![]() I found myself hurrying through the book in order to find Eleanor or Joanna or Phillip. Always so good and honest and trustworthy. That is the main downfall of this book – Richard is just plain old dull. Even King Phillip of France, who couldn’t seem to decide whether he loved or hated Richard was more interesting. John, who is written as cruel, vain and downright nasty, would have been far more interesting than his saintly and daft brother. I was always delighted to return to her company. ![]() Eleanor of Aquitaine is a fantastic, powerful woman who I felt was confined in this book by the focus on Richard. ![]() Which sounds silly given that he’s the hero, but it’s a bit like the Harry Potter Effect – main character he may be, but the book is teeming with far more interesting people. Though I enjoyed the book, I have to say that I would have enjoyed it more if there were less Richard. I hadn’t even known Richard or John had married! (I know – the shame of it!) So this was a fun book for me because I actually wasn’t always sure of what would happen, which is occasionally the downside with historical fiction. My knowledge of Richard the Lionheart and Prince John extends only as far as Robin Hood – the Disney version and the recent BBC series. It always seems to stick better in my mind than the dry facts in textbooks and there’s always some odd or interesting detail to be discovered. ![]() I have to admit to a soft spot for historical fiction. ![]()
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