This book is a thumping good conclusion to Chadwick’s three book series about Eleanor of Aquitaine. This last book, as the title indicates, is about the closing years of her life – the death of her husband Henry II to her own death. She not only finishes weathering her imprisonment, but also the in fighting of two of her sons – her favorite Richard, and her last born John. The novel opens with her release from prison and her movement to an uneasy truce with her husband.
The novel moves best when Eleanor is active- such as her journey to escort Richard’s bride, or when she is interreacting with other women. This is an important aspect that gets over looked. Too often in fiction involving Eleanor she is the only woman, but in Chadwick’s series the Queen interacts with women who become friends and women who are family. It is wonderful to think of the famous Queen passing down lessons in grit.
Chadwick’s writing is particularly powerful when writing of Eleanor’s interaction with Richard. Richard might be her favorite son but he also worries her, she fear for him, and she will mourn him in speculator fashion. Chadwick’s description of Richard’s body’s journey to be buried is powerful. It is only rivaled by the plot involving Joanne, Eleanor’s daughter.
If any writer captured the real Eleanor, I think it is Chadwick. Maybe this series should be the next Game of Thrones.