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Devil's Brood | 
| Author: Sharon Kay Penman
Publisher: Putnam Adult
List Price: $28.95
Buy New: $16.93
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Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 4463
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages: 752
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.6
ISBN: 0399155260
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780399155260
ASIN: 0399155260
Publication Date: October 7, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 4 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: A20090108201328W
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Product Description
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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| Customer Reviews: Read 17 more reviews...
 Spectacular October 10, 2008
K. Huff (New York, NY)
26 out of 28 found this review helpful
Devil's Brood is the third book in a trilogy that began with When Christ and His Saints Slept and continued with Time and Chance (Ballantine Reader's Circle). Devil's Brood tackles Henry and Eleanor's children, from Prince Hal down to John Lackland. The details of the rift between Henry, Eleanor, and their sons are well-known, but the way in which Sharon Kay Penman presents it here is unique.
In this book, Sharon Kay Penman continues her tradition of writing historical fiction that both tells a good story and educates the reader. The novel opens in 1172, fifteen months after Thomas Becket was murdered and just after Henry returns from a trip to Ireland to pay penance for his unwitting part in it. As with her other novels, the focus is on the interpersonal relationships: between Henry and his sons, Henry and Eleanor, Eleanor and her sons, and between Hal, Richard, and Geoffrey themselves. It's the kind of dysfunctional family you only read about in fiction, the distinction here being that these were, of course, real, living people. And Penman does a fantastic job of bring these people to life, 800 years later: all the little quirks of each of them are here, especially Henry's high energy and uncanny ability to travel hundreds of miles on horseback in short periods of time. .
The book is a bit of a slow read, and no wonder: at over 700 pages, this is a book to take your time over. It's taken six years for Penman to write the third book in the trilogy (on her acknowledgements page, she writes that a reader once remarked, "did Eleanor get lost in Aquitaine?"), but the wait was worth it; I enjoyed the historical detail of this novel, and the way in which the author manages to pull her research together into a comprehensive story that never fails to entertain and educate. Once again, Sharon Kay Penman has given me another reason to go do some research of my own on these fascinating historical figures. And as always, her writing is top-notch. In all, this is a very strong finish to a wonderful trilogy.
The end of a marriage, with tragic results. October 16, 2008
Rebecca Huston (On the Banks of the Hudson)
26 out of 26 found this review helpful
I've been waiting quite a few years to read the conclusion of Sharon Kay Penman's trilogy about Henry II of England, and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine. When my copy of The Devil's Brood arrived on my doorstep, everything else got set aside as I dove in.
Thomas Becket has been murdered, and Henry has taken himself off to Ireland to bring that troublesome country under control. While he is in Ireland, his wife, Eleanor, is taking the management of her duchy, Aquitaine, into her own hands, as well as raising their numerous brood of children. Her favourite, Richard, is already learning the arts of war and Eleanor has decided that he will be Duke of Aquitaine in time. Their eldest son, Hal, has been crowned king (a custom among the French kings to ensure a smooth succession), and married, but he is proving to have none of his parent's cunning and skill at politics. Quite the opposite in fact. And John, the youngest of the children, is too young to any influence, but he watches and waits, caught as he is between two very strong willed parents.
When the sons are thwarted of any real power, and Eleanor joins them in rebellion, it unleashes consequences that no one can imagine. Especially for Eleanor, who has led a life that most women could only dream of, and having the daring to divorce her first husband and forge with her second husband an empire that was the mightiest in the Europe of its time. Most history of the time tends to blame the rebellion on Eleanor discovering about her husband's mistress, Rosamund Clifford, but the reality is much more different -- Eleanor was far more pragmatic and very much a realist.
And thankfully, so is Ms. Penman. This tale of Eleanor and Henry II and their children goes in a far more different direction than most novels set in this period. And for fans of the film Outstanding! Well worth the wait! October 12, 2008
Misfit (Seattle, WA USA)
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine thought they had it all - the greatest empire since Charlemagne, healthy children including the heir and several to spare - so how did it all go so wrong? The Devil's Brood takes up the story where Time and Chance left off with the murder of Thomas Becket, as Henry returns from his self imposed exile to Ireland. Henry's three eldest sons are chafing at the bit to have lands and power of their own and egged on by Louis of France they join with their mother Eleanor in rebellion against their father. In time Henry quells the rebellion and forgives his sons, but he cannot forgive his wife and queen and he imprisons her. Even though Henry forgave his sons, they are still not happy with his generosity and it eventually leads to more power struggles and back-biting amongst the brothers, particularly young Hal, who suffers the ultimate punishment for his reckless deeds.
