals since they like her more, but Henry is too prideful, too “manly” to let a woman handle his affairs. Then there was also Becket, Henry’s new BFF, who came between Eleanor and Henry’s relationship even more. She hated that she wasn’t the first person Henry would turn to for advice anymore. When their children grew older, she sided with her sons who felt their father was hogging all the power, which of course, drove Eleanor and Henry apart even more. As morbid as it sounds, I loved reading about their marriage and relationship falling apart. It was exciting! Dramatic!
I loved this book a lot! No, it’s not perfect — I do wish the author focused a bit more on Eleanor’s children, specifically her sons — but it’s a great book on its own. Whether you are knowledgeable about Eleanor’s life or not, I think many people will find this book quite exciting to read.
garnetofeden's review against another edition
2.0
I've read worse historical novels, but I've also read better ones.
Last finished 2/28/2012. Rating reviewed 6/21/2023.
Last finished 2/28/2012. Rating reviewed 6/21/2023.
books_r_fun's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Good historical novel about Eleanor of Aquitaine. Loved the attention to true historical accounts. However the writing was more like a historical account than a historical fiction novel which sometimes made it harder to get through. Especially in the middle of the book where it gets much slower.
meggreadsxo's review against another edition
5.0
This was such an engrossing novel. The protagonist is so developed, and enriched in history. This was a period of history that I was unfamiliar with, but I found it so interesting. I absolutely fell in love with this rich and atmospheric book. The characters are dynamic and avoid character dumping, like some historical novels do. An absolute amazing book for anyone who loves historical fiction.
charlottar's review against another edition
2.0
I really enjoyed Alison Weir’s wives of Henry VIII series, but this one just wasn’t as good. My favourite part of this was the authors note.
holly_117's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars
This was a decent book, but I think it could have been a lot shorter and better had the author not repeated herself so many times.
The historical details are very interesting and I will probably read some of Ms. Weir's non-fiction to see if I like it better. It seems like she's still working on finding her voice in the fiction world.
This was a decent book, but I think it could have been a lot shorter and better had the author not repeated herself so many times.
The historical details are very interesting and I will probably read some of Ms. Weir's non-fiction to see if I like it better. It seems like she's still working on finding her voice in the fiction world.
jennutley's review against another edition
3.0
One of my favorite ways to be introduced to an historical figure is to pick up some historical fiction, give it a read, and then read the real history to figure out where the author took a bit of license. This was my intro to Eleanor of Aquitaine (other than The Lion in Winter).
As usual, Alison Weir's books are pretty interesting reads. I will admit to preferring her non-fiction. I found this story to rely much too heavily on Eleanor's, shall we say, appetites. I am disappointed to think that she was driven that much by her carnal side. C'mon, she had to have been brilliant not just beautiful. (Is this wishful thinking?) I also had a hard time with the cavalier way she left her first two daughters with their father after her annulment.
I found the political maneuverings by her husbands and sons to be fascinating--more so than the love stories. But the conflict between Eleanor and Henry over the troubadors and courtly love was pretty forced.
Still, I learned a lot and was entertained to boot, so it was worth the time.
As usual, Alison Weir's books are pretty interesting reads. I will admit to preferring her non-fiction. I found this story to rely much too heavily on Eleanor's, shall we say, appetites. I am disappointed to think that she was driven that much by her carnal side. C'mon, she had to have been brilliant not just beautiful. (Is this wishful thinking?) I also had a hard time with the cavalier way she left her first two daughters with their father after her annulment.
I found the political maneuverings by her husbands and sons to be fascinating--more so than the love stories. But the conflict between Eleanor and Henry over the troubadors and courtly love was pretty forced.
Still, I learned a lot and was entertained to boot, so it was worth the time.
luna_rondo's review against another edition
2.0
Usually I fly through historica novels, and I enjoyed two others of Weir's - but this one fell flat for me.
morgan_s_312's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyed this book, but not as well as some. It's maybe a 3.5, maybe a 4, so I gave it the benefit of a doubt.
bookworm_eliz's review against another edition
2.0
Not one of my favorite of this author but still felt the end was powerful. Her other books are much more powerful especially Lady Elizabeth.