When you read the title I hope you didn’t think I was the Summer Queen. As I have aged I have developed a love-hate relationship with summer. I love the long days, the beach, the gardens, and the slower pace. I detest humidity, 100-degree days, mosquitos, and fireworks.
The Summer Queen referred to is Eleanor of Aquitaine and the book by Elizabeth Chadwick is the first in a trilogy about this fascinating woman. I do love me some historic fiction and this book really delivers on the details.
Alienor (as she would have spelled and pronounced it herself) was a 12th Century Duchess, Queen, and prisoner who, after the death of her father William X, Duke of Aquitaine, became the Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right and the following summer married the young prince Louis of France. Within a year, Louis’ father dies making the young couple King and Queen of France. Louis, originally meant for the church but thrust into the succession due to the death of his brother was devout to the point of fanaticism, and the marriage which began happily and hopefully enough devolved into a deep animosity between the two of them. The lack of male children, always blamed on the woman, the political treachery, and double-dealing all result in the breakdown of this tenuous political marriage. Throw in a crusade, in which Louis insists his wife travel through awful conditions, and Alienor finds herself seeking to remain in Jerusalem with her Uncle Raymond while begging the Pope for an annulment.
This did not work out for her, she was kidnapped by her husband’s enuch, (yes, he had a enuch) who was a cruel, violent man, utterly loyal to Louis. Alienor was obliged to join her husband and upon her return to France, finally convinces him to seek an annulment.
After the annulment, Alienor marries Henry II of England and becomes Queen of England. Her life is no less complicated and as soon as I finished this first novel in the trilogy I had to get the remaining two.
Chadwick brings a lot of rich detail to these novels. The descriptions of the clothes, the food, and the sights and sounds that surround her characters do put you in the time and place. I particularly loved the descriptions of her beloved Aquitaine, they are some of the best prose in the book. Chadwick obviously spent a lot of time on research not only about Alienor’s life but also about the everyday lives of people of the time. I love the details.
Chadwick also portrays Alienor as a woman of her time and not as a modern feminist or as a scheming hussy which is a trap many authors of historical fiction fall into and it never fails to annoy me. Alienor is a 12th-century noblewoman who has all of the failings and strengths that come with being born into that position.
As a warning you should know that the medievals were not a prudish group and some of the descriptions, while not detailed, leave the reader in no doubt as to the activities engaged in, so should you be sensitive to that know that you may have to skip a page here and there or fast forward if you choose to listen.
This trilogy would make a great summer read if you enjoy this type of fiction. I am not a huge fan of what is generally known as beach reads which are generally romance novels and very light reading. Those books have their place and I have been known to enjoy one here and there but for the most part, I’m not grabbing them off the shelf. This kind of thing is much more my style, and it still has summer in the title. So there, a summer read.
Here’s the whole trilogy if you are interested. Elizabeth Chadwick has written many novels set in the Middle Ages so if that is your cup of tea you might want to check her out.
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My flower garden is popping this week. Are you having any abundance garden-wise?
Maybe I'll check it out. I've been fascinated with the reigns of her sons Richard and John for years. But, I have to admit, I will always picture Katherine Hepburn whenever I think of Eleanor!!