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The Summer Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy 9781847445452 Books

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The Summer Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy 9781847445452 Books

The Summer Queen: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine

--Alienor woke at dawn. The tall candle that had been left to burn all night was almost a stub, and even through the closed shutters she could hear the cockerels on roosts, walls, and dung heaps, crowing the city of Poitiers awake. --

Eleanor of Aquitaine, the English Queen who was the bride stolen from the French King. I have read exactly one romance novel about her story in the past and I can't recall a single detail. The fact is, she's a heavy-weighted historical person. The mother of three kings, the matron of the Plantagenet dynasty. With every historical figure, there is a lot known about their lives but even more that is unknown.

Now Elizabeth Chadwick is an amazing author. She is the author of my absolutely favourite novel, Children of Destiny, which I am so disappointed I cannot get on Kindle, which means I will be dragging out my paperback to review. But back to Eleanor, or rather Alienor. I can think of no better author to tackle this great historical figure then Elizabeth Chadwick.

And she does tackle it. In exquisite detail. And unfortunately, I found it was too many details for me. The start of the novel was amazing, the story of a young girl who loves her father, saying goodbye as he goes on a religious pilgrimage. This young girl soon finds herself the Duchess of Aquitaine after his passing and in the same moment, her apparent betrothal to the prince of France.

Thinking about the story in abstracts, it actually still gets me very excited, because it is a story of love, hope, power and sadness. But when it comes down to the politics, those were heavy-handed and frankly, boring. There will be a party of novel lovers who will enjoy the absolute meticulous details that went into this novel.

Alienor's development from a child (because even at 13 and getting married, she is a child) to a woman is amazing. She holds on to a notion of freedom throughout. And there is the deep underlying sadness at the reality of her position. Despite being the heir to Aquitaine, her worth is nothing without a husband. That is why her marriage to Louis is so important. And even as the Queen of France her only value is to bear children, particularly a male heir. She accepts this with as much humility as she could muster. Unfortunately this leaves her bitter, particularly towards her daughters. It's a perpetual cycle.

Louis is another interesting character. He starts as a young, scared boy who is thrown into a marriage at a point when he was just grappling with the reality that he would not be dedicating his life to God. And this taints his reign becoming obsessed with religious propriety. He ends up mistrustful of Alienor for being a woman and his passion in the physical act of love turns into anger when she fails to have a son. He ends up almost scary and though he doesn't often physically harm Alienor, he very obviously mentally harms her.

Petronilla, the younger sister of Alienor, is a minor character but extremely colourful. She is naive and desperate in love. She finds temporary happiness in marriage but her deep seeded issues are obvious and become more pronounced as the novel progresses.

I am tempted to continue the series because I really want to know more about Alienor's life as she becomes Queen a second time. To realize her fear of moving even further away from her beloved Aquitaine. To see her reaction when she realizes her second husband's infidelity. Or does his love for her make him leave his many mistresses? I felt a slight disappointment that Henry and Alienor married out of power arrangement as opposed to passion but I believe the passion is there and will very obviously grow.

Rating: 6/10

Don't confuse this rating as an endorsement to skip this novel. But understand what you're getting into. Filter through the dragging politics and engross yourself in the interesting characters and heartbreaking circumstances.

Author: Elizabeth Chadwick
Series: Eleanor of Aquitaine #1

Date completed: June 19, 2016
Length: long, 12-14 hours
Source of book: Bookbub deal May 2015, purchased from Amazon.com for $1.99. Regular price $9.99

Read more of my reviews at [...]


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The Summer Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy 9781847445452 Books Reviews

