A riveting novel of Eleanor of Aquitaines early adult years from the author of The Virgin Widow.Orphaned at a young age, Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, seeks a strong husband to keep her hold on the vast lands that have made her the most powerful heiress in Europe. But her arranged marriage to Louis VII, King of France, is made disastrous by Louiss weakness of will and fanatical devotion to the church. Eleanor defies her husband by risking her life on an adventurous Crusade, and even challenges the Pope himself. And in young, brilliant, mercurial Henry dAnjou, she finds her soul matethe one man who is audacious enough to claim her for his own and make her Queen of England.