Nina + Devil's brood

Yesterday I was too busy to blog. Nina was visiting again. I really love that little dog and I can spend hours playing with her and petting her, but I was exhausted after a day. :)

Devil's brood arrived yesterday!!!!! A new Sharon Penman book is always cause for celebration! And I know I am going to enjoy it. This one is the third book in the story of Henry II and Eleanor. It is such a great story, Eleanor was such a strong woman, married first to the king of france and then to the man who would become king of England. Outliving both her husband and nearly all her children. That must have been hard! And I love the setting that these novels take place. Chinon and Fontevrault in France. I was lucky enough to visit there a few years ago. Chinon is a ruin but we spend nearly a day there taking it in. And the abbey? One of the most beautifull things I ever saw.

Like I said these books are special to me. I think I read Here be dragons first. I picked that up in I think 1987. And read it on the boat and during one of my first trips to England. I just could not stop reading. Having friends in Wales I loved Wales already but this sealed the deal. Llewelyn stole my heart. It is amazing there is so little written about him, fiction or non-fiction, he is such a facinating character. After that I read Sunne in Splendour and was blown away again. Such strong characters and what a story!!! I am a Shakespeare fan and I must say I had my doubts at a book about his life. Did it change my opinion about Richard!!!! Now I can barely watch the Shakespeare play! And I am totally converted to the Richard camp. With friends [whom I have converted to the books] I love to share theories about why Richard had nothing to gain by killing the princes in the tower. If I could go back in time there!

Many a holiday in England was spend visiting these historic locations with the book in hand, the castles of the Welsh princes, the place were Llewelyn the last was slain, Evesham for Simon the Montford and Middleham and Bosworth field for Richard. And they never fail to impress. So my advice to you all is, get these books, read them, reread them and visit England. Friends, you can borrow the books. You won't be the first!!! And you won't be the first going out and buying them all after reading them.

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