I loved this novel. Ms. Chadwick has once again proven herself to be a master at bringing the medieval world to life and every second I spent there was enchanting. I have read many novels about Eleanor of Aquitaine but this one was particularly brilliant. Her character jumps off the page to become a living, breathing, medieval woman; a product of her time, not ours. Too often we apply our modern standards and sentiments to historical circumstance. It is why historical figures such as Eleanor are often portrayed as clearly black or white; good or evil, saint or sinner, chaste or promiscuous. By giving us insight into the medieval mindset Ms. Chadwick has allowed us to view Eleanor in the correct setting. I'll say it again, nobody brings the medieval world to life like Elizabeth Chadwick.
The first in a trilogy, this novel focuses upon Eleanor's early life as a young adolescent dealing with the death of her father and then as a young wife dealing with a husband that has an overly complex nature. It is well known that Eleanor's marriage with her first husband Louis was a stormy relationship. Not even the prestige of being Queen of France could keep her from seeking an annulment. It was fascinating how in this novel Eleanor views reaching her Uncle Raymond in Antioch as the means to getting what she wants. Her crusade to the Holy Land becomes her own personal crusade to her own promised land...a land free of Louis. There are no lecherous sentiments here, Eleanor does not have a sexual relationship with her uncle. Her uncle is merely a man who Eleanor feels can help her, but unfortunately Louis and his horrible court favorite Thierry de Galeran prevent them from spending more than nine days together and Eleanor never sees Raymond again.
Once back in France and with the disappointment of daughter number two in the cradle, Louis begins to see that an annulment could be beneficial for him also. Once Eleanor begins to ponder her freedom from Louis she realizes that she must remarry not only for own personal safety but for the safety of her beloved Aquitaine. What I found particularly intriguing was that this is the first novel which I've read about Eleanor that has the initiation of the marriage of Eleanor and Henry placed firmly at Geoffrey of Anjou's feet. Henry's father is adamant that his son should marry Eleanor even before Henry has laid eyes on her himself. In all my previously read novels the marriage has been clearly initiated by Eleanor and Henry themselves, through a very strong and mutual attraction between the pair. Although this paints a romantic portrait, Ms. Chadwick is sound in her argument that politics trumps passion in the medieval world and Geoffrey of Anjou is nothing if not an ambitious politician. The attraction between Eleanor and Henry comes later in this novel. So far the relationship is fiery but still amicable, and I very much look forward to seeing how Ms. Chadwick portrays it's progression. I just know that this trilogy will keep me riveted throughout.
Great book. I am reading the second book now. Love it!
The Summer Queen A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine

--Alienor woke at dawn. The tall candle that had been left to burn all night was almost a stub, and even through the closed shutters she could hear the cockerels on roosts, walls, and dung heaps, crowing the city of Poitiers awake. --

Eleanor of Aquitaine, the English Queen who was the bride stolen from the French King. I have read exactly one romance novel about her story in the past and I can't recall a single detail. The fact is, she's a heavy-weighted historical person. The mother of three kings, the matron of the Plantagenet dynasty. With every historical figure, there is a lot known about their lives but even more that is unknown.

Now Elizabeth Chadwick is an amazing author. She is the author of my absolutely favourite novel, Children of Destiny, which I am so disappointed I cannot get on , which means I will be dragging out my paperback to review. But back to Eleanor, or rather Alienor. I can think of no better author to tackle this great historical figure then Elizabeth Chadwick.

And she does tackle it. In exquisite detail. And unfortunately, I found it was too many details for me. The start of the novel was amazing, the story of a young girl who loves her father, saying goodbye as he goes on a religious pilgrimage. This young girl soon finds herself the Duchess of Aquitaine after his passing and in the same moment, her apparent betrothal to the prince of France.

Thinking about the story in abstracts, it actually still gets me very excited, because it is a story of love, hope, power and sadness. But when it comes down to the politics, those were heavy-handed and frankly, boring. There will be a party of novel lovers who will enjoy the absolute meticulous details that went into this novel.

Alienor's development from a child (because even at 13 and getting married, she is a child) to a woman is amazing. She holds on to a notion of freedom throughout. And there is the deep underlying sadness at the reality of her position. Despite being the heir to Aquitaine, her worth is nothing without a husband. That is why her marriage to Louis is so important. And even as the Queen of France her only value is to bear children, particularly a male heir. She accepts this with as much humility as she could muster. Unfortunately this leaves her bitter, particularly towards her daughters. It's a perpetual cycle.

Louis is another interesting character. He starts as a young, scared boy who is thrown into a marriage at a point when he was just grappling with the reality that he would not be dedicating his life to God. And this taints his reign becoming obsessed with religious propriety. He ends up mistrustful of Alienor for being a woman and his passion in the physical act of love turns into anger when she fails to have a son. He ends up almost scary and though he doesn't often physically harm Alienor, he very obviously mentally harms her.

Petronilla, the younger sister of Alienor, is a minor character but extremely colourful. She is naive and desperate in love. She finds temporary happiness in marriage but her deep seeded issues are obvious and become more pronounced as the novel progresses.

I am tempted to continue the series because I really want to know more about Alienor's life as she becomes Queen a second time. To realize her fear of moving even further away from her beloved Aquitaine. To see her reaction when she realizes her second husband's infidelity. Or does his love for her make him leave his many mistresses? I felt a slight disappointment that Henry and Alienor married out of power arrangement as opposed to passion but I believe the passion is there and will very obviously grow.

Rating 6/10

Don't confuse this rating as an endorsement to skip this novel. But understand what you're getting into. Filter through the dragging politics and engross yourself in the interesting characters and heartbreaking circumstances.

Author Elizabeth Chadwick
Series Eleanor of Aquitaine #1

Date completed June 19, 2016
Length long, 12-14 hours
Source of book Bookbub deal May 2015, purchased from for $1.99. Regular price $9.99

Read more of my reviews at [...]