But in God’s Year 1171, Henry Fitz Empress, second of that name to rule England since the Conquest, was more concerned with the judgment of the Church than History’s verdict. How could it happen that two people whose love for each other was all consuming end up as bitter adversaries? That is the heart of Penman's tale in Devil's Brood.He would be remembered long after his death, one of those rare men recognized as great even by those who hated him.He was a king at twenty-one, wed to a woman as legendary as Helen of Troy, ruler of an empire that stretched from the Scots border to the Mediterranean Sea, King of England, Lord of Ireland and Wales, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, Count of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine, liege lord of Brittany. Most devastating to Henry was not his sons' rebellion but his wife's betrayal in joining them. Curiously, it is a novel without villains - only flawed human beings caught up in misperceptions and bad judgment calls. Sharon Kay Penman has created a novel of tremendous power, as two strong-willed, passionate people clash, a family divides, and a marriage ends in all but name. But it is also the story of a great king whose brilliance forged an empire but whose personal blind spots led him into the most serious mistake of his life. This is a story of betrayal as Henry's three eldest sons and his wife enter into a rebellion against him, aligning themselves with his bitterest enemy, King Louis of France. And because it is a royal family whose domains span the English Channel and whose alliances encompass the Christian world, that collapse will have dire consequences.
Where the second novel in the trilogy, Time And Chance, dealt with the extraordinary politics of the twelfth century, climaxing with the murder of Thomas Becket and Henry's confrontation with the Church and self-imposed exile to Ireland, Devil's Brood centers on the implosion of a family.
The long-awaited and highly anticipated final volume in Penman's trilogy of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine - a tumultuous conclusion to this timeless story of love, power, ambition, and betrayal.
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