Powerful historical fiction.

An excellent historical novel, really well written, with some great characters. I didn't really care for the narration, I found it a little weak for such a strong character as Eleanor, but still really enjoyed the book overall.

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This book has been most enjoyable.

Fantastic loved every second of this story, from one of my favourite authors.A must listen..

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Intriguing!

Fantastic story, eminently likeable heroine, plenty of passion, some pain and frustration, but lavishly beautiful. The narrator's voice came across as a little girly, but enhanced the image of young and innocent Alienor.

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3 people found this helpful

Very interesting way to understand more about an amazing historical figure

Although stated as fiction, the author has researched the main characters at length, so much of the content is based on actual events and genuine relationships, making the book all the more interesting

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great story

I found it to be a slow burn, but once you get into it, hard to put down. thoroughly enjoyed.

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Romanticized version

This novel is clearly well researched with tons of detail to build up the story. The author does embellish with her romance and sex scenes which can weaken the feeling of realism and depth in the story telling.

The narrator mis pronounces certain words and obviously doesn't know how to pronounce some of the French place names. Her reading is a bit light and girlish for such a strong character. However she does read pleasantly and at first I enjoyed her narration.

This is an enjoyable world to delve into and I'll listen to the next two in the series.

Why don't editors pick up on pronunciation and why choose a narrator who doesn't know French to narrate a novel set in France?

On the whole I think both narrator and author make this novel lighter than it could be. It moves towards chick lit with the emphasis on romance and the slight bodice ripping quality to it.

However it is enjoyable if flawed and the author really has done a lot of research and created a mainly believable world.

The narrator has a nice voice and does characterise well. I just wish she'd been told how to pronounce some English words and some french place names.

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So real I felt the perilousness of the age

Beautiful narration of a evocative and tumultuous period in history. Aleanor and any woman of the age needed resilience and fortitude. I pictured everything from the dress to the horses to emotion and felt involved by subtle weaving of details. Bodes well for The Winter Crown'. It showed that wealth and position were no guarantee of a long life, and the greatest enemy was likely to share your bed!

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3 people found this helpful

Eeanor of Aquitaine's early life in vivid focus

I thought this book was brilliant. Eluzabeth Chadwick has obviously done a lot of research So many little details that made the story jump into life. I particularly valued descriptions of the journey to the Holy Lands showing us the depredations and hardships of such a journey.
At first I worried that the narrator (Katie Scarfe) was too soft a voice but the further into the book we went the more I began to realise that actually she was the perfect voice for the young queen. All other character voices were distinct and separate and didn't distract me in any way. My only critical point is that very often there was no pause between scenes and that did irritate me a little but feel it's more a fault of the production and not the narrator. I very much look forward to the next book.

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Time travel

Simply....... the story and the use of language made me feel as if there. Excellent time travel.....thanks.

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Medieval romance...based on true events!

I am not generally a fan of medieval stories, but Chadwick’s novel had me hooked very early on, and I enjoyed it very much from start to finish. I felt I was given great insight into the life of the famous Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine and her struggle to be respected as both a woman and heiress. The story is beautifully narrated and the characters are made lively and believable.
I often became frustrated with how badly Eleanor was treated by a lot of the people around her, but she was a strong-willed woman and always seemed to survive her ordeals with grace. I couldn’t help but cheer her on! In short, this is a fascinating, romantic and beautiful story, which is made even better by the fact that it is based on real events. I can’t wait for the next two audio books in this trilogy...

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4 people found this helpful