Another wonderful book by SKP, where the struggle for the power between Richard´s sons prevails over most of his kingdom. The strong character of Eleanor shows already her fight for women rights on state decisions even in a medieval era. The dialogues between the main characters are very well written within an historical context based on a very careful historical research performed by SKP. ( )

A compelling novelization of Henry II and Eleanor. Sharon Kay Penman's work is deep and thorough; interesting even though one knows "the rest of the story." She brings to life the characters of the time. ( )

Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine thought they had it all - the greatest empire since Charlemagne, healthy children including the heir and several to spare - so how did it all go so wrong? The Devil's Brood takes up the story where Time and Chance left off with the murder of Thomas Becket, as Henry returns from his self imposed exile to Ireland. Henry's three eldest sons are chafing at the bit to have lands and power of their own and egged on by Louis of France they join with their mother Eleanor in rebellion against their father. In time Henry quells the rebellion and forgives his sons, but he cannot forgive his wife and queen and he imprisons her. Even though Henry forgave his sons, they are still not happy with his generosity and it eventually leads to more power struggles and back-biting amongst the brothers, particularly young Hal, who suffers the ultimate punishment for his reckless deeds.

This was a fascinating story of a brilliant, powerful king whose blind love and trust in his sons lead him to make mistakes in judgment that eventually lead to his downfall. I also loved seeing a different side of the haughty, queenly Eleanor we saw in Time and Chance, as unlike her sons she does come to recognize the wrongness (well sometimes) of her actions and the cataclysmic effects those actions had on her family. Some readers may find the first part of this book a bit slow paced as Penman does spend time setting up the back history of Henry, Eleanor and the Becket murder, but hang in there as about half way through when the boys start turning on each other the pages literally started flying. Penman's dialogue was exceptional, although I couldn't decide who got the best lines, Henry or Richard - they just smoked off the page!

One of Penman's great strengths is to take the most complex political situations and put them into a story that not only entertains the reader but educates at the same time. Five stars and it appears from the author's notes and a recent blog interview that this will not be a trilogy, she will continue the story of Eleanor, Richard and John in one more book. Hurray!

For those of you coming away from this book wanting to know about William Marshal, I highly recommend Elizabeth Chadwick's The Greatest Knight and The Scarlet Lion. They are hard to find in the US, but readily available in the UK and Canada. ( )

Sharon Kay Penman has written a brilliant historical fiction trilogy based on the lives of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. The first book, When Christ and His Saints Slept, covers the period of time before Henry’s birth when Stephen of Blois stole the English crown from Maude, the daughter of Henry I and his intended successor. The resulting civil war was so savage that it gave rise to the saying which is the title of the book.

In that book, Henry II is born to the loveless marriage between Maude and Geoffrey of Anjou. Henry fights for his mother’s crown successfully enough that When Stephen’s only son dies, an agreement is reached that Henry will succeed Stephen when Stephen dies. Henry also meets Eleanor; the two very kindred spirits instantly fall in love and lust, which will last their lives. Eleanor sheds an inconvenient marriage to Louis of France, she and Henry wed, and the book ends on the soaring hopes of the young couple and of England.

The second book, Time and Chance, recounts Henry’s glory years as King of England and ruler of more lands in France than is Louis, who is still alive and still ineffectual; the single largest part of Henry’s continental domains is Aquitaine, coming to him, sort of, though Eleanor, who is Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right. Henry and Eleanor have a true partnership. There are tensions, however, since as Duchess of Aquitaine, there are times when Henry’s decisions and his reasons for making them cross purposes with Eleanor’s instinctive protectiveness for her duchy.

Eleanor bears Henry eight children, a veritable surfeit of sons, starting with Hal, the eldest, Richard the second, Geoffrey the third and finally the last child and the Ugly Duckling in the crowd, John. Henry is busy being the best kind England ever will have, aided and abetted by his closest friend Thomas Becket, who Henry has elevated to the Chancellorship of England. In a move that will cost Henry dear for the rest of his life, Henry makes the singular mistake, against Eleanor’s advice, of forcing the monks at Canterbury to choose Thomas as their archbishop. The rest, as they say, is history.

This period of time is marked also by Henry’s other massive mistake, an enduring love affair with Rosalind Clifford, a high born young woman with whom Henry is truly enamored. Eleanor, like most wives of the day, expects infidelity--but not an affair that lasts so long and that Henry makes no real attempt to hide. Her pride wounded, Eleanor nurses her resentments.

The third and final book, Devil’s Brood, is the history of the final years of Henry’s long reign, when his empire is under massive internal strains, and his sons and his wife rebel against him. Henry puts down the rebellion, forgives his sons--but never forgives Eleanor, placing her in a captivity that will last 16 years until his death.

The story of these last years is one of real tragedy, as Henry copes with one rebellion after another and must endure the fact that his oldest son and heir, Hal, is not only not fit for kingship, but is also under the sway of Louis of France. Henry makes mistake after mistake with his sons, not realizing that their grievances are serious, but always trying to balance the empire’s needs--and his inability to let go of any of the power he believes only he can wield for the good of the realm, sharing it with his sons.

At the end, Henry dies ignominiously, defeated by Louis’s son Philippe and the latter’s alliance with Henry’s two remaining legitimate sons, Richard and John.

In all three books, Penman brings the characters to life, making them completely believable and sympathetic. This however is especially true of Devil’s Brood, where she tells the story of a failed marriage and disintegrating family and the consequences so remarkably well that it’s hard to believe that this is a fictional account; the reader is part of the story, part of the family and thanks to Penman’s brilliant ability to see all sides sympathetically, you agonize right along with the characters over deaths and other irretrievable losses. It’s a superb work, the best of the trilogy, a tour de force.

What Penman has achieved in her trilogy is a story seamlessly woven that she has managed to break up into three logical parts. But just as I could not find any way to write this review without synopsizing the other two, this is really not a stand-alone book. By the time you come to the third book, all these characters--and very few are fictional--are a part of you, and the rich background of the other two books leads so naturally and provides so much texture for this one that I can not imagine reading Devil’s Brood as a stand-alone.

The three novels are one story, of which Devil’s Brood is the most compassionately and most excitingly told. Historical fiction doesn’t get any better than this. Highly recommended. ( )

What can I say that hasn't already been said. The scope of this novel is the breadth and depth of nowaday England and France. The progeny of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine are truly a devil's brood, the epitome of a dysfunctional family. All levels of betrayal, reconciliation and further betrayal are described with skill and believability.

The work is long, 752 pages, but absorbing for the greater part of the novel, though I had to labor a little to get through the very final part.. I recommend this, as well as all others of Penman's that I have read, without reservation ( )