Beloved Enemy
The Passions of Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Novel
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3.2 • 6 Ratings
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
In the twelfth century, as France and England compete for dominion, one woman’s passions and ambitions will change history . . .
“Aquitaine is mine. It will never belong to anyone else.” With these words, fifteen-year-old Eleanor seals her fate. Aquitaine is under the French king’s safekeeping, and Eleanor, the Duke of Aquitaine’s eldest daughter, knows she must wed Prince Louis in order to insure the future of her beloved duchy. Fiercely independent, filled with untapped desire, the woman who would be queen must provide Louis VII, her monkish husband, with heirs. But it is young Henry of Anjou who catches Eleanor’s eye—and sets fire to her heart. Ruled by a raging drive to succeed, Henry vows that he will not be cheated of his rightful place on the English throne. Yet the newly christened Duke of Normandy is thoroughly enraptured by the French queen. In Eleanor, Henry knows he has found a woman whose hunger for life and glory matches his own. So begins a passionate love that will span decades and change the course of history.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Brisk, cogent and bristling with engaging characters, this sequel to The Fatal Crown follows the wily Eleanor of Aquitaine through 32 tumultuous years. Set between 1130 and 1162, Jones's new saga is pure romance, with a crusade to the Holy Land, civil war in England and devious political machinations used as colorful yet secondary background. Indulged, raised with pageantry and splendor, the fiery Eleanor becomes at age 15 heiress to the rich duchy of Aquitaine, and reluctantly marries Louis VII (``a huge, harmless rabbit''), the pallid, deeply pious French prince who ascends to the throne of France the day after the wedding. But the strong-minded Eleanor still has ideas of her own. (``If you do not care for the way things are, change them,'' counseled her equally independent grandmother.) After a divorce is granted because there is no heir to the throne, Eleanor marries the lusty Henry of Anjou, soon to become England's monarch, and the two give birth to a stormy yet fruitful dynasty that will bring prosperity to a land torn by civil war and rampant corruption. Some fascinating historical personages strut across the pages: the hostile Abbe Suger; Henry's formidable mother, Maud; Bellebelle, Henry's compliant mistress; and Thomas a Becket, the shrewd and ambitious chancellor who is about to become Archbishop of Canterbury. Loose ends deftly left untied point to yet another intriguing sequel.
