Customer Reviews

Duchess of Aquitaine: A Novel of Eleanor

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Eleanor of Aquitane is one of the most fascinating figures of medieval history. A woman of legendary beauty, strength and intelligence, she carved out a position of power in a era thoroughly hostile to women. And created a dynasty of kings whose names are legendary.

With that said, this book presents her as more of a perky "cheerleader" who relies on binding men to her by her beauty and possessions. There is no character development or depth-the characters remain as one dimensional as cardboard cutouts.

If interested in historical fiction concerning Eleanor, try Sharon Kay Peman. A far better writer, her books "When Christ and His Saints Slept" and "Time and Chance" (and her mystery series "Queen's Man", etc) capture not only the essence of the this period, but also clothe the players in layers of personality. So much so that they seem to reach out to us across the centuries and seem real.

The legendary Eleanor of Aquitaine cuts her teeth on the politics of expediency, cobbling together a marriage in 1137 with the son and heir of Louis the Fat, Louis VII, "pale, blonde, beardless, soft as a girl, with meek eyes cast down like a novice monk's." Thinking this a masterful bargain, Eleanor, at fifteen, controls Aquitaine and Poitou after he father's untimely death, seeking only to secure her lands and her person from plundering by a less noble union. It is an impulsive match she will learn to regret as the years pass, Louis a stern spiritual taskmaster with a cold and passionless heart. The saintly Louis is more brutal in his icy contempt for others than any soldier, bereft of compassion, as rigid in his beliefs as a saint and just as dangerous. Upon his arrival to claim his bride, his southern retainers trample Aquitaine and Poitou as though they are poor stepchildren, earning the enmity of Eleanor's subjects.

On the fateful day of her marriage, Eleanor's mistake is in assuming that her intended, the future King of France, is a potential political astute, rather than an unwitting and insecure pawn, who might better spend his days in self-flagellation and repentance in a dank monastery cell. Eleanor underestimates the nature of the man she marries and his commitment to his spiritual life. Louis the Pious will never appreciate his wife's talent for politics or her female charms, too enraptured by the nature of sin to live in the real world. On Crusade with Louis in 1147, Eleanor realizes the depth of her unhappiness and the futility of her struggle against men who will not countenance the intelligence of women. After humiliating defeat, Louis leaves the land of the infidels, revising his actions until he has become a hero, Eleanor the cause of the losses.

Ball's decidedly feminist-friendly Eleanor has reached womanhood despite a stifling environment, anxious to be free of Louis and once more in control of her own property. Perhaps this is her only real conceit, for Eleanor is pawn to any man who can claim her once she leaves Louis' protection. So she makes another educated gamble, allying herself with Henry Plantagenet, who will be King Henry II of England, eschewing the emotional vacuum of her marriage to Louis for a future with Henry. Eleanor is remembered as a pawn of history, a frivolous and unfaithful wife. Perhaps not. Surviving indifference, betrayal and a natural prejudice against the female sex, the extraordinary Eleanor of Aquitaine is born to rule, Queen of France, future Queen of England and mother of Richard the Lionheart; unfortunately Louis is too blinded by asceticism and his own virtue to appreciate the value of such a consort. Luan Gaines/ 2006.

I've never read a non-fictional book about Eleanor of Aquitaine but I know something of her life story and I've read a number of novels in which she featured (by authors such as Sharon K. Penman, Pamela Kaufman, Annette Motley and others) and from this I have gotten a very strong impression of her character. She was strong, uncompromising, smarter then most of the men in her age and didn't know when to back down. This novel tells the story of Eleanor's life from when her father died and she had to marry the King of France to keep her lands, to when she ditches the queen for Henry Plantagenet, the future Henry II of England. And I just didn't get the same impression of the character of Eleanor from this book.

This is an interesting novel though. It has a slight pagan slant to it, starting off with a description of a dance to bring on the spring equinox which makes a pretty clear statement about the divinity of women. Then the first chapter is told from the point of view of a saint, and throughout the book there are visions and slight hints of a sort of catholic/nature magic mix which is helping Eleanor's destiny. But these things are so slight in the novel that they don't really make an impact. If the angle had been explored more I think this would have been a far better and definitely more different book. As it stands this a run of the mill historical novel with some mystical imagery thrown in.

And Eleanor, as smart and politically canny as she is shown in this book, just didn't fit with what I know about her, and certainly didn't jive with the "other" fictional Eleanor's I have read about. This could be a deliberate attempt for verity on the author's part, or just how the author viewed her, but when a character is so firmly established in history, and historical fiction, any variation always seems weird. Like you're reading about someone else who happens to have the same name and history as the person.

Basically, I did enjoy this novel. I learned some things from it (for example, apparently the Knights Templar were not to bathe as part of their holy orders and could easily be identified by the stench one emitted) and it wasn't badly written. But I felt Eleanor was diluted in character and the mystical angle could have been explored more.

Three stars.

At 15, Eleanor knows as the heiress to Aquitaine and Poitou, men will come out of woodwork to claim her as their bride upon the death of her father. She believes that no one less than a king should be her husband. Her goal is to become the Queen of France and not the wife of some duke or worse.

The Duchess achieves her objective when she marries King Louis VII, but finds her spouse a loser especially after the disastrous Second Crusade. Concluding he is not worthy of her Eleanor looks across the Channel where Geoffrey of Anjou reigns. However, following her divorce of Louis VII, it is the son Henry Plantagenet that catches her attention.

Biographical fiction fans will receive immense pleasure from this deep look at a woman of ambition who marries to achieve her political objective of ruling as a queen. Eleanor sets her mind to become the monarch early on and chooses Louis, who she dubs a loser so she turns to the English throne. The descriptions of the era in France, the Holy Land, Byzantine, and England run deep while the key characters come alive. Margaret Ball provides a powerful look at the twelfth century through the escapes of Eleanor, queen of two countries.

Harriet Klausner

I know the author and read the manuscript before it was published. I told Margaret that she could not wander so far off the actual records to write a novel about an well documented person like Eleanor of Aquitaine. Whereupon Margaret showed me her source material and told me that she had documented most events better than most professional historians could do.

An excellent novel with elements of Magical Realism.

Delightful story! I love reading about women (especially historical women, even if they are fictionalized) who are strong, smart and witty. Eleanor of Aquitaine was all of these things and more.

This is a book that I will read again and again.

This is a romantic novel written for a teen age reader.

The author does poor justice to one of the great women of history.

I got tired of the soap opera and didn't finsih the book.