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It is the year 1200 and Princess Alais of France is living an unhappy life in the castle with her brother, King Philippe and his family. Philippe gives Alais whatever she wants but she is cheerless and spends much of the time thinking about her past. Her father had married Queen Eleanor of England after his marriage to Alais's mother was over. When she was a young child Alais was sent to live with Queen Eleanor and her second husband, King Henry of England and their children, including their son Richard the Lion Hearted. Alais and Richard were to be married when they came of age, but because of matters beyond her control, the marriage to Richard never took place and Alais was sent back to France. Alais hasn't seen Queen Eleanor for 20 years when she suddenly receives a letter from the Queen asking Alais to travel to Canterbury, England, to find the secret letters that Eleanor had written to Thomas Becket. Eleanor had hidden the papers near Becket's tomb and wants them back. The letters contain information that would be the downfall of King John of England, Eleanor and Henry's son. Eleanor says that if she brings the letters back to her, she will tell Alais some information that had to do with Alais's son who died shortly after his birth. The Princess agrees to go because she wants to know more about her son and she is also interested to find out why Eleanor has been hiding the information from her. As Alais travels to England with her knights, some strange things occur. She suspects they are being followed and when they stop at an inn for the night she discovers her room has been searched while she was at dinner. None of the jewels she owned were taken, but when she arrives at Canterbury, her room there is also searched, and this time her jewels are stolen. Alais then realizes that there is much more going on than simply locating Eleanor's papers. Soon, she finds herself abducted and pulled into matters that concern King John - and all of England. THE CANTERBURY PAPERS is author Judith Koll Healey's first novel and it is spectacular! The readers are taken into the royal lives of actual historical individuals who ruled England and France during medieval times. All the characters are real and even though the story about Queen Eleanor's papers is fictional, Ms Healey weaves her tale into the actual history surrounding the royal family. This book contains a cast of thousands with kings, queens, princesses, earls, and knights and yet it is not confusing. The lineage of the royal family is carefully explained by the author so the readers can trace everyone's titles and understand their relationship with each other. Included in the book is a wonderful small history on the time period that fills the readers in on the characters that they will soon meet in the book. Ms Healey ends the tale with an afterward that explains how she reached her conclusions for her story. Ms Healey writes beautifully. She manages to take a very confusing period in history and makes it easy to comprehend. She describes this historical period in France and England in such a way that you can clearly see it. If you like books that deal with history you will love THE CANTERBURY PAPERS. Even if you aren't a fan of historical fiction, you will enjoy this book. I hope Ms Healey takes her love of medieval Europe and writes many more novels.
Reviewed by Sharon Katz, January 2004
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