The Winter Crown – Elizabeth Chadwick

I’ve long been a fan of Chadwick’s historical sagas which I find more enthralling than better-known authors like Philippa Gregory.

Her books are for both female and male readers, blending royal romance and battle-driven action through rich storytelling and vivid settings.

It was a frustrating when Chadwick’s traditional ones-a-year reschedule was interrupted by her ambitious plans to write a three-volume series about Eleanor of Aquitaine.

I found the first book a little unsatisfying, not as gripping as her previous books, the story lacking focus in parts as the teenage Eleanor – then Alinor - grew up in France and moved around the royal world before finding her way to marriage with English prince Henry.

This second book is far better, chronicling the rise to power of Henry II and his queen and sowing the seeds for their later, epic, history-changing confrontations.

This story of the dynasty that begets both King John and King Richard has been told many times in prose and film, but in Chadwick’s retelling comes over fresh and vibrant.

Central to Chadwick’s portrayal of the story, and what makes this version so compulsive, is the complex relationship between Eleanor and Henry.

Now out in paperback.

David Knights