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A review by grayduck
The Canterbury Papers by Judith Koll Healey
Reviewed 10/24/2006
First off, this is not a novel of suspense. When I think of suspense I think of that feeling I get when I KNOW the monster is behind the door and I want to reach into the book and shake the protagonist and say "Don't open the door you bloody fool, the werewolf is right there!!!!!" I didn't get that feeling once while reading this book.
The Canterbury Papers of the title are a set of letters that Eleanor of Aquitaine (Queen of France, then of England) has hidden away. Now that her older son Richard Lionheart is dead, her dimwitted asshole of a younger son Bad King John is in charge of England*. Something in these hidden letters threatens his throne. So of course, she wants them back. She sends her stepdaughter Alais to go fetch them from Canterbury...and when she does, she will let Alais in on a secret that will change her life.
Now, here's the kicker. I liked this book. It was a fun, leisurely read...in spite of these facts:
Alais falls into the category of women that I don't like in historical novels: she's got a mysteriously 20th-century sensibility for a woman of the middle ages. This is my #1 problem with female protagonists in historical fiction. Not only does her character completely conflict with the times, she's psychic. Luckily, it's only brought up once or twice. I wish that the author would have left that out. She's remarkably dense for a psychic woman.
Little things. Like Tom, the steward, has only one eye. But Alais could "see the fear in his eyes". It's probably an editing boo-boo, but man, did it bug me. Other little things like that.
Anyway, I liked the book. I didn't expect too much in the way of scholarly information from it, but it was a two-day read and I did get caught up in it enough to be late for dinner one night. I picked it up with an inkling that it would be more like The Birth of Venus than The Agony and the Ecstasy, but I was alright with that. It was the right book at the right time.
First off, this is not a novel of suspense. When I think of suspense I think of that feeling I get when I KNOW the monster is behind the door and I want to reach into the book and shake the protagonist and say "Don't open the door you bloody fool, the werewolf is right there!!!!!" I didn't get that feeling once while reading this book.
The Canterbury Papers of the title are a set of letters that Eleanor of Aquitaine (Queen of France, then of England) has hidden away. Now that her older son Richard Lionheart is dead, her dimwitted asshole of a younger son Bad King John is in charge of England*. Something in these hidden letters threatens his throne. So of course, she wants them back. She sends her stepdaughter Alais to go fetch them from Canterbury...and when she does, she will let Alais in on a secret that will change her life.
Now, here's the kicker. I liked this book. It was a fun, leisurely read...in spite of these facts:
Alais falls into the category of women that I don't like in historical novels: she's got a mysteriously 20th-century sensibility for a woman of the middle ages. This is my #1 problem with female protagonists in historical fiction. Not only does her character completely conflict with the times, she's psychic. Luckily, it's only brought up once or twice. I wish that the author would have left that out. She's remarkably dense for a psychic woman.
Little things. Like Tom, the steward, has only one eye. But Alais could "see the fear in his eyes". It's probably an editing boo-boo, but man, did it bug me. Other little things like that.
Anyway, I liked the book. I didn't expect too much in the way of scholarly information from it, but it was a two-day read and I did get caught up in it enough to be late for dinner one night. I picked it up with an inkling that it would be more like The Birth of Venus than The Agony and the Ecstasy, but I was alright with that. It was the right book at the right time.