This is a novel about Eleanor of Provence. Unlike The Silken Rose, which it predates, it covers Eleanor’s childhood, and also her life after the death of Henry III. It’s pretty much historically accurate, allowing for the fact we don’t really know whether incidents such as Eleanor of Castile sucking poison out of her husband’s wound really happened, shows life at the courts of Provence, France and Scotland as well as England, and is generally very enjoyable.
However, it’s very biased in Eleanor’s favour. Only a couple of lines are devoted to her mistreatment of Jews on her lands, the de Montforts are very much shown as being the baddies, and no criticism is attached to her over the number of her relatives given important positions. It’s told in the first person so that’s perhaps inevitable, but, as much as I dislike the de Montforts, I’m not a great fan of Eleanor, so that grated on me a bit. It’s a good historical novel, though, and there aren’t many books about Henry III and Eleanor of Provence so it was good to find another one.
setinthepast 