Exclusive interview with novelist Cecilia Holland and a review of her new novel detailing the illicit romance between Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of France, and Henry, future King of England
Rating: 3 stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
“For a while I kept dreaming about parts of the story,” says The Secret Eleanor author Cecilia Holland. “Sometimes I dreamed I was one of the characters, but mostly it seemed to be happening right in front of me. I loved going to sleep every night. Sometimes I dreamt about scenes I hadn’t written yet. It peaked right after I was in Poitiers (the city in western France where Eleanor often resided). It was like being haunted.”
Eight centuries after her death, Eleanor of Aquitaine continues to fascinate historians and historical novelists. One of the most wealthy and powerful figures, man or woman, of the High Middle Ages, she even led her own troops into battle.
The Secret Eleanor explores Eleanor’s romance with Henry D’Anjou, the future king of England. To complicate matters, Eleanor is married to the king of France with whom she has two daughters. But contemptuous of her husband’s ability to run his country, Eleanor is entranced by Henry D’Anjou and is willing to do anything for them to be together. The question is, will the wily Henry marry her after she’s no longer married to Louis VII, or is it all a game to him? No matter what happens, Eleanor’s decision to pursue Henry will change the history of two powerful countries.
Holland told me that the idea to write about Eleanor first came from a friend: “He had read a lot about Eleanor and become mesmerized. I started reading and also fell victim. But I couldn’t make the story work. First it was too long, and then, when I cut it back to the year when she divorced and remarried, there wasn’t enough actual story. I wrote several versions before I hit on the story I finally used, and several versions of that.”
It took years to write The Secret Eleanor. “The thematic idea took a long time to develop,” says Holland. “The writing itself was strenuous and fun. That was the best thing; the study and then the way the story grew. Some of the characters changed very radically from version to version. The girl Claire, for instance, and the knight de Rancun. The three love affairs, entwined and the last to fit in was Claire and the troubadour Thomas, so that’s actually my favorite part of the whole book.”
For research, Holland read the major modern biographies of Eleanor, and then went through the chronicles. She looked mainly to those of William of Newburgh, now online in the Medieval Sourcebook. “Bernard of Clairvaux appears in a lot of contemporary documents, things about the Crusades, about the councils,” says Holland.
“Most of the good chronicles are online or published somewhere,” says Holland. “Living in rural California, I use interlibrary loan a lot. I’m not sure what the value would be of looking at a will she signed, or something like that. What would have been useful is a portrait but none exists and anyhow the 12th century didn’t think in those terms. Even the people who praised her looks didn’t say what she looked like.”
“Of the Foibles of Courts (by the 12th century English courtier Walter Map) is a book of gossip and you can’t beat gossip for good historical detail,” says Holland. “I went to France and stayed around Poitiers a while and walked all over the city, which is charming, full of the past, full of the most friendly people. I went to Fontevraud Abbey and tried to trace Eleanor’s route south on the flight from Blois after the divorce.”
Holland lives in Fortuna, a small town located near the coast in northern California. She was born in Henderson, Nevada. She is married and has three daughters. She has an interest in ships and likes to row.
The Secret Eleanor by Cecilia Holland. Paperback, 368 pages, Publisher: Berkley Trade; 1 edition (August 3, 2010). Language: English, ISBN9780425234501 $15
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