Captive Queen: A Novel Of Eleanor Of Aquitaine (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
4. 5 Stars. I couldn't put this book down. Having never read a book about Eleanor of Aquitaine before and only knowing she was the mother of Richard the Lionheart and evil King John of the Robin Hood variety, I didn't know what to expect. I fell in love with Eleanor's fiery spirit, her sound political knowledge, her inability to back down from what she thinks is right, and her deep love to do ANYTHING to help her children succeed. She is strong and capable and loves deeply. Her relationship with Henry II was swoon-worthy and then completely destructive. It was absolutely fascinating to read. My only issue was I felt like the dialogue felt a little modern. Wasn't a huge deal for me but it made me eyebrow raise a few times with some terms of phrase. Overall, amazing book about an amazing woman. She now joins my ranks of historical woman I want to be friends with and I'm pretty sure she would get along with Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth Woodville quite well. This was the first historical fiction work I've read by Alison Weir, having been a fan of her history work since I was ten, and I absolutely loved this. Some people have complained about the sexual content, but quite frankly, I think it's just part of fleshing Eleanor's character into a woman to whom we can relate. I listened to this as an audiobook and I thought the narrator did a brilliant job. I'm certainly going to read more of Weir's historical novels - for this one moved me.
What do You think about Captive Queen: A Novel Of Eleanor Of Aquitaine (2009)?
Disappointing. Alison should stick to real history and not fiction.
—Cass
I finally can wrap my mind around the Plantagenets, hooray!
—conor
Another fictional masterpiece from Allison Weir!!
—elijah
