The Captive Queen

Description

A top ten bestselling novelist and historian recreates in fiction the most extraordinary and tempestuous marriage in history It is the year 1152, and a beautiful woman rides through France, fleeing her crown, her two young daughters and a shattered marriage. Her husband, Louis of France has been more monk than monarch, and certainly not a lover. Now Eleanor of Aquitaine has one sole purpose- to return to her duchy and marry the man she loves, Henry Plantagenet, destined for greatness as King of England. It will be a union founded on lust, renowned as one of the most vicious marriages in history, and it will go on to forge a great empire and a devilish brood. This is a story of the making of nations, and of passionate conflicts- between Henry II and Thomas Becket; between Eleanor and Henry's formidable mother Matilda; between father and sons, as Henry's children take up arms against him - and finally between Henry and Eleanor herself.

Alison Weir is one of Britain's top-selling historians. She is the author of numerous works of history and historical fiction, specialising in the medieval and Tudor periods. Her bestselling history books include The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Elizabeth of York and, most recently, The Lost Tudor Princess. Her novels include Innocent Traitor, Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen and Anne Boleyn: A King's Obsession. She is an Honorary Life Patron of Historic Royal Palaces. She is married with two adult children and lives and works in Surrey.

A vibrant historical novel that explores the rocky relationship between Henry Plantagenet and Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose union produced King John and Richard the Lionheart * Marie Claire * A tumultous tale, told here with insight, empathy, vitality and vision . . . A brilliant portrayal of a marriage in meltdown * Lancashire Evening Post * Alison Weir deserves the large and loyal popular following for her readable historical biographies . . . Eleanor of Aquitaine is the most fabulous (literally) of subjects * Viewspaper * Weir provides immense satisfaction. She writes in a pacy, vivid style, engaging the heart as well as the mind * Independent *