Queen Defiant:a Novel Of Eleanor Of Aquitaine

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A riveting novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine's early adult years from the author of The Virgin Widow.

Orphaned at a young age, Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, seeks a strong husband to keep her hold on the vast lands that have made her the most powerful heiress in Europe. But her arranged marriage to Louis VII, King of France, is made disastrous by Louis's weakness of will and fanatical devotion to the Church. Eleanor defies her husband by risking her life on an adventurous Crusade, and even challenges the Pope himself. And in young, brilliant, mercurial Henry d'Anjou, she finds her soul mate-the one man who is audacious enough to claim her for his own and make her Queen of England.

About the Author

My home is in the Welsh Marches, although much of my early life was spent in Yorkshire, most recently in the East Riding.Ann O'Brien The Marches is a remote region of England, surrounded by echoes from the past. Hereford is close with its famous Mappa Mundi and chained library.So is Shrewsbury, and also Ludlow with its splendid castle and its connections with our Plantagenet and Tudor kings. With my husband, I live in an eighteenth century timber framed cottage, which itself must have seen much history over two hundred years.I have always enjoyed the appeal of History.I taught the subject with enthusiasm but it became my ambition to write historical romances. My first novel, The Runaway Heiress, was published by Mills and Boon in 2004.This first book was a Regency Romance in the great tradition of Georgette Heyer - who has not admired her skill and delicate touch for the period? I have drawn on my interest in the Stuart century to write about the English Civil War and Restoration England of Charles II. Living in the Marches however I soon discovered the wealth of atmosphere and legend in this isolated part of England from medieval times. It was not long before I was encouraged to create a medieval romance inConquering Knight, Captive Lady.When not writing, I have a large rambling garden where George and I grow organic vegetables and soft fruit - or perhaps I should admit that he grows them whilst I pick and cook them. We have a wild garden, an orchard, a formal pond and herbaceous flower borders. We share it all with rabbits and pheasants, frogs and goldfinches, hedgehogs and buzzards. It is a beautiful place. When we first settled into our cottage I planted a herb garden on a Tudor pattern with stone pathways and clipped box hedges. From this I developed my interest in herbs and their uses.Nicholas Culpeper's The Complete Herbal, a fascinating resource to a historical novelist first published in 1649, has become essential bedside reading. As a result the use of herbs in medicine and witchcraft, for both good and ill, has appeared in some of my novels.For pure relaxation I enjoy yoga as well as singing with a local Choral Society. Watercolour painting allows me to simply sit and appreciate the landscape and the flowers in my garden, when my mind is busy constructing my next plot.

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