This was a fascinating story of a brilliant, powerful king whose blind love and trust in his sons lead him to make mistakes in judgment that eventually lead to his downfall. I also loved seeing a different side of the haughty, queenly Eleanor we saw in Time and Chance, as unlike her sons she does come to recognize the wrongness (well sometimes) of her actions and the cataclysmic effects those actions had on her family. Some readers may find the first part of this book a bit slow paced as Penman does spend time setting up the back history of Henry, Eleanor and the Becket murder, but hang in there as about half way through when the boys start turning on each other the pages literally started flying. Penman's dialogue was exceptional, although I couldn't decide who got the best lines, Henry or Richard - they just smoked off the page!
One of Penman's great strengths is to take the most complex political situations and put them into a story that not only entertains the reader but educates at the same time. Five stars and it appears from the author's notes and a recent blog interview that this will not be a trilogy, she will continue the story of Eleanor, Richard and John in one more book. Hurray!
For those of you coming away from this book wanting to know about William Marshal, I highly recommend Elizabeth Chadwick's The Greatest Knight and The Scarlet Lion. They are hard to find in the US, but readily available in the UK and Canada.
Well worth waiting for! October 16, 2008
ash (Phoenix)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
I just finished it last night, and oh this was so worth the wait. Penman has what so many other historical fiction writers don't - a sense of how to bring real events to life, and and the ability to draw characters from such a distant time so realistically that we can laugh and cry with them, and miss them when we finally put the book down. She manages to flesh out what they were thinking when they made their decisions, and how they respond to the repercussions of those decisions. The interactions between the characters brought home the complexity of the characters. I was especially intrigued with Eleanor and Henry's relationship after her participation in the rebellion; theirs was a love that somehow managed to survive through rebellions and misdeeds. I was also intrigued with Hal and Geoffrey, two of the sons we don't hear that much about, but who were major players in the history of that time period.
While I really enjoyed it, there were times when I got tired of this family. If this wasn't historical fiction, rather someones idea, it probably would have been a wallbanger about midway through - it would have been hard for me to belive that a family could be this dysfunctional. But that fact that it was historical, based on research of primary sources, made me just shake my head as I read - and made me think many times of that Hepburn line in Lion in Winter 'well, all families have their little ups and downs...'.
I was trying to determine if this was a book I could recommend to people with little or no background of the history. While Penman does an excellent job introducing her characters, I'm just not sure. I think you need to know what happened in the other two books to get the full appreciation of what is going on (either by reading the books or already having the background). I think I'd suggest starting at the trilogy before going here. Which isn't a bad place to start!
Eager for her new book, hope that we don't wait so long! I think that book will dovetail very nicely to her first, Here Be Dragons. That is one of the best historicl fiction books I have ever read, and has led many readers to become fans of all of her books.
 Another fine Penman novel! October 13, 2008
M. Jacobsen (Southeast of Disorder)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
This is the latest book by Sharon Kay Penman, a giant in the historical fiction world. It was assumed that 'Devil's Brood' was the last in the trilogy, but Ms. Penman recently announced that she will be continuing this series and is currently working on the next book (working title: 'Lionheart'). And that is very good news for her fans!
'Devil's Brood' (the title, by the way, is a reference to Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine's children - historical chroniclers actually referred to them as the Devil's brood) picks up where 'Time and Chance' left off. It's been noted before, but I'll say it again: you don't need to read the previous two books to enjoy this one. Penman provides a nice recap to get you up to date in the first chapter.
The novel focuses on the disintegration of Henry and Eleanor's marriage and the rebellion of his children that followed. Penman had a challenging task here because although many historical facts are well known, history left us little insight into their motivations. Why did Eleanor encourage her children to rebel and why did her children embrace such rebellion? The author does a marvelous job of bringing the entire family to life. The character motivations are complex and compelling, the dialogue is sharp and witty, and the settings are vivid. Penman truly makes history come alive...you will feel as if you are a fly on the wall, watching this medieval family soap-opera unfold!
In my personal opinion (which counts for little, I assure you), 'Devil's Brood' wasn't quite as good as the first book in the series, 'When Christ and His Saints Slept,' but that in no way should keep you away from this book. Beg, borrow or steal it -- whatever you have to do, but read this book!
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