THE FALCON'S EYES

The author of Shadows and Light (1984) and Wakefield Hall (1993) presents a remarkable 12th-century noblewoman’s journey from a French country estate to the side of the greatest queen of the Middle Ages.

“Never before had I seen a woman who was old…yet alluring. Her fair skin was wrinkled, but her vivid dark eyes, framed by a luxuriant expanse of brow, were still beautiful and bespoke an undaunted spirit.” That’s our first glimpse of the legendary Eleanor of Aquitaine, English ruler and mother of rulers, in Stanfill’s lavishly detailed historical novel. That description is given to us by Isabelle, a brilliant young woman who tries and fails to fit the mold of baby-making machine that the age required. It’s disappointing that it takes 500 pages to get to this exciting encounter, but Stanfill amply fills the preceding pages with a portrait of the private struggles and desperation of aristocratic women like Isabelle who, despite their best efforts, fail to satisfy the ambitions of their husbands. For many, such failure left them with only two choices: going home to their parents or to an abbey. Isabelle eventually finds refuge in an abbey patronized by Queen Eleanor, who seeks a companion in old age. Not just anyone will do—Eleanor requires someone who can write, play chess, and keep up with her sparkling wit. Trained in the classics by her grandfather, Isabelle is the right person for that role. Eleanor’s life and the complicated relationship between England and France play in the novel’s background until fate brings the two characters together. All the exotic, romantic elements of the medieval world—falconry, ancient ruins, rustic healers, feasts by warm candlelight, ominous prophecies—are here as well as a frightening figure from Isabelle’s past, intent on ruining her and those she loves. Brave and defiant, Isabelle comes to understand that doing great things, as Eleanor has done, isn’t necessary to triumph in life. Sometimes, as she realizes about the old motto vincit qui patitur (“He conquers who survives”), the simple act of living is victory enough.

This whopper of a novel is perfect for readers who want to lose themselves in a long historical yarn.