To Be Queen by Christy EnglishWith captivating and lyrical prose, the author of The Queen's Pawn delves into the early life of the legendary Eleanor of Aquitaine...
Duchess at fifteen, Eleanor of Aquitaine marries the King of France. But will she find that she must pay too high a price to be queen?
Although Louis VII is enamored of his bride, the newly crowned king is easily manipulated by forces in the Church. Trapped in a loveless marriage, Eleanor fights for her freedom and for the love of her life. In the arms of Henry of Normandy, Eleanor may finally find the passion she longs for, and the means to fulfill her legacy as Queen.
My Thoughts:
This novel about Eleanor of Aquitaine by Christy English tells the story of Eleanor during her time as Queen of France with Louis VII. At 15, after her father dies Eleanor becomes Duchess of Aquitaine and Countess of Poitiers and within months becomes the queen consort of Louis VII, King of France. Eleanor soon finds that being Queen of France is not what she expected. Parisians do not like her and her husband loves her but does not often share a bed with Eleanor and he prefers the church. Eleanor goes with her husband on the Second Crusade, which was not successful. After having two daughters by Louis, Eleanor wants to have her marriage annuled. The church would not allow it and the pope blessed their marriage in hopes that a son would be born for the throne. This does not happen and eventually the marriage between Louis and Eleanor is annulled. Eleanor meets the love of her life, Henry II, Duke of the Normans, and they marry after her marriage is annulled. Eleanor is the only woman to have been queen of both France and England. In this novel, Christy English has brought this era to light as not a lot novels have been written about her early years. As queen to Louis, I do not think that Eleanor was at her full potential, as we know that in later years she was a very powerful woman. I enjoyed this accounting of Eleanor of Aquitaine and hope to read more by this author. Like history?? Then this a book for your collection..
You can read more about Christy at her blog here and like her on Facebook here
I received this book from Christy English for review and I was not compensated for my review.
Great review, Kathleen! I have this one for review and I still haven't got to it. I know Christy probably wants to kill me! Will I ever get caught up on review books? I really hope so. =O) But honestly, I really want to get to this one, as I love Christy's writing and I love me some Eleanor!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michelle, it did take me awhile to read this but I decided that I needed to do it because it was only fair to Christy to finish it. The TBR stack will still be there.
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