Quite a good book focused on the life an reign of one of the perhaps lesser known Kings of England, Henry III and his relationship with his French Queen Eleanor de Provence. Henry not only devoted but was one of the rare kings who was faithful to his wife, but his devotion proved to be a double edged sword, and his reluctance to deal with Eleanor's extravangance and manipualtion of him eventually have disastrouns consequences for the whole Kingdom. The narrative is a little repetitive, and the way that the novel focuses as much on personal relationships of the leading characters as much as politcal events may be off-putting for some. I found the depiction of the character, actions and motivations of some of the secondary historical figures fascinating, particularly Prince Edward (later Edward I Longshanks) and the King's Brother John Duke of Cornwall. Plaidy's depiction of Prince Edward was unusually sympathetic (though not uncritical) and her explanation for one controversial incident in teenage years makes seems to make sense and causes me to question the assertion that this incident serves as proof of Edward's allegedly uncompomisingly and uncurably evil nature.
I really wanted to like this book. I absolutely LOVED Plaidy's Tudor saga and the Borgia books and thought, what with this novel being about the people I enjoy studying, I would love this too.Sadly, the novel failed to come to life for me. It felt rushed, almost as if the author couldn't be bothered to tell the story of Henry and Eleanor. There was nothing real- no grit, no meat, no emotion; just a very basic and bare retelling of the key points of Eleanor's life with a bit of dialogue thrown in. Scenes such as the birth of a child, weddings, saying goodbye to loved ones etc. that should have been filled with feeling were dealt with in a sentence or two. Scene setting was often non-existent and the prose was repetitive.I was bored for most of the time I was reading this and probably won't be reading any more of Plaidy's Plantagenet novels. The Tudor and Lucrezia Borgia novels were far superior.
Do You like book The Queen From Provence (1982)?
great book!!!!!!!!!! She´s my favorite author.
—Monica Batiz
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Jean Plaidy's style is less frenetic than Philippa Gregory's, whose novels I discovered recently and has got me back to reading historical fiction. It has been about 20 years or more since I last read any Jean Plaidy novels, and I now want to read more.This novel is set during a period of history about which I know very little - I have always been a fan of the tudors. Jean Plaidy portrays Henry III as good family man, but a fairly weak and selfish king. The final bloody battles with Simon de Montfort and his followers was inevitable, and even understandable. Great escapism, and I always learn something from these kinds of novels.
—Ali
