Eleanor of Aquitaine: Power of a Woman

In this highly unusual fictional autobiography, Mr. Fripp tells Eleanor's life story "in her own words," as if she is dictating to a young lady in her household. She reminisces about her past in more or less chronological order, occasionally digressing to remark on another event, or person, or place, of which the current subject reminds her, just as you or I might do in a rambling conversation with a friend.

Eleanor is very much aware that her long life is drawing to a close and that, having experienced so many significant events, she owes it to posterity to record her story, as she remembers and understands it. Yet she still finds time to muse on the present and the future, and to tease and cajole the young scribe, Aline. In this way, the author brings the reader that much closer to Eleanor, humanizing her in a way that a standard biography or even a fictionalized third-person account could seldom do.

In telling the story, the author strikes just the right balance with his phrasing and pace. Mercifully, he avoids the heavy-handed archaic speech the untutored like to think of as "medieval" and instead uses a fluid, often eloquent prose. He also succeeds in immersing himself thoroughly in the character. One of the delights of the book is getting to know such figures as Henry II and Richard the Lionheart -- not so much as an objective historian would know them, but as Eleanor knew them, thought of them, and remembered them at the end of her life. Even the ever-silent Aline becomes a real character through Eleanor's eyes.

Mr. Fripp has taken on a monumental challenge. Not only does he handle the delicate balancing act of telling a good story while maintaining accurate historical detail, but he does so by getting inside the head of someone who actually lived more than 800 years ago. Furthermore, it's not just any someone from our medieval past that Mr. Fripp has chosen to channel. It's none other than the formidable Eleanor of Aquitaine, a woman who is generally considered one of the most (if not the most) extraordinary women of the Middle Ages.

I always get a little leery when a male author uses the first person to write about a woman character, whether fictional or real. It's so easy for the unwary to strike a false chord with a common male misconception about the feminine psyche, or with a masculine outlook that doesn't gel with the experiences of the female. But Mr. Fripp succeeds nicely in avoiding these pitfalls. At the same time, he exhibits an unerring sense of the medieval viewpoint. This is, perhaps, even more surprising, since it is often so difficult for modern readers to understand how very differently people of the Middle Ages looked at life.

And clearly the author has done his homework, not only about Eleanor herself but the time she lived in and the people she knew. I've read several biographies of the queen and I literally can't count the works I've read that explore 12th-century England, France and the Holy Land, but I'm convinced that Mr. Fripp has far exceeded me in his diligent research of the topic. There are a few points about which I could quibble, but nothing to detract from the main thrust of the book.

If I had to choose a drawback, it would be the book's length. As Eleanor drew towards the end of her life and her digressions became more frequent, it took a little too long to reach the final chapter. But then, Eleanor's life was very long -- she lived to be 82, in an age when few people lived much later than 50 -- and I, as usual, was in a hurry to be done. I will readily admit that had I more leisure time to devote to the work, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more. It is a work to take your time with, much as you would want to prolong a conversation with an old friend.

Robert Fripp is marketing Eleanor of Aquitaine: Power of a Woman in e-book form from his website, and a print-on-demand book is now available.