The Queen's Daughter [Hardcover]

I'm a major fan of historical fiction, and this story, told in clear, vivid prose, would not let go of me. We follow Joan, daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Henry II, and sister of Richard the Lionhearted, from her childhood to her mid-twenties, as she tries to find not only love but in a sense her true self. She is torn this way and that by the strife between her parents, her favorite brother, Richard, and her other brothers. People who have seen the film THE LION IN WINTER will remember this was a hugely dysfunctional family with mammoth personalities. Here they come to life, with fascinating human complexity intact, seen through Joan's eyes. Eleanor in particular exerts an enormous influence over Joan. Among other things, she tells her that only a fool loves her husband.

In Joan, the author has created a believable and likable heroine. We watch her grow from girl to woman. At an early age, she is sent away from England to enter an arranged royal marriage. Will she find happiness with her new husband and in her role as queen of Sicily? The pull of Joan's original family remains strong. She ultimately goes on the Crusades and most dauntingly comes to an independent view of her mother and her adored brother, Richard.

This might be a surprisingly easy story for all too many modern young people to relate to. Joan starts out caught between two estranged, sometimes literally warring parents. Loving one of them seems like a betrayal of the other. The book has love, drama, and action, and gives the reader a multihued picture of the times. I read it in just a couple of days because I came to care so much about the heroine. I strongly recommend this book to both adults and teens.

I've been trying to get my hands on this book for six months or more. Yeah, really. How many people would hold out that long for a book unless they REALLY wanted to read it. Well, after reading the description on Amazon and the reviews (not to mention being something of a historical fiction and YA fiction fan), I knew that The Queen's Daughter was the book for me. It seemed to have virtually everything I enjoy in a good historical -not to mention the Eleanor of Aquitaine connections, which always interest me. But, I could never seem to find it anywhere. My local library didn't have it. It was never at any Half Price Book location I visited. And, believe it or not, whenever I set foot in a Barnes & Noble, I couldn't ever find it. After coming into some Amazon gift cards, I decided it was finally time to invest in the book online.

In The Queen's Daughter, author Susan Coventry explores the life of Joan, the daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II of England with a YA-style approach. From a young age, Joan feels the pull of court politics, as well as the "taint" placed on her mother for divorcing (completely against the social conventions of the time) her first husband, King Louis of France, and marrying the up-and-coming Henry of Anjou (later king of England). Even worse, Joan must survive the strife between her mother and father as Henry's affections begin to wander. As soon as a deal can be made, Joan is sent to marry the king of Sicily, and thrown into yet another web of politics.

I guess I have mixed feelings about this book. It feels like Coventry did a good job of portraying the period accurately and so forth (I don't know that much about Joan, so it's not like I even know the history) and her prose is solid, but it just didn't stand up to my expectations for the book. Perhaps I had unreachable expectations, but I just wanted more from it. The biggest thing is that the characters were weak. They never really came alive on the page for me, and even seemed to get more distant as the story went on. Sadly, even Joan never felt realistic, sympathetic or well, anything, beyond just a line in a book. I think this caused the biggest issue for me, as a reader who really enjoys characters who I can really invest in, Queen's Daughter just didn't have that. I never really felt like I had a clear entry point for the story, so I was not able to become fully part of everything.

I know -I'm picky, but when there are so many books out there, many of which I've read, you can be a little picky. I think that Coventry has some great ideas here and I like the topic she chose to approach, but I think she needs to work on her characterization more. Weak characters seriously inhibited my ability to really enjoy this book, and I wish I had gotten more out of it.

This is a delicious read for lovers of Medieval history. For the more ignorant, however, a list of characters and a couple of maps would be a nice addition in the next edition.

The quality of writing kept me glued to a story that tells of a time when life's options, especially for women, were few. Joan, the Queen of Aquitane's daughter, is torn between her love for quarreling parents and squabbling brothers. Besides that, she's a political pawn, married off while still a child, to the king of Sicily. It's a loveless, unproductive marriage, but Joan matures into a strong, politically savy woman. Her outlook is a product of her times, her upbringing. I found myself rooting for her as she gradually transformed and found what she valued most.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 18 reviews  4.3 out of 5 stars