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Read Stealing Heaven (2003)

Stealing Heaven (2003)

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Author
Rating
4.15 of 5 Votes: 5
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ISBN
1569470111 (ISBN13: 9781569470114)
Language
English
Publisher
soho press

Stealing Heaven (2003) - Plot & Excerpts

I love historical fiction that is actually based on history and not just a thinly veiled romance novel. So I was really happy to read this since the author actually set out to write a biography of Heloise, but wrote a novel since she wasn't able find enough historical documents to support a complete biography. The book was enjoyable to read to a certain extent, it’s well written and the characters obviously had very interesting lives. However I didn’t love how the author portrayed Heloise. She was supposed to be the most educated woman in France at the time, but she is completely obsessed with Abelard throughout her life, even into old age. Of course in a love story some of that is expected, but the author made Heloise feel very one dimensional. She didn’t care about anything or anyone else and I find that very hard to believe given her education and accomplishments. The main problem with this focus is it makes the character pretty flat and hard to really care about. I hate to be so critical of the book, because I did enjoy reading it. I think I was just disappointed because it seemed like it could have been a great novel and instead it was just a pretty good one.

This book is very hard for me to rate. It is a pet peeve of mine when an author starts with an amazing concept, or in this case amazing historical figures, and flops it. In the first part of this book it is very apparent that the author is going for shock value. Heloise and Abelard were some of the most celebrated lovers of all time, and yet this book made them seem dirty, selfish, and more lustful then loving. The book spent the majority of it's time on the early part of their lives when they continued to bring strife to not only all of those around them, but most of all to themselves, and concentrated very little on Heloise's later accomplishments. I know from first hand experience that love can make you do CRAZY things, but this was less like love and more like a terrible obsession. It was embarassing to read, and I had a hard time having any respect for them. I think I was supposed to be rooting for them, but instead I kept thinking, "Please! Know when to quit!" I think a good author would have been able to rise some compassion in me, as it was I couldn't wait for the torture to end.

What do You think about Stealing Heaven (2003)?

Basically, the "Twilight" of Abelard and Heloise novels. Not the most historically accurate or "in character" portrayal of the couple out there. Some details are flat-out wrong, as Astrolabe outlived his mother, Abelard's relatives were highly literate and Denise and Heloise were likely close friends, Heloise was more widely read and intelligent herself than depicted, etc. Heloise is frustrating and maudlin rather than compelling; Abelard a wounded sex god with a guilt problem rather than a rebel with a cause. More of a woman's studies survey of medieval times with Heloise plugged in as overseer-- not in character for Heloise, who was not only anachronistic but somewhat oblivious in character, or moreover well in tune with the era as a whole, which feels here more like a Saxon outpost than 12th c Paris. Helen Waddell who read the Latin and was immersed in the zeitgeist did a much better job.
—Jenny Nielsen

Loving the way this book is so far :) . . . an easy read . . . I have been reading this book for a couple of days now and am completely obsessed with this couple . . . .I have been also researching the lives of these two . . . Absolutely AMAZING!!! and also so heart wrenching . . .Finished this book now . . . I must say it is one of the best stories I have read in a long time! I got really wrapped up in the story and also the lives of these two incredible and incredibly human people. A definite read :)
—Diana

"Stealing Heaven" is a novel based on the tragic love story of Heloise and Abelard in the 12th century. The author set out to write a biography, but found too many facts lacking, and wrote a novel instead. She stayed true to the documented history and only crafted the details that were missing. Unfortunately, she gave away a major plot point in the prologue that I would have preferred to find out while reading.Some of it was very sad. I was occasionally frustrated with Heloise for being clueless even though she was supposed to be so smart. And although Abelard seemed to be heartless at times, considering his situation made his behavior somewhat understandable.Near the end of the story, I was truly drawn in. I felt that Heloise and Abelard made peace with their past and were there for each other even when separated. So that when they reached the ends of their lives, they were at peace with themselves as well.
—Maria

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