This is the first book in a triology.
This book was so informative of the time period. I learnt a lot.
A great book

History is full of strong women carving their own path in the world, and The Silken Rose is a study in strong women. Namely, Ailenor of Provence, the lady who was married off to Henry III at the tender age of thirteen and proceeded to use her new position to wield influence practically unheard of in the thirteenth century.

That alone made me like the book, but McGrath also manages to weave in courtly intrigues, political machinations and examine the position of women in society, through Ailenor; Nell, her sister in law; and Rosalind, a common-born embroideress.

If you’re a fan of Philippa Gregory, this book is for you.

The Silken Rose is an enjoyable and well researched book telling the story of Ailenor of Provence as she becomes a wife, as well as a queen, at a very young age. The story is engaging but, at times, I found the dialogue stilted and unnatural which I found off putting. Despite this, I will probably read the next two books in the trilogy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion..

In 1236, young Ailenor of Provence arrives in England to be married to a man she hasn't met - the king, Henry III. Despite being only thirteen years old, she has to quickly learn how to manage her relationship with Henry, and negotiate the undercurrents of court life. As she starts to find her feet in this foreign land, she finds herself treading a narrow path though the political mire; torn between friendship with Henry's sister, Nell, and Henry's displeasure with Nell's husband, Simon de Montfort; and seeking to, understandably, surround herself with the familiar faces of her uncles, she's accused of putting family ties before suitability for the job.

Great for lovers of historical fiction, The Silken Rose is an interesting look at the workings and machinations of the English court at a somewhat forgotten time in history.
Where Carol McGrath excels is in adding personality to the scant descriptions of history books, and in capturing of the minutiae of daily life at Court. Descriptions of feasts, and the embroideries worked by Queen Ailenor and her ladies fill, maybe not every page, but quite close. In this novel, the life of Queen Ailenor is intertwined with that of her favourite embroideress, Rosalind, the craftswoman behind the many hangings that adorn Ailenor's castles. Through her eyes we see another side of Medieval London - the prominent merchants and guildsmen of the city who bankrolled many of the king's projects.


The Silken Rose is the first of a new trilogy from Carol McGrath, which will follow the lives of three medieval queens who were regarded by their contemporaries as 'she-wolves' - mainly because they upset the nobility. Ailenor was accused of favouring her family, particularly her uncles, with titles and benefits; her daughter-in-law, Eleanor of Castille, subject of the second book, of greed; and Isabella of France (Eleanor's daughter-in-law) of being 'not one of us'. The author believes all of them deserve a better appreciation.

The Silken Rose is the first in a new trilogy of novels telling the stories of three medieval queens who have been referred to at one time or another as ‘she-wolves’ because of their unpopularity or because they managed to wield power or influence in a period dominated by men. The second and third books in the series are going to focus on Eleanor of Castile and Isabella of France, but this first novel is about Eleanor of Provence. Carol McGrath uses the alternative spelling of Ailenor, so I will do the same throughout the rest of this post.

Ailenor of Provence is not a queen I’ve ever read much about; I think it’s safe to say that she and her husband, King Henry III of England, are not the most popular subjects for historical fiction! The Silken Rose begins in 1236 with Ailenor, at the age of only thirteen, arriving in England from France for her wedding to Henry, a man more than twice her age. Although her new husband treats her with kindness and their marriage is not an unhappy one, Ailenor finds it difficult adjusting to life in a strange country and values the friendships she forms with two very different women.

One of these women is Henry’s sister, Eleanor, known as Nell, who has taken a vow of chastity after being widowed. Ailenor quickly discovers that Nell is in love with Simon de Montfort, one of the most powerful noblemen at Henry’s court, and she decides to help her sister-in-law break free from her oath and marry Simon. However, this marriage will eventually have serious repercussions for Henry and for England. The other friend Ailenor makes is Rosalind, a talented embroideress who is brought to court to teach Ailenor and her ladies to embroider intricate new patterns. Unlike most of the other characters in the novel, Rosalind is a fictional character, but she plays an important part in the story, providing a link between the nobility and the merchant classes.

