TCOL: Chapter 11 The Passing of Kings

[Marie]

Discuss chapter 11.. anyone have a tissue?

[Marie]

Such sadness when he passes.. I always wonder what might have been when rulers go too soon.

[MaryKatherine]

I'm up to this chapter. It is so sad when he passes, and what a messy family dynamic!

I'm starting to get a little peeved with Plaidy's writing style at this stage in the novel. I love the story but I find that she sometimes repeats the same idea four or five different ways. I also find discrepancies, such as when Eleanor continually states that she hates Henry (the man imprisoned her, for God's sake!) and then when she sees him she thinks that she will never feel anything negative for him (or something along those lines). Then, Eleanor says that she hopes her sons will cause Henry much pain by trying to go into battle with him, and a page or two later she says she hopes her sons never get into conflict with Henry. These are probably small things, and it could have been because of my mood last night, but I was getting frustrated with the flow of the story. Also, I was becoming really confused as to what was going on--sometimes Plaidy spends a huge amount of time on one incident and other times she skims over important things in a paragraph or two. I hope it gets better for me!

[Marie]

I understand your meaning! I think since I've read so much on the era I wasn't really given a chance to be confused.. But I concur there was so much more going on historically, perhaps she had to pick & choose what would be included here. Especially since she had the Plantagenet series which I assume goes into greater depth.

[MaryKatherine]

This makes me REALLY want to read something Sharon Kay Penman, too :)

[Marie]

Totally!!