Captive Queen: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitane

Once I got into it, I very much enjoyed this novel by Alison Weir about Eleanor of Aquitane. I did have a hard time warming to the characters - they initially seemed a bit too bodice-ripper and not enough historical fiction, but that was remedied after the first few chapters.

Eleanor was a pretty powerful woman for the 12th century. She was married to King Louis of France (Louis VII I think), but when they didn't produce any male heirs the marriage was annulled and she married Henry of Anjou, who would go on to become King Henry II of England. With Henry she had a slew of children, including two future kings of England. But this novel focuses most on the passionate and volatile relationship between Eleanor and Henry.

There's a lot going on in this novel, and we meet some historical heavyweights like Thomas Beckett and Richard the Lionheart. And it's a long novel - 500 pages or so. But I felt like I learned a lot about historical figures that I'm not really familiar with - I tend to focus more on British history a couple hundred years after this. And Weir writes a great afterword that nicely wraps up the novel. I'll definitely look for more of her work.

Captive Queen