I'm not really sure what I was expecting...
Let's start with the cover >>>>
I think you know what I mean. All fluff and no substance. I really should have seen it coming.
This book is about one of my favourite women in history but I have to be honest; I wrote something similar to this when I was 15...
The characters have no real depth. There are no differences between their inner and outer motives. The main character: Eleanor has no substance. Eleanor of Aquitaine was not known for her humility but in this book she is egotistical to a fault. I felt like I was reading a book written by one of those jacked-up, feminist ranters...
"I was Eleanor of Aquitaine..."
"My looking glass confirmed what could have been mere flattery..."
"I was beautiful..."
"I was the Duchess of Aquitaine..."
Blah, blah, blah, blah...
Eleanor was not known to be humble but a women who achieved what she did in her age could not have been. She had strong will and determination, neither of which come through in this book. The Eleanor in the book is hedonistic and shallow. Her entire life revolves around the bedchamber and her need to be treated well by the men she allows in her bed. In real life she was known for her lovers and her great need for a male heir but WHERE were the politics???
We're talking about a woman who divorced the King of France despite the fact she had no consent from the Pope. WHERE were the mind games, the resourcefulness, the strategies? There were no seeds planted to reaped at a later chapter. Everything in the book is decided within a few lines and is put into action right away. She took on one of the main servants of the King's mother because the girl said she could use her advice... Does that make sense at all? This girl Agnes turns up in her chambers and says that she will always tell the Queen the truth and she gets the job! She becomes Eleanor's right-hand maid... Please, please, please... Eleanor not once suspects that this girl could be a spy. She never once questions the girl's advice. She never once questions whether the girl is telling the truth or not. But I think that's not the worst part. The worst part is that this girl turns out to be nothing but a servant willing to serve... Where's the depth?
The language of the book is bland to a fault... The ENTIRE book is like: King Louis is like a monk so she can't get some from him but she really fancies this guy cause he's so handsome but then there's my uncle who is perfect in every way but we're related so I think I'll just go and marry the first guy I took on as a lover's son cause he's younger and knows what he wants and magical in the bedroom...
Disappointed?
I know I was.
It says on the cover "Better than Philippa Gregory - The Bookseller". I'm no fan of Gregory either; she's another author that writes for women's vanity but at least one of her book became a movie and three more a series...
Eleanor of Aquitaine grew up in a comparatively modern part of France as we know it; with a grandfather who was known for his talent as a poet. She was educated. She grew up knowing she would inherit her father's land and spent her youth travelling them with him to learn how to govern them. She knew how to manipulate people. She was cultured and fashionable. And most importantly she knew what she wanted. We are talking about a women who divorced the King of France in the 12th century...
She was not a ranting, hyped-up feminist...
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