A review by catniprocks
The Sharp Hook of Love: A Novel of Heloise and Abelard by Sherry Jones

3.0

I"m having a hard time with this one. I'm trying very hard not to judge the story through a contemporary lens but man, it's hard. The book is well written and the language is beautiful, but boy I would have loved to step back in time and smack some sense in to the heroine. Our 'hero' is vain, rakish, and completely self-serving. Our heroine is supposed to be the most learned lady of her time. Her intellect is known throughout France, but we don't see much evidence of this in the story. Once they fall in love, she is full on obsessed with him and that's all that's talked about. No science, no debate, no philosophy other than the philosophy of love.

In the end, it wasn't a bad book and I'll probably pick up another by the author because the writing was lovely. I guess my 21st century mind just couldn't really sink into the 12th century way of life (thank god!).