Although Ailenor is the main focus of the novel, there are some sections written from Rosalind’s perspective (and occasionally from Nell’s), which helps to build up a full picture of the events that take place during this period, rather than only being limited to things that Ailenor experiences herself. The story Carol McGrath builds around Rosalind feels believable and fits seamlessly into Ailenor’s story – but despite this, I didn’t find her as interesting or engaging to read about as Ailenor and although I did understand the reasons for her inclusion in the book, I would have preferred it if the novel had stuck solely to the real historical characters. Apart from that, I really enjoyed The Silken Rose; there’s not a huge amount of drama, but I was never bored.

You may be wondering why Ailenor has been described as a ‘she-wolf’; well, it seems that this was partly due to the fact that she brought a large number of her relatives to England with her, where they were given positions of power and were able to influence the king. These included several of her uncles (the ‘Savoyards’), one of whom was made Archbishop of Canterbury, and her sister, Sanchia, who married the king’s younger brother. This and some of the other reasons for Ailenor’s unpopularity are explored in the novel, yet she remains a sympathetic character and one I very much enjoyed getting to know. I am looking forward to reading the other two books in the trilogy.

This book wasn't as hard-hitting as I'd hoped. The She-wolf herself is just too wonderful - intelligent, beautiful, knowledgeable, always right - and very lucky. I'm sure the detailing was accurate, I just didn't warm to it.

I've really been in the mood for an enticing, exciting historical read and this really hit the spot for me - great characters and very readable.

The Silken Rose is the first of the new Rose Trilogy by Carol McGrath and tells the story of Ailenor of Provence. She is only thirteen years old when she travels to England in 1236 to wed King Henry III. Twice his bride’s age, he showers the young queen with luxurious gifts. For her part, Ailenor is a loving and faithful wife, determined to provide as many royal children as possible to secure future advantageous alliances.

Ailenor soon finds a friend in her new sister-in-law, Nell, who is secretly in love with Simon de Montford, the King’s seneschal. Ailenor encourages Henry to assist Nell to break free of a vow of chastity that had been forced upon her after she was widowed very young. Nell’s resulting marriage to Simon de Montford has far-reaching effects for the country and caused frequent friction between Ailenor and Henry.

Rosalind, a talented embroideress, is a fictional character who teaches her craft to Ailenor and her ladies. She becomes a favourite of the queen and introduces us to a fascinating glimpse of life in the merchant classes. The detailed descriptions of gorgeously embroidered furnishings and clothing are a high point of the novel.

Intelligent and educated, with a romantic turn of mind, Ailenor’s influence grows as she learns to navigate the turbulent politics and constant jostling for power between Henry and his barons. Henry becomes increasingly extravagant and frequently raises taxes to cover the expense of the crusades and the building of Westminster Abbey. Ailenor herself is accused of nepotism by the barons when she brings family members from Provence to fill positions usually taken by Englishmen.

I knew little about medieval political history but there is a useful Historical Note at the end of the book to explain the background. The story really came to life for me with the relationships between the characters and the rich and detailed descriptions of fashion, embroidery, banquets and the poems and music of courtly love.

At times, Ailenor and Henry’s usually happy marriage is tested to the limits when she refuses to bow down to his will. She bides her time and negotiates her way out of trouble. I enjoyed reading about Ailenor’s development from a young girl to a She-Wolf queen who was relentless in her aim of increasing the royal family’s power and influence.

I received an e-copy of The Silken Rose from Netgalley.

At 13 Alienor travels from the romantic and cultured court of Provence to marry Henry III, King of England, a man more than twice her age. Whilst Alienor brings little dowry, her family has strategic power and influence, and Alienor realises that she has to be both a devoted wife and mother as well as politician to steer her devout and profligate husband away from conflict with his nobles.
McGrath has taken a historical figure of little note and woven a gentle romance around her life which is a pleasant yet undemanding read. There is no doubting her research is strong and the sense of time and place well developed. The parallel story of Rosalind is again steeped in romance but there is a slightly harder edge here with heresy and class being considered. The story stops well before the Barons' Uprising and this was slightly frustrating but as this is planned to be the first in a trilogy it makes sense to pick up the tale with the next Queen, the beloved Eleanor of Castile.

The Silken Rose is an account of the life of Queen Ailenor, the wife of Henry III. In the novel, fiction is woven around the known facts of Ailenor's life.

The novel opens in January, 1236, when 13-year old Ailenor, a Princess of Provence, was being conveyed through a rain-soaked landscape from Dover to Canterbury, where she was to meet the man she was to marry, King Henry III of England. To her disappointment, the King, whom she’d not yet met, was not there to greet her upon her arrival, but was at prayer.

