Just Finished Reading: The Captive Queen by Alison Weir

The small Kingdom of France in the year 1151. Queen Eleanor, late of Aquitaine is bored with her life in the North and with her less than attentive husband. She dreams of having a passionate lover and returning to her beloved southern homeland. Almost as if fated she meets Henry of Anjou, known as Henry Plantagenet and start a torrid affair. Scheming to be together Eleanor manufactures a divorce settlement with Louis of France and runs into the arms of Henry to become his wife and with their marriage creating a vast empire which expands further with Henry’s ascension to the English throne. But slowly, despite their continued passion for each other, Eleanor’s grip on power begins to recede as her husband reduces her role within what he regards as his domain. Even producing a series of children that will continue the Empire into the future – including two future Kings of England – fails to secure her position. As battle lines are drawn – both literally and metaphorically – the whole of Europe holds its breath awaiting the start of a drawn out and bloody civil war. Central to its outcome is the tempestuous relationship between two of the towering characters of the age: Henry II and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.

After reading two of her previous novels – Innocent Traitor and The Lady Elizabeth – I was really looking forward to this one. I hardly know anything about Eleanor or about that historical period so hoped to get at least some insights into it before reading actual history books on the topic. I was however more than a little disappointed. I had heard that Eleanor was something special, a strong and forceful character that inspired women down the ages. She certainly came across as a woman who knew her own mind and as someone used to getting her own way even, which was still fairly unusual in that time, ruling over men who had, apparently, the greatest respect for her. Unfortunately she also came across as someone ruled by her passions and as someone who was ultimately impotent against the power of her husband who repeatedly overruled her, repeatedly impregnated her and for over a decade had her imprisoned for daring to question his authority! This was, I couldn’t help thinking, not exactly the feminist icon I was expecting. After reading about, and being very much impressed with, both Lady Jane Grey and the Lady Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth I) I’m afraid that Eleanor came across as a great letdown as far as strong women go. What made it worse for me, and made this novel somewhat of a slog, was that not a great deal happened to Eleanor. Much of the action in her life too place, as it where, off camera and she only heard about battles and deaths through letters delivered to her either at her own court or later under house arrest. Many of the great characters of the age – including her favourite son Richard who became know as Lionheart – came across either as petulant teenagers or two dimensional actors in someone else’s play. I honestly found most of this novel to be rather dull which came as somewhat of a disappointing surprise after enjoying her previous works so much. Maybe I simply looked forward to it too much or maybe I simply didn’t like Eleanor in the same way that I admired Jane or Elizabeth. Whatever it was it seriously diminished my enjoyment of this book.