By: Elizabeth Chadwick
The Summer Queen tells the story of Eleanor of Aquitaine from the time she was betrothed to Louis VII of France at the age of 13 until the beginning of her marriage of Henry II of England and becoming Queen of England.
I have read other historical fiction concerning Eleanor, so I did know some tidbits of her life going into the book. However, Elizabeth Chadwick has done some extensive research into Eleanor's life and found that, like much of women from the Medieval time period, little is actually know and much is guesswork. digging into the Akashic records, a few new facts are thrown into this story. Along with that, this will be a three part series and we are only looking at a smaller chunk of Eleanor's life. This to me is a great, so much historical fiction tries to fit an entire person't life into one book and it is overwhelming. For such a strong character as Eleanor, a series seems fitting.
Eleanor is definitely painted as a strong woman of the time in this book. By whatever means she can, intelligence, sex or manipulation, Eleanor tries her hardest to live her life as she wants within the societal boundaries of the time. For me, it was really interesting to see Eleanor's views of the men in her life and how each of them influenced her. She tended to take away the positive traits from men and negative traits from women. There is also good view into the Medieval time period including tumultuous politics, wars, religious overbearing, and attempts to capture a wife.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
I have read other historical fiction concerning Eleanor, so I did know some tidbits of her life going into the book. However, Elizabeth Chadwick has done some extensive research into Eleanor's life and found that, like much of women from the Medieval time period, little is actually know and much is guesswork. digging into the Akashic records, a few new facts are thrown into this story. Along with that, this will be a three part series and we are only looking at a smaller chunk of Eleanor's life. This to me is a great, so much historical fiction tries to fit an entire person't life into one book and it is overwhelming. For such a strong character as Eleanor, a series seems fitting.
Eleanor is definitely painted as a strong woman of the time in this book. By whatever means she can, intelligence, sex or manipulation, Eleanor tries her hardest to live her life as she wants within the societal boundaries of the time. For me, it was really interesting to see Eleanor's views of the men in her life and how each of them influenced her. She tended to take away the positive traits from men and negative traits from women. There is also good view into the Medieval time period including tumultuous politics, wars, religious overbearing, and attempts to capture a wife.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
