Captive Queen

Captive Queen: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir

I've wanted to read this book for a while as I had really enjoyed The Wars of the Roses. In that book I had been thrilled with her writing style, using a mixture of historical fact, conjecture and creative license.

On starting this book I remember being a little disappointed at first because it seemed quite different from the other, as if it had been written for a purely fictional audience. I felt like I had been thrown onto the set of HBO's The Tudors with all the abundant sex scenes and passion detailing the early relationship between Eleanor and Henry. Every time I turned the page they were at it again, and frankly I'm amazed they didn't both die of exhaustion!

For much of the early part of the book I had flashbacks to things I had read in Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth and by the time I reached the murder of Thomas Becket I was replaying the imaginary movie I had originally made up in my head a year ago. Then towards the end of the book, when Henry and his sons are warring against each other, I kept waiting for Russell Crow to make an appearance. My mind was running through the early scenes of the latest Robin Hood movie recalling the similarities between the two and each of these famously historical figures had Hollywood faces.

Moving through the pages though was a very easy read as layer after layer of depth is added to each of the characters. Each of them becoming quite complex and really having you wanting to go off in search of more information about them. Now I find myself with a long list of people I would like to read more about. You really start to feel for each of these historical figures regardless of whether you consider them a "good guy" or a "bad guy". The descriptive change in Eleanor's demeanor while she is locked in her tower as Henry's prisoner is very subtle. Then later, after they have mellowed a little, the momentary tenderness that Henry and Eleanor show towards each other in their old age is very compelling as you again catch glimpses of why they originally came together but are sadden by the fact that they had grown so far apart.

I ended up thoroughly enjoying this book, even reading the authors notes at the end, which is something I very rarely do. Now I have to tackle my self-created further reading list...