when christ and his saints slept by sharon kay penman

inventively animates a large cast continues to base her narrative on the firm ground of fact.'-Kirkus Reviews 'A COMPELLING, WELL-WRITTEN EPICâ€¦Penman is an accomplished novelist and certainly has staked a claim to medieval England as her literary fiefdom. inventively animates a large cast continues to base her narrative on the firm ground of fact.'- Kirkus Reviews 'A COMPELLING, WELL-WRITTEN EPICâ€¦Penman is an accomplished novelist and certainly has staked a claim to medieval England as her literary fiefdom.'- Philadelphia Inquirer, ' marvelous medieval pageant of a novel.Another jewel in already glittering crown.'-Orlando Sentinel 'Penman once again tells a tale of kings and queens, singular destinies, and double-crosses. It begins with the death of King Henry I, son of William the Conqueror and father of Maude. But in a final irony for both, Maude would indeed be the mother of kings, for it was her eldest, Henry, who would establish the Plantagenet dynasty and, with Eleanor of Aquitaine, electrify the medieval world.' marvelous medieval pageant of a novel.Another jewel in already glittering crown.'- Orlando Sentinel 'Penman once again tells a tale of kings and queens, singular destinies, and double-crosses. In When Christ and His Saints Slept, the first of a trilogy that will tell the story of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, master storyteller and historian Sharon Kay Penman illuminates one of the less known but fascinating periods of English history. She is the author of six other novels: Falls the Shadow, Here Be Dragons, The Reckoning, The Sunne in Splendour, When Christ and His Saints Slept, and the first Justin de Quincy adventure: The Queen's Man. And if Stephen lost the crown, Maude would never wear it. Sharon Kay Penman has lived in England and Wales and currently resides in New Jersey. Beginning as friends, they ended in the bitterest enmity, their bloodiest wounds self-inflicted. And a man of inordinate charm, as valiant in battle as he was able in friendship - but a man whose life was based on a broken oath and a treacherous lie, tragic flaws that would destroy him.

But above all, here are two extraordinary adversaries: A woman whose courage outran her common sense, who found that her skirts bound her more tightly than any rope.

Here is the pain and suffering of the innocents, the conniving and duplicity of the barons here is the terrible reality of lawlessness - the burning towns, ravaged countryside, weary people. In this novel, Sharon Kay Penman brings to life a dark period in English history, painting a canvas rich in the textures and colors of the era.

When christ and his saints slept by sharon kay penman