The second book in Jean Plaidy's epic Plantagenet seriesNews of Thomas à Becket’s martyrdom has spread throughout Christendom and the blame is laid at the feet of Henry Plantagenet, King of England. Two years later, with Becket canonised, Henry’s position is precarious: punished at the Pope’s insistence for his part in Becket’s death, he now also has an enemy in his Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, after her discovery of his longstanding infidelity with Rosamund Clifford. Eleanor is determined to seek vengeance, so, with King Philip of France, she encourages her sons to conspire, both against their father and each other.
Much embattled, the old eagle Henry struggles to fend off both rebellion and the plots of his aggressively circling offspring…
Author ProfileJean Plaidy, one of the pre-eminent authors of historical fiction for most of the twentieth century, is the pen name of the prolific English author Eleanor Hibbert, also know as Victoria Holt. Jean Plaidy's novels had sold more than 14 million copies worldwide by the time of her deah in 1993.
ReviewsHer novels are still very much to be enjoyed ... Any writer who can both educate and thrill a reader of any age deserves to be remembered and find new fans ... One only has to look at the TV/Media to see that the appetite for this kind of writing is still very much there,Jean Plaidy doesn't just write the history, she makes it come alive.,Miss Plaidy does full justice to the trials of Henry II’s last years.The demands of the vast Angevin Empire, provide strong dramatic material which she handles with her usual skill.,Plaidy excels at blending history with romance and drama,Full-blooded, dramatic, exciting,It is hard to better Jean Plaidy when she is in form…both elegant and exciting as she steers a stylish path through the feuding Plantagenets.,Outstanding,Jean Plaidy conveys the texture of various patches of the past with such rich complexity
