Books : The Book of Eleanor: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine

Rating: - An historical injustice
Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of both France and England, Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, was one of the most fascinating and glittering figures of the entire medieval period. As such, she deserves a fictional biography that does her justice. Pamela Kaufman's "Book of Eleanor" is not that book. Kaufman's Eleanor comes across as one-dimensional, and is believable neither as a royal personage nor a woman of her particular time or place. Her behaviour and speech are more those of a spoiled, nasty, modern teenager. It is clear that Kaufman wishes us to admire Eleanor, but this charecter so grated on my nerves that I wanted nothing so much as to smack her. Both Kings Louis Capet and Henry Plantagenet (as well as assorted other males) come across as comic-book style villians. Her fictional romance
with the cardboard hero Rancon is trite and uncompelling, and does nothing for the story. Eleanor's true life story is fascinating - why add in something that never happened and only serves to detract from her stature? Significant events in Eleanor's life, including her father's death, the fire at Vitry, and the birth of her first child, are dispatched with a few lines and have all the dramatic impact of a tepid bath. The dialogue is so hackneyed and inauthentic as to be laughable. For a book that does Eleanor greater justice, try Ellen Jones's "Beloved Enemy." For a master class in how historical fiction should be written, try Rosalind Miles's "I Elizabeth." Both Eleanor of Aquitaine, and anyone truly interested in her life, deserve better than this mess.