Having endured two forced marriages, she was intent on seizing control of her destiny and of the crown she claimed was hers by birthright. Penman portrays Maude as a strong-willed woman, fearless, incapable of obeisance, determined to wield sovereign power at a time when the primary function of women of royalty, no matter how intelligent or capable, was as dynastic pawns. It begins with the death of King Henry I, son of William the Conqueror and father of Maude, his only living legitimate offspring. In When Christ and His Saints Slept, the newest addition to her highly acclaimed novels of the middle ages, and the first of a trilogy that will tell the story of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, master storyteller and historian Sharon Kay Penman illuminates one of the less-known but fascinating periods of English history. For nineteen years two royal rivals - one intent on retaining his ill-gained crown, the other demanding it as the rightful heir - waged a violent, bloody war against each other. For want of a crown its towns were plundered and torched, its women raped and slaughtered, its men used as fodder for transitory victories.
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