The Passionate Enemies

Like the second instalment of the Norman Trilogy, “The Passionate Enemies” does not match the brilliance of Book 1, yet it is impressive nonetheless.

I find this period of the 1100s an interesting one. Here we see the latter days of Henry I followed by the reign of King Stephen. Throughout the narrative there’s Henry’s daughter – and Stephen’s cousin and sometimes lover – Matilda, one of the most arrogant royal woman in history.

The love/hate relationship between Stephen and Matilda serves as the novel’s backbone, which works well on the most part, though at times it becomes too repetitive in its nature. The amount of times one of the other states how they should’ve been married, or ponders how different things would be show more had they been married, is so overdone that it grew to irritate me.

Similarly, Henry’s regular reference to the sinking of the White Ship that cost his son’s life becomes tedious. As much as I like this author, if I had to pick one fault in her writing in general it would be her repetition of certain themes throughout all her novels.

But apart from the above negative comments this story proved engaging. Think my favourite character has to be another Matilda – for there are several – namely the one who became Stephen’s queen. She enters the tale as a meek background figure but when her and the king’s backs are against the wall she develops into someone quite formidable.

I also liked Stephen himself and Robert of Gloucester. Although it was impossible to “like” the arrogant Empress Matilda, she is a fascinating personality, and her two methods of escaping capture may be compared to the best episodes in the average adventure story. show less

I read many of Plaidy's books years ago and I loved them. However, going back and reading one of her series books now hasn't hooked me like it used to.

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