The Summer Queen cover art

The Summer Queen

Eleanor of Aquitaine Trilogy, Book 1

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The Summer Queen

By: Elizabeth Chadwick
Narrated by: Katie Scarfe
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About this listen

Eleanor of Aquitaine.

A loving mother. A betrayed wife. A queen beyond compare.

Eleanor of Aquitaine's story is legendary. She is an icon who has fascinated readers for over 800 years. But the real Eleanor remains elusive - until now. Based on the most up-to-date research, best-selling novelist Elizabeth Chadwick brings Eleanor's magnificent story to life, as never before.

Young, vibrant, privileged, Eleanor's future is golden as the heiress to wealthy Aquitaine. But when her beloved father dies suddenly in the summer of 1137, her childhood ends abruptly. Forced to marry the young prince Louis of France, Eleanor is still struggling to adjust to her new role when Louis' father dies and they become King and Queen of France. Leaving everything behind, the vivacious Eleanor must face the complex and faction-riddled French court. She is only 13.

Overflowing with scandal, politics, sex, triumphs and tragedies, The Summer Queen is the first novel in a stunning trilogy from award-winning and much-loved author Elizabeth Chadwick

©2013 Elizabeth Chadwick (P)2013 Hachette Audio Fiction Historical Fiction Royalty

Critic Reviews

"An author who makes history come gloriously alive." (The Times)

"Meticulous research and strong storytelling." (Woman & Home)

"A sumptuous ride." (Toby Clements, Daily Telegraph)

All stars
Most relevant  
i adore historical novels and this one does not disappoint. i am looking forward to the next read inthe series.

lovely strong female lead

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History made story. I enjoyed this book and having read non-fiction about Eleanor this was close to fact. The narrator captured the youth of the Duchess and carried the male voices well too. Thank you.

A believable Eleanor

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Loved it. Beautifully written and excellent audio reading. I look forward to the next two in the series.

Exceptional

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loved all of it. Very easy to listen too. A jolly good explanation by author at end of how and why she depicted Eleanor as she did.

History at its most entertaining

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Amazing story, fantastic narrator! As always a pleasure to be immersed in a world far different to what we have today. Loved it!!!! Second book already purchased :)

Get thrown back in time

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Well researched and written book. Characters believable and tension maintained from beginning to end. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to reading The Winter Queen.

History Alive

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I really enjoyed the story and thought the voice actor was spot on. thank you!

Slow in the middle but overall great story

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Interesting tale. I enjoyed the story but was disappointed with the narration. The reader was so slow I found her an excellent sleeping pill. Her interpretation of the characters was unconvincing and lacked depth as she waffled on. I will explore more from this author as I liked her style of writing but with a different narrator.

A little disappointing

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I went into this book with high hopes. I love these kinds of stories and I have been looking for a new royal obsession. I love Gregory, even though her books can seem like smut. I feel like the sex and drama has a place.

This is not the case with this book. This book is basically some woman's sexual fantasy. Sex punctuates every single moment of importance almost as if women and men would continually have sex if it wasn't for the fact that our lives are busier now.

I have no idea about the characters beyond their sexual endeavours. It is actually very strange.

It's sad that the story of such a great Queen is reduced to some sexual fantasy, almost as if the crux and aim of feminism is free love. Not that any of this is free. Even the sex is dictated by men as well as their political and financial standing.

The performance was great. The story is so disappointing.

Royal Porn.

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I listened to this book all the way through so that you don’t have to. Poorly written and poorly narrated; a real shame because Eleanor of Aquitaine is rich content to be drawing on. This should have been a wonderful story about an epic woman, instead it’s snapshots of her life, poorly worded, and strung together with explicit unnecessary sex scenes. Do yourself a favour and go read Alison Weir instead, or better yet read the Wikipedia page - you will get better story-telling and you won’t have to listen to a pathetic narration of pre pubescent sex.

Don’t waste your time or money

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