Joannie N. (Nedheadz) reviewed on 11/27/2009 + 128 more book reviews

I understand that historical fiction sometimes need 'disposable' characters to blend the events and other characters together, but there are at least 3 story events based on contrived characters that string the story out and after the time invested, you almost expect to hear from them again in the story - you don't, so could the story have been told without them?

The story of Henry I's daughter Maud's struggle as a woman to be taken seriously as a ruler or the story of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine's passionate romance and ultimate rise to England's thrown. Perhaps the book encompasses too much? Breaking it into two parts: Maud's Story and Henry II's, makes it more manageable. You'll admire Maud's determination to come into her own independence and the political battles she must struggle concurrent to her own personal stuggle of how to 'act'. An early feminist, though she'd never have known it. Henry's story is one of coming of age and having that sense of knowing that made him a natural leader interlaced with passion.

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