{"id":679,"date":"2012-03-28T06:06:30","date_gmt":"2012-03-28T13:06:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/?p=679"},"modified":"2012-03-28T06:35:19","modified_gmt":"2012-03-28T13:35:19","slug":"679","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/?p=679","title":{"rendered":"More royal intrigue and romance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anne Barnhill, a real trouper, is back to writing, reviewing and even making author appearances in connection with her novel, At the Mercy of the Queen, published earlier this year by St. Martin\u2019s. She\u2019s doing all this even while recuperating from surgery and awaiting further medical treatments. She\u2019s my hero! Here she reviews a book with a very similar title to that in her most recent review, but it is a different book, dealing with different dead royals.<\/p>\n

\u00a0By Anne Barnhill<\/p>\n

\u00a0THE SISTER QUEENS. By Sophie Perinot. New American Library. 498 pages. $15, paperback.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/a>Sophie Perinot’s debut novel, The Sister Queens<\/em>, brings to life the story of Marguerite and her younger sister, Eleanor, daughters of Raymond Berenger, Count of Provence, and his wife, Beatrice, of Savoy. Four daughters were born to this couple, and it is the first two who are the focus of the book.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Marguerite is the elder girl, responsible, reliable, often at odds with her more demanding, rebellious sister, Eleanor.\u00a0 At 17, she marries the King of France, a handsome young man who immediately captures her heart.\u00a0 However, Louis IX is still very much attached to his mother’s apron strings, and this does not bode well for the newlyweds.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Eleanor, always eager to best her sister in everything, makes an equally good marriage to Henry III of England. Though he is older and not as good-looking as Louis, he loves Eleanor, and she comes to love him, too.<\/p>\n

\u00a0But all is not roses for these sister who are now queens. The Crusades, political intrigue, family squabbles, zealous religious faith, the danger of giving birth \u2013 all these combine to challenge the sisters as they struggle to find love, security and happiness at the pointed top of the pyramid of power.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 Perinot’s writing is almost flawless, and she brings to rich life characters who lived more than 600 years ago, no small feat. Readers will enjoy the romance of the tale but also the sibling connection between the sisters. Each chapter begins with a letter from one of the sisters. Here is a small sample:<\/p>\n

\u00a0M,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The sun is out and so should we be.\u00a0 Pray ask Mother to release us from our studies.\u00a0 She is sure to agree if you ask.\u00a0 You will be her “little queen,” so she indulges your every whim.\u00a0 I wish you yourself were a little less satisfied with the title that will soon be yours.\u00a0 When I wanted to write you this note, I had a difficult time finding a scrap of parchment in our room not covered with “Marguerite, by the grace of God illustrious Queen of the French” in you\u00a0<\/em>handwriting.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>\u00a0That sense of play between the sisters can become something darker as the novel progresses, which adds depth and interest to both characters. Perinot’s debut leaves me looking forward to her next book.<\/p>\n

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Anne Barnhill, a real trouper, is back to writing, reviewing and even making author appearances in connection with her novel, At the Mercy of the Queen, published earlier this year by St. Martin\u2019s. She\u2019s doing all this even while recuperating from surgery and awaiting further medical treatments. She\u2019s my hero! Here she reviews a book […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[223,101,232],"class_list":["post-679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-historical-fiction","tag-anne-barnhill","tag-historical-fiction-2","tag-sophie-perinot"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=679"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":682,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679\/revisions\/682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}