Las cortes del amor

Queens of England #5

by Jean Plaidy

Nieta de Guillermo IX de Aquitania, educada en el deslumbrante y poético ambiente de aquellas "cortes del amor" de hermosas damas, galantes caballeros y exaltados trovadores, Leonor, sólo por casualidad, llegó a ser duquesa de Aquitania. Temporalmente, sin embargo, fue arrancada de su luminoso mundo para ser casada con Luis IX de Francia. La incompatibilidad de caracteres provocó la ruptura del matrimonio, precipitada por las infidelidades de Leonor, a quien no podía por menos que resultar estrecha una unión sin pasión. Ella se casaría inmediatamente con Enrique de Inglaterra, fascinada por su arrolladora vitalidad... pronto tornada en dureza de corazón. Enmarcada en la Europa del siglo XII, Las cortes del amor no es sólo el retrato de una mujer excepcional o la crónica de una época convulsa. Es sobre toda una novela de amores frustrados e intrigas palaciegas, en la que se entremezclan las más nobles pasiones con los comportamientos más viles.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, British Literature, Medieval, France, 12th Century

508 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Eleanor Alice Burford, Mrs. George Percival Hibbert was a British author of about 200 historical novels, most of them under the pen name Jean Plaidy which had sold 14 million copies by the time of her death. She chose to use various names because of the differences in subject matter between her books; the best-known, apart from Plaidy, are Victoria Holt (56 million) and Philippa Carr (3 million). Lesser known were the novels Hibbert published under her maiden name Eleanor Burford, or the pseudonyms of Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow and Ellalice Tate. Many of her readers under one penname never suspected her other identities.
-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Jessie · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're looking for an easy read, and some historical fiction that's predominately fiction, than this is the book for you. But I appreciate a lot more historical accuracy in my books, so I was sadly disappointed.

I've already read a few books about Eleanor and the early Plantagenet kings, which I'm sure skewed my impression of this book compared to readers who are coming to the tale for the first time.

First off, I absolutely loathed Plaidy's use of the first-person narration - a sort of reminiscing inner dialogue from an older Eleanor's point of view. Historical fiction always takes some liberties with the day-to-day events and dialogues of the story, but by adding Eleanor's thoughts, feelings, and emotions - as if we were in her own mind - really seemed to misrepresent the actual woman. The personal narration is very simple and juvenile, which makes sense in the early chapters while Eleanor was still young, but it never matures as the woman herself would have. There's a significant amount of banal repetition, particularly in the later half of the book - for instance, Eleanor's reiteration of what her children were like and how much they loved her over Henry. And finally, Plaidy noticeably skews this inner monologue of a medieval royal woman with far too much modern feminism and perspective.

Secondly, Plaidy plays fast and loose with a LOT of the aspects of this historical record. I think good historical fiction needs to "stick to the facts" and then fill in the spaces with plausible day-to-day moments. But Plaidy doesn't just introduce generally disproved historical "facts," she overdevelops and overemphasizes them. Eleanor's supposed affair with Raymond (generally not accepted by modern historians) is given a back story, plus half a chapter of sordid details, plus repeated remembrances - used to explain some of Eleanor's future thoughts and actions. All completely fictitious. Same with putting the bastard Geoffrey's birth after Henry & Eleanor's marriage when it really was BEFORE their marriage. And even little things like mis-titling William Marshal as Earl of Pembroke on his first introduction when at that time he was still a landless knight. Or weaving so much intrigue into Richard's homosexual (or bisexual) inclinations or activities when that's based on incredibly flimsy evidence.

It was a light, well-paced read. I can see why many people have enjoyed it. But it just wasn't something that I could recommend to others.

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jean Plaidy, and all of Hibbert's iterations, have been a touchstone author for me. One that I will return to often, picked up throughout my reading life, and have always enjoyed. I love Eleanor and remember reading this one in my early marriage, but it has been a long time. Always enjoyable and this was the perfect snow day (week, year...) read.