Her wedding to the English King being seen as prestigious as the marriage of her sister, Marguerite, to the King of France, Ailenor was anxious that all should go well. Her first impression of the King’s sister, Eleanor, who immediately took her under her wing, and helped her with a travel problem that had affected her dress, was favourable. It was an admiration that seemed to be mutual, and Eleanor asked Ailenor to call her Nell. Nell, who’d taken a vow of chastity, the renouncement of which was to have unforeseen repercussions, was to become one of Ailenor’s two closest friends.

When Ailenor met the king, who was of average height and stocky, her fear was that she might grow too tall for him. He had fine, flaxen hair, and an eye that drooped, but he showed a generosity towards her by heaping upon her gifts. This made her uncomfortable that her only gift for him was an Arab stallion, and his understanding of her anxiety at the disparity of their gifts to each other showed his kindness, and she was content with her royal husband.

The generosity that the KIng showed towards Ailenor hints at him spending large sums of money with ease. This is further indicated by the magnificence of the building projects he enumerates to Ailenor, such as Westminster Abbey, which he is building, but for which the people are paying, and by his enthusiasm for the Crusades and by his willingness to spend great sums to secure his lands, and, later, to see his children married with an extravagance of clothes and surroundings.

The reader follows the lives of Ailenor and Henry over the years, and shows how they lived against a background of revolts by barons, and betrayals by one’s family and trusted friends. We see also the lives of Nell, who fell in love with the King’s steward, Simon de Montfort, and of the embroideress, Rosalind, a fictional character, who taught the Queen to embroider intricate designs. Rosalind, who became Ailenor’s other close friend, fell in love with the young squire, Thomas, who rode with Simon de Montfort.

In following the lives of Ailenor and Henry and their freinds, the reader is taken into the realms of the upper classes who inhabited the medieval world, a world in which marriage was a way of uniting royal households, of securing lands for oneself and for one’s children, of filling coffers that had become empty over the years and of reviving businesses that needed a fresh injection of capital.

The role of the Queen is clearly shown. She needed to retain the respect due to her status by dressing stylishly and in the richest of materials, by dining on a wide range of food and delicacies, and by living a life wherein she was waited on hand and foot, and wanted for nothing. McGrath delights in the details of textiles and of the clothes she wears, and the food she eats, and on the skilfully executed embroidery for which the Queen came to be known.

The reader also follows Ailenor’s great desire to give the King a son, which she knows to be the outcome expected by their liaison, and she does indeed do this. Over the years she has several children, and also several miscarriages.

The limitations of her power are also clearly shown. She was not always able to influence the king in the way she would have wished, and at times the King expressed his annoyance with her interference and they were estranged. Over the years, she had to deal with the complaints by the barons that she was guilty of nepotism, having filled so much of the positions at court with those she’d brought with her, or sent for, from France.

Carol McGrath successfully succeeds in bringing alive this medieval world, both in England and France,, which is a period of history that is less frequently taught at school and, consequently, is not so widely known. Reading The Silken Rose is a great opportunity to learn more about this world.

Carol McGrath’s latest is a fictionalised biography of the life of 13th century Queen Ailenor, wife of Henry III. You probably know her (if you know her at all) as Eleanor but McGrath prefers the alternative spelling.

I knew practically nothing about the 13th century when I started this book and I was certainly massively better informed by the end. It is packed with politics and personalities as well as details of everyday life.

McGrath used to teach history and her knowledge of the period is evident throughout the book. It is a great primer for anyone wanting to understand the power plays of the medieval period and the importance of marriages to bind together the families that controlled the countries of Europe. At the top, King Henry’s marriage ties together England and Provence, just as his daughter’s marriage will, in time, bond Scotland to the English throne. Further down the social scale, the marriage prospects of the embroideress, Rosalind, are viewed by her tailor father as a way to further his business connections, as his own marriage with a widowed haberdasher has.

The web of family relationships that marriages produce can bind the prosperity of a tailor to the political success of an earl. The personal is always political, the political always personal.

The book reminds us that England and France shared ties of blood as well as economic and political alliances. Tracts of what is now France were the property of King Henry, while Scotland then was a foreign country. And over all, there was the