Helpful Score: 4
If you're looking for a typical historical fiction/romance, this may not be the book for you. This is a very witty, complicated book written in the style of the age of Courtly Love, and it's very title is a pun on a novel very popular in that era called "The Romance of the Rose." Galland is a master at mimicking that period's language and providing us with accurate historical detail and manner. Her heroines are strong and feisty and her heros are strong, yet sensitive - something that could be seen as an anachronism by those who are not schooled in the history and traditions of Courtly love espoused by none other than Eleanor of Aquitaine herself, who rode off with her husband on Crusade with her own (and some say bare-breasted) Amazon army of noble women.
This book is not necessarily an easy read if you wish to catch every nuance of Galland's subtle humor and artistry, but it is definitely worth the effort. I suspect that perhaps even Eleanor herself would have been amused by this book!
This book is not necessarily an easy read if you wish to catch every nuance of Galland's subtle humor and artistry, but it is definitely worth the effort. I suspect that perhaps even Eleanor herself would have been amused by this book!
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