Eleanor: A 200-Mile Walk in Search of England’s Lost Queen
Part travel journal, history, and fascinating side trips (stone carving, anyone?), this book is a delight. Historian Alice Loxton treats the reader as a companion as we embark on this journey together.
Queen Eleanor of Castile, whose husband King Edward I is largely remembered as the villain in the movie Braveheart, died in 1290. As she was some 200 miles from London when she died, her body was carried in a solemn procession for nearly two weeks, all the way to Westminster Abbey. Her grieving husband ordered that twelve crosses be built, each located where the procession stopped for the night.
While only four of these monuments still stand, each was distinctive. At least one featured the newfangled architectural detail of the era, the pointed Gothic arch. And the most famous location remembered for its cross today is Charing Cross in London. As we walk along with Loxton, we get to know Eleanor beyond what the dusty textbooks say. Loxton—herself a young woman—imagines Eleanor’s thoughts and feelings as she grew from a sheltered royal child in Spain to being a powerful, beloved queen.
I highly recommend this book for adults, but teens may also enjoy Loxton’s peppy, modern style.
