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A review by jmarshall9
Captive Queen: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir
1.0
To say that Eleanor of Aquitaine was an incredible woman is an understatement, to say the least. After her father’s death, Eleanor became Duchess of Aquitaine at age 15, a lush region in the south of France. Soon after, she married King Louis VII and became Queen of France. As Queen of France, she traveled east and participated in the Second Crusade. Tiring of Louis, she divorced him and married Henry FitzEmpress, heir to the throne of England. When he was crowned in 1154, she became Queen of England. In 1174, she was imprisoned by Henry for having aided theirs sons in a revolt against him. She remained his captive for 16 years. Justifiably, I was incredibly excited to read Captive Queen, but my fervour soon dissipated after a few minutes of reading.
I discovered during the first few pages that Weir’s Eleanor was not the formidable woman I imaged. The novel begins when Eleanor, soon to be divorced of Louis, first meets the young Henry II. The moment she set eyes on Henry II, sparks were flying and she fell madly in lust (or what Weir insists, love) with him. This Eleanor was not motivated by power, but by her attraction to Henry. The idea that if Eleanor could rid her troublesome husband and marry Henry, she could a build vast and powerful empire was a mere afterthought (if that) compared to her intention of bedding him. And bed him she did. After the first 20 pages -the very night they met- Henry and Eleanor were already committing ”sins of the flesh”. This is the start of an unfortunate pattern of sex scenes that are needlessly detailed, but lacking in even an ounce of passion.
Read more at :
http://windowtoapast.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/captive-queen-by-alison-weir/
I discovered during the first few pages that Weir’s Eleanor was not the formidable woman I imaged. The novel begins when Eleanor, soon to be divorced of Louis, first meets the young Henry II. The moment she set eyes on Henry II, sparks were flying and she fell madly in lust (or what Weir insists, love) with him. This Eleanor was not motivated by power, but by her attraction to Henry. The idea that if Eleanor could rid her troublesome husband and marry Henry, she could a build vast and powerful empire was a mere afterthought (if that) compared to her intention of bedding him. And bed him she did. After the first 20 pages -the very night they met- Henry and Eleanor were already committing ”sins of the flesh”. This is the start of an unfortunate pattern of sex scenes that are needlessly detailed, but lacking in even an ounce of passion.
Read more at :
http://windowtoapast.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/captive-queen-by-alison-weir/