Christy English paints vivid pictures of the palace intrigue of Princess Alais and her betrayal of Eleanor of Aquitaine
Rating: 3 Stars
“Sitting in the shaded cloister garden, one very much like the gardens Alais sat in for so much of her early life, really took me into the world I was creating,” says The Queen’s Pawn author Christy English. “I wrote the outline of the novel at the Cloisters in Manhattan, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art that sits on a bluff in Fort Tryon Park.”
The Queen’s Pawn is the story of Princess Alais of France. Sent to live in England at age nine, the princess is to marry Prince Richard, when she’s old enough, as the means to a truce between England and France. Richard’s parents are King Henry and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. Alais is under Eleanor’s care until she is old enough to marry.
As a child, Alais is an innocent pawn of her father King Louis of France. Eleanor treats her as a daughter. Promised to Richard, it’s his father King Henry who Alais desires. How will Eleanor react to her ‘daughter’s’ betrayal?
English had moved to New York in 2006, and was wondering what she’d write next. The inspiration to write the story of Alais came as English was walking to the subway on her way to meet her agent Margaret O’Conner for dinner. English had seen The Lion In Winter years before, and felt the character of Princess Alais deserved to have her version of the story told. The book has not been adapted to film, although English says she’s open to the idea.
“I read a lot of books regarding Eleanor and Alais,” says English. “There’s not much on Alais herself, and not as much on Eleanor as one might think. My favorite resources have been the twin biographies Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir and Ralph Turner.”
It’s refreshing to read about an important historical figure who is not well known. Worth reading for the insight into an unknown character in British history, at times the story needs to move more quickly. Sometimes the interaction between Alais and Eleanor feels repetitive and slows the story down. English paints vivid pictures of the life and times of the royal pair and the girl who becomes something of an adoptive daughter to them.
Clearly warming to her subject, Christy English is currently writing a book about Eleanor. “This novel is titled To Be Queen, and will be in bookstores in April 2011,” says English. “I’m currently finishing up re-writes on a novel of her early life, her rise to power as Duchess of Aquitaine and her first marriage to King Louis VII of France.”
Christy English was born in Nashville, TN, and raised in Wilmington, NC and currently lives in New York City. Her website is http://www.ChristyEnglish.com.
The Queens Pawn by Christy English. Trade Paperback, 400 pages, Publisher: NAL Trade; Original edition (April 6, 2010). Language: English, ISBN: 978-0451229236
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