[Elizabeth(The Book Whisperer) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, epic and beautiful. Eleanor of Aquitaine is one of my favorite historical figures and this book did not disappoint in bringing her story to life.

[Brittni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read two other Jean Plaidy novels before and decided my next one, and the rest from then on, should be read in historical order. She's written so many books and some are in print in one country but not in another, or are by different titles, so most Jean Plaidy lists compiled by historical order are a little muddled. This is the one I found to be first historically.

I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as the other two I've read so far. At times the narrative seemed choppy. Some of this might be attributed to it being written in Eleanor's point of view, not as the events happen, but in looking back. Some of the events which happened to others in her life were ones she wasn't actually present at, but they had to be recounted in the book so as not to leave out important points. So there's many instances where we have Eleanor saying "I imagine this must've been what he said and how he reacted". The telling of events becomes more complicated when the narrator herself is imprisoned for six years, so all important events occur without Eleanor herself. This book seems to cut from one instance to as though just throwing out facts instead of making a story with them.

To me, Eleanor herself wasn't a very likeable personality in the book. Though her strength is certainly admirable, and her understanding of politics, she's also brash and shallow. Pleasure is her sole interest in life, whether through sex or fine clothing. She wants self-gratification and isn't concerned with morals...which though somewhat a nice surprise (since we all tend to just wrongly assume people were uptight in older days), she throws herself into what she wants without a concern for how it'd affect others. Mostly am just talking about when she cheats on her first husband, first with her married uncle and then with Henry. Her husband was faithful to marriage, meanwhile. Granted, she wasn't getting what she wanted out of the marriage and from the way other marriages were spoken of in this book, it seemed that most of the people weren't monogamous, probably because they didn't have their choice of spouses to begin with. So while I understand that, I don't find it an excuse to break the sanctity of marriage for the sake of having a better bed partner.

Beyond that, I didn't get an overall feel of her personality. I gleaned her characteristics, but it seemed like something was incongruous about it, because it's like what makes her personality interesting near the beginning falls away once she marries Henry. The book stops being about her and becomes about the events of the people in her life.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book by this author that I read and I loved it! There is very little in the way of historical fiction that deals with the reigns of early Kings of England, except King Arthur. This focuses on the wife of Henry I, Eleanor of Aquitaine. It follows her life from her first marriage to the King of France through her extremely tumultuous marriage to Henry II, also showing her relationships with her children, including Richard I (the Lionheart). I really, really enjoyed this book because it dealt with a period of English history that I am extremely interested in but hadn't read that much about.

[Mandy Moody · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read The Courts of Love immediately after reading Eleanor the Queen (by Norah Lofts). The two books portray Eleanor in very different ways, and because of that I had a hard time with this book at the begining.
Plaidy's book is quite a bit more detailed, and takes us into parts of Eleanor's life that Lofts doesn't visit. She does an excellent job bringing Eleanor to life and making her a relatable character.
Though it was dry at times, I really enjoyed this one, and appreciated the historical accuracy.

[Jamilah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is historical fiction, but the author seems to stay relatively true to history, just occasionally taking historical rumor and treating it as truth. She tells the story as a "memoir" by Eleanor of Aquitaine. It is slightly dry reading sometimes, although not nearly as dry as a history textbook would be!

[Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An illuminating book from a master of the genre. Watch the movie The Lion in Winter, then read this book for the whole story. Eleanor of Aquitaine was a fascinating person and Jean Plaidy brings her to life.

[Grace Peck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eleanor of Aquitaine: “I love all my children equally”
“I don’t care for John”

God this was a depressing end. Eleanor has always been fascinating to me since I was a child for numerous reasons, and rightfully so she was truly a force to be reckoned with. But I just felt sorry for her in the end. She lived a great life, but she hardly got to spend it with the people she loved most in the world.

But this book itself: I’ve never read Plaidy before, I’ve come to understand she’s a pretty big figure in historical fiction, so I’ll definitely check out other books in this series. This is written as a “memoir,” and I’m not sure what’s accurate and what’s not. Obviously we are imagining how she would’ve felt during the events of her life, that’s fictional, but idk what’s hard fact or not. I always read historical fiction with a grain of salt because authors take artistic license, which is fine, you are telling a story after all. Like, did she actually bang her uncle, or was that just a rumor based in misogyny about her that circulated around, since contemporary accounts we have of her were written by men?

