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.
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. 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.
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.
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.
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. Curiously, it is a
novel without villains—only flawed human beings caught up in
misperceptions and bad judgment calls. Most devastating to
Henry was not his sons' rebellion but his wife's betrayal in
joining them. 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.
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