Aquitaine
Aquitaine is the latest book by the best-selling writer in Spain: Eva García Sáenz de Urturi. Published in 2020, it is a medieval historical fiction novel, whose main character is Eleonor of Aquitaine - also known as Eleanor - who will do everything possible to discover what is behind the murder of her father, Duke Guilhèm X of Peitieus.
The plot is surrounded by enigmas, sigils, revenge and even incest. As if there were a game of thrones, there will be many battles present in this story, which also contains a loving trio. With this book the author established herself in the literary field, a fact that reaffirmed by obtaining the Planet award in 2020.
Summary Aquitaine (2020)
A mysterious death
In 1.137,, Guilhem X, "Duke of Aquitaine", up to Compostela after a long journey. Arriving in front of the main altar of the cathedral, unexpectedly falls dead. Your skin -what turns blue- is marked by the "blood eagle", an ancient torture applied in Normandy. All who observe that are shocked by the mysterious death of the leader.
One of the most affected people is his daughter: Duchess Eleanor, who, with just 13 years, must take over the kingdom. She asserts that his father was killed by the Capetians (relatives of King Luy VI of France), due to their great interests in the Aquitaine lands.
The plan of revenge
As a result of everything that happened, the heir to the throne forges a cold plan of revenge with which she will seek to enter the French kingdom and win its trust. To achieve its purpose, the young woman will falsify her father's will. The document will indicate as the will of the duke the marriage between his daughter y the Kid King (Luy VII), son of King Luy VI of France.
Before starting her ruse, the duchess will confess everything she had planned to a young priest, who maintains an unsuspected identity.
An unexpected turn
Leonor rides until she arrives with the monarch Luy VI of France, known as the "Fat King". This, promptly, arranges the marriage between the duchess and her son. During the banquet of the ceremony, suddenly, King falls dead, under the same circumstances as Guilhèm X. This crumbles the suspicions of Leonor, who now must lead France with the young Luy.
Both will launch a dizzying investigation into the unusual deaths of these significant men. For this, they will turn to Aquitanian cats, that legendary spies of the dukes. Young and inexperienced monarchs will have to go through many circumstances. Within this journey, a boy - who was abandoned in the forest decades ago - will play a revealing role.
Meta Aquitaine (2020)
Modular
It is a historical novel supplemented with fiction, set mainly in French territory. In their 416 pages, the narrative features 4 parts, developed in turn in 64 short chapters. The work has two types of narrations: first person, by Leonor and Luy; y en third person, by an omniscient rapporteur.
Themes
The Basque Literat captured a decade of the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine, a woman with an extraordinary history - she came to lead three important European kingdoms. The plot complements the mystery of the deaths of two important figures of the time with fictitious facts. Additionally, he delves into other issues, both personal and external, that give various nuances to the story.
Preparation of the novel
Eva has built a great reputation for her historical novels; first, for the quality of the narrative; and second, for the preparation he does before and during the preparation of his books. At the end of the plot of Aquitaine, the author dedicates several pages to describe the detailed documentation. In them, claims to have read more than 100 books and details his journey to what was once the Aquitaine territory.
On this tour he visited Bordeaux, Poitiers and the Abbey of Fontevrault, where Eleonor of Aquitaine died and was buried. There investigated about the customs and gastronomy of the time, which he added to give the story more realism. He also took an enlightenment course, in which he learned about the art that monks made to execute medieval manuscripts.
Characters
Sáenz de Urturi added a large group of characters to the novel - real, for the most part. They stand out, for obvious reasons, its protagonists: Leonor and Luy; However, the writer did not neglect the secondary characters at all, but endowed them with an excellent structure and perfectly defined temples. Among the latter stand out: Raymond de Poitiers —The protagonist's uncle—, "The child", Adamar and Galeran.
Reviews
Aquitaine is a novel that ha caused quite a stir, to the point of being considered a literary phenomenon. However, like all work, it has its detractors, who argue that much of the historical content is missing. Currently, the text has 72% approval by readers on the web.
Its 5.807 Amazon ratings place it in the XNUMXst place in sales in the French Literature category. Most users rate it with the highest weight, with an average of 4,2 / 5. It should be noted that 48% gave 5 stars to the work, and only 14% awarded 3 stars or less.
About the author
Eva García Sáenz de Urturi was born on August 20, 1972 in Vitoria, one of the most beautiful medieval neighborhoods in the Basque Country; daughter of a lawyer and a teacher. He lived until the age of 15 in his hometown, to later move with his family to Alicante, city in which you currently reside.
Quote by Eva García Sáenz.
Both in her childhood and in her adolescence, she was characterized by being an avid reader. From the age of 14 he began to write, this thanks to the influence of who was his professor of literature at the San Viator school. Time after, took literary courses of creative novel in important Spanish institutes. During that time, he wrote several short stories with which he won some competitions.
Studies and work experience
Professionally, he studied a degree in Optics and Optometry, while he was exercising that career - at the age of 27 - he managed to run a multinational company. After 10 years in this field, he began to work at the University of Alicante. As of 2009 he returned to literature; I spent the nights researching and writing a few lines which would be his first book three years later.
Literary race
In 2012,, the Basque writer self-published his first novel on the platform Amazon: The saga of the long-lived: the old family. This historical narrative caught the attention of thousands of followers, which caused at the moment one great literary upheaval. In 2014, he completed the biology with: The sons of Adam and presented his third book: Passage to Tahiti; after the success of both, he decided to dedicate himself fully to literature.
In 2016 he released the White City Trilogy, series with which the literary writer gained millions of readers and that took her to become an author bestseller. After four years, the first book in the series: The silence of the white city, was adapted to the cinema by Daniel Calparsoro. After a long time of hard work and documentation, presented his latest novel: Aquitaine (2020)
Books by Eva García Sáenz de Urturi
- The Saga of the Long-lived I: The Old Family (2012)
- The Saga of the Long-lived II: The Sons of Adam (2014)
- Passage to Tahiti (2014)
- White City Trilogy I: The Silence of the White City (2016)
- White City Trilogy II: The Rites of Water (2017)
- White City Trilogy III: The Time Lords (2018)
- Aquitaine (2020)