It was interesting, it drags a bit at places which is why it took me forever to read. The memoir style of writing kind of dragged it down for me, idk.

What’s so frustrating about this whole thing is that if Eleanor and other women like her had been allowed to just rule in their own stead, I wonder how much pain and bloodshed could’ve been prevented. Her biggest conflict with this book is her inability to do what she wants, she has to rule through the men in her life.

Also, imagine if these rulers, instead of going to war and crusades all the time and wasting lives and money, just focused on their kingdoms and stayed put? So many of the issues that I read in this saga could’ve been avoided.

Also how fucking awful would it be to outlive all but two of your children??? What a horrific fate. I think people think that because mortality rates were so high back then, especially for kids that it wasn’t as big of a deal, but I refuse to believe that. We don’t know because no one would’ve bothered to ask them, but mothers who lost their babies right after birth probably deeply mourned for them, and even more so if they lived to adulthood and then died.

[Nenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

2019 Reading Challenge
Novel Based on A True Story

Bit boring, should have been edited better

[MaryKatherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Plaidy is an excellent storyteller and it is a joy to read a historically accurate HF novel. I don't know much about Eleanor of Aquitaine and her family, but I am now desperate to read and learn more! She was an extraordinary woman and Plaidy takes you from her young childhood in Aquitaine up to her death at an old age. You feel her sorrow, joy, hate, and love for her husbands and children and you don't want to let the story go at the end.

There were a few aspects of Plaidy's writing that started to irritate me by the end, namely her repetition. Sometimes I'd read three pages in which I felt she explained the same event or emotion over and over. Other times, she'd skim over important events in a paragraph. I was irritated and in love with all of the characters throughout the story, though, and I think that is one of the most important things a story should be able to do--engage you.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better overall character development than Nora Loft's novel on Eleanor of Aquitaine (the only other Eleanor novel I've read so far so I'll compare the two). One of the things I love about Plaidy is her assessments of the relationships between the characters and this does not disappoint. At the same time, it also details the political and worldly events better. But I felt like Loft handled Eleanor's period of captivity better, it was actually the strongest part of the book whereas Plaidy brushes over it as an inconvenience to Eleanor.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first book by Plaidy as well. This book was also the first book I had ever read on Eleanor of Aquitaine, and it inspired a bit of a love-affair with the "Grandmother of Europe" as she is known. I do agree that Plaidy can be a bit dry at times, however I feel if you stick through you can find that underneath is a fantastic historical fiction about a fascinating woman.

I'm not a huge fan of some of her other works, but this is one I have re-read a couple times. If you have the time (and to be fair a bit of patience) I think you may enjoy it.

[Vanessa Tillery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elenor of Aquitaine became the duchess of the richest provence on Europe at the age 15. She married Louis VII of France and became the Queen. But, when she met Henry II of England she fell in love. The story follows her struggle to be with the one she really loves and the betryal she faces because of it.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a good book! This was the first book I read by Jean Plaidy and it will not be the last!
I loved reading about Eleanor of Aquitaine, Louis VII, and Henry II. It made me want to continue to read everything I could find on them. I could relate to Eleanor's strong personality. This was an exciting book that I would recommend to anyone!

[Gene Rios · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, once I got past a certain dialogue part, the book regained its rhythm. I could definitely pick up on the rising action as Eleanor aged, and I enjoyed it considerably. I especially found it interesting to read about the blatant homosexuality in Richard the Lion-Hearted, a man with Norse beauty and British militance. All in all, The Courts of Love was a good read!

[Ella Dohlman · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love historical fiction, especially early English history, this book is for you. The author does an excellent job in making the main character human and believable. The reader gets lost during the time of early England and the hardships of that time period. I plan to read all books by this author

[Traci · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this one--Eleanor of Aquitaine is absolutely fascinating! This fictionalized story of her life (according to my research on her) was as historically accurate as it could be, and I loved Plaidy's presentation.

[Emerald Dodge · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't normally review books I DNF, but this one was BAD. The narration was painfully juvenile. "X happened, and I was unhappy. Y happened, it made me happy." What a waste of a good premise.

[Wal.li · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eleanor von Aquitanien wächst an einem glücklichen Hof auf. Sie genießt Freiheiten, die Frauen im Mittelalter eher selten vergönnt sind. Und sie hat Ambitionen, den sie selbst möchte ihr Erbe, das Herzogtum Aquitanien, beherrschen nicht irgendein Ehemann. Zunächst gilt es, eben diesen Mann klug zu wählen. Er muss einer Herzogin würdig sein und ihr das Eigentum lassen. Und er muss dem Arrangement zustimmen. Denn unter den Noblen werden die Ehen arrangiert. Bündnisse werden über Ehen geschlossen und besiegelt. Eleanor ist angetan, als sie hört, dass ihr Gatte Louis, der König von Frankreich, sein soll. Doch ihre Ehe mit Louis gestaltet sich nicht einfach, die Schwiegermutter mag sie nicht und er erweist sich als schwierig, schwanger zu werden. Wo es doch eine Hauptaufgabe der Frauen ist, dem Herrscher möglichst viele Kinder zu schenken.

Das Leben der Eleanor von Aquitanien ist für die damalige Zeit sehr schillernd. Sie blieb immer die Herrscherin ihres eigenen Landes und sie war Königin zweier Reiche. Ob sie immer eine glückliche Frau war, ist schwer zusagen. Jedenfalls ging sie mit Enthusiasmus in ihre Ehen. Für Louis war sie wahrscheinlich einfach zu lebhaft. Vielleicht wäre Henry von England ihr eher ebenbürtig gewesen, doch er enttäuschte sie durch seine Untreue bereits zu Beginn der Ehe. Tragische, dass die meisten ihrer Kinder vor ihr starben. Doch Eleanor blieb eine Lenkerin und als seltenes Geschenk in jenen Tagen, durfte sie ein Alter von über 80 Jahren erreichen.

Die Autorin, die einen reichen Schatz an historischen an historischen Romanen hinterlassen hat, widmet sich hier einer der schillernsdten historischen Persönlichkeiten. Eleanor war vermutlich schon damals eine Frau, von der man spricht. und auch heute noch staunt man über ihr reiches und in großen Teilen selbstbestimmtes Leben. Eine Energie und Tatkraft hätten wohl für mehr als ein Leben gerecht. Sie bereiste große Teile der bekannten Welt, mit zwei Königen war sie verheiratet, ihnen hat sie mehrere Kinder geschenkt, sie war die Mutter von Richard Löwenherz, sie lenkte gewissermaßen die Geschicke. Die Autorin lässt Eleanor mit ihren eigenen Worten berichten. Mit gemessenen Sätzen erzählt sie von ihrem reichen Leben. Das macht die Lektüre nicht immer einfach, weil manchmal die Ruhe und Weisheit der alten Frau durchschimmern. Aber Eleanor von Aquitanien war eine ungewöhnliche Frau, die mitunter die Geschicke der Welt zu lenken versuchte. Das soll ihr heute erstmal jemand nachmachen. Der vorliegende Roman ist erstmalig im Jahr 1987 erschienen und auch heute noch bietet er eine interessante Interpretation einer beeindruckenden historischen Gestalt.
3,5 Sterne

[Alfonso · Rating 5 out of 5]

No te dejes engañar por el titulo, Las Cortes de Amor no es un libro de amor cursi, es una obra ubicada en el siglo XVII, en la época medieval, donde la realeza y la iglesia tenían un papel fundamental en el desarrollo de los hechos, además de que es la época de las cruzadas para recuperar Tierra Santa de los sarracenos/musulmanes y mantener el camino seguro para los que querían peregrinar de Europa a Jerusalén. Esta historia nos narra la vida de Leonor de Aquitania, la hija mayor del duque Guillermo de Aquitania y nieta de Guillermo el Trovador que, por causas del destino es nombrada sucesora de su padre tomando el titulo de duquesa de Aquitania y más adelante llega a ser Reina consorte de Francia y después de Inglaterra.

Como podemos ver la vida de Leonor estuvo marcada por ser miembro de la realeza de dos de los reinos más importantes de la época, así que podemos ver reflejado en el libro el estilo de vida de este sector de la sociedad medieval, más concretamente la importancia que le da Leonor a las cortes, que eran espacios sociales y simbólicos de las personas más allegadas a los soberanos, y en donde además de mostrar su apoyo y lealtad eran su lugar de entretenimiento, llenas de músicos, poetas y trovadores. En especial, Leonor siempre intentó reproducir la corte de su abuelo, en la cual fue criada y fue de gran influencia para la formación de su carácter, ya que la duquesa de Aquitania, para los tiempos en los que se encontraba, era una mujer independiente, decidida, rebelde y que no se dejaba oprimir por los deseos de los hombres, en cambio, ella buscaba manipularlos.

El libro es bastante dinámico y la trama no se siente lenta en ningún momento, ya que a mi parecer, todos los conflictos que se abordaron tuvieron su grado de importancia y siempre sentí que todo transcurría perfectamente. De la mano con lo anterior me gustó la forma en la que la autora abordó a estos personajes históricos, principalmente a los principales, todos estaban tan bien caracterizados que aunque fueran muchos personajes y varios de ellos llevaran los mismos nombres (algo que en un principio si me frustró, pero que es más una costumbre de la época) ya una vez que los conocías era fácil ubicar de quien se estaba hablando, además otro aspecto que quiero destacar es que en esta historia nadie es completamente bueno o malo, todos tienen sus cualidades y defectos, lo que los hace realmente humanos y reales, algo de esperar debido a que son personajes que en verdad existieron, pero que es bueno que la autora haya mantenido ese aspecto.

Las partes que sin duda más disfruté del libro fueron la cruzada de Leonor y Luis a Tierra Santa, y todo el conflicto de Enrique con Tomás Becket, en especial este segundo, que está lleno de drama con una relación amor-odio e iglesia-estado bastante particular. Pero todo el libro y por lo mismo toda la vida de Leonor de Aquitania es muy especial y vale mucho la pena informarse acerca de ella y de lo mucho que logró.

Para finalizar sólo puedo decir que estoy muy agradecido de haberme topado con este gran libro y conocer a esta gran mujer de la que seguro seguiré leyendo.

[LibraryCin · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

TL;DR: All the quality of research and insight into character I've come to expect from Plaidy, but nothing more than that. Struggled to read it a second time. Plaidy does have my respect for producing something of this quality so prolifically.
Why I picked it up: I was craving some historical fiction and I've enjoyed Plaidy's books in the past.
What I liked: When I consider how many books Plaidy wrote under 3 pen names, I'm astonished at the level of historical research in her books. She paints a very convincing Eleanor: passionate yet practical throughout her life. Also, she went there, twice, and did it well. This Eleanor has an affair with her uncle, and it's done so well as to neither be titillating nor (very much) ugly. It just makes sense for the character. Also, Richard the Lionheart is gay! Eleanor's reaction isn't terribly progressive, but it fits her character and the time and place. I realize more modern historians have largely disagreed with both rumors, but they certainly made for interesting reading.
What I didn't like: It's taken me a few retellings of her life, but I don't think I like Eleanor of Aquitaine. At least not the Eleanor that modern authors try to bring to life. Also, because of the massive time-scope of the novel, everything reads like a lengthy summary, with a few small interactions here and there. The ideas are good, but the prose isn't electrifying like, say, Wolf Hall. I got bored.
Verdict: No disrespect, but it's headed to a Little Free Library as soon as the rain lets up.

[Taylor's♡Shelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remarks: A very enjoyable read. With all of Plaidy's novels (so far), I do enjoy how she portrays the characters. And to me that's one of the most important aspects of historical fiction. I really do like how Plaidy portrays Eleanor, particularly as a mother. It might seem a little heartless to a 21st-century mother like me that Eleanor left her daughters for years right after Alix's birth, that Eleanor felt very little love for John, or that she sometimes viewed her children as mildly dispensable, but we do need to consider the times. Rarely did queens in medieval Christendom actually raise their children and I imagine that would certainly affect the connection they were able to make with them. I really enjoyed Henry (Sr.)'s character too. He was presented a lot more gruffly than any other depictions I've read and I could see him very plainly in my head. I always love when I can do that.

However, just like several other of Plaidy's novels, this really shouldn't have been written in first-person. I'm getting really tired of reading page-after-page of conversations being retold verbatim to Eleanor just so the author can relay important events to the reader for which Eleanor was not present. Not to say it's impossible for someone to remember the exact words of an entire conversation that happened several months earlier, but it's highly unlikely and fairly lazy writing to be honest.

That being said, I really did enjoy reading this novel. Though it would have to be dreadfully horrible for me to dislike a novel about Eleanor and her kiddos.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one sort of left me cold. I really really want to love Eleanor of Aquitaine and this book made me really dislike her at quite a few points. It’s hard for me to critique the “history” here too deeply as a) there are significant gaps in the existing documentation about Eleanor as even women who ruled important French holdings were not deemed worthy of much ink in this time period and b) It’s Jean Plaidy and if you came for hardcore history, you must be lost. This one was an okay read and I did make it all the way through, but it felt like work too much of the time. I did learn one new thing though…for some reason I had never connected that Eleanor’s son’s included the English Kings Richard and John that I first was introduced to in a certain animated film with talking foxes and lions. Yes, I somehow missed that her sons were Richard the Lionhearted and King John ala Robin Hood. So that was cool.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok. Eleanor of Aquitaine had a very interesting life, holding the titles of both Queen of France and Queen of England. How she came to acquire those titles is interesting, but there was a lot of filler in this book that was unnecessary, especially in the middle. When new characters came in to the picture, for some reason their entire history was told. A briefer background would have trimmed some of the waste in this book that slowed down the narrative. Instead of these figures' background, I would have liked to learn more about Eleanors' children since so many of them went on to be King, even for a short period of time.

I haven't read much about the British monarchy from this early so this was new for me and I liked it but it was a bit dry.

[Arianna Vargas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I've found my new obsession in Jean Plaidy. I'm a sucker for anything with Eleanor of Aquitaine anyway, so when I saw this at the PTA, snapped it right up. She has a very plain, but really personal writing style. It felt like I was sitting next to Eleanor herself and she was just reciting her life story to a willing audience. I loved this book! I was so excited to see there was a whole "Queens of England" series, then dug a little deeper and discovered she has written like somewhere near 100 books or more. I'm sure I'm super late on the train and plenty of other people have figured that out already, but I've discovered a new favorite author- definitely recommend!

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story covers a wide time frame of Eleanor’s life but being written in the first person point of view had its limitations. There were years when she was held captive but somehow she knew what was going on outside her room. This seemed to be a bit of a stretch for me. It felt lacking in emotional content but it was a fascinating story with lots of political intrigue. Heads up, there is a homosexual romance within the story so if you don’t like reading about that, you might want to skip this one.

[Emalia Tillotson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh dear...this one interested me at the beginning but about 1/3 the way through I realized this was going to be a long...long...really long read. It covers her entire life as well highlights about most people around her. It just started to drag on and on and I lost interest but was determined to finish it! I also didn't care for the main character...she became rather annoyingly arrogant and self conceited.

[Nicole Y. · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNFed at 60%. I enjoyed learning about Eleanor, but I really didn’t like the writing style. It felt like a non-fiction book with some mediocre dialogue and exposition thrown in (how many times can you use the word “rankled”?). With historical fiction, I want a story with themes and a climax. There is no actual plot in this book, it’s just facts after facts down the timeline of her life. I eventually got tired of it. I’ll go back to reading Philippa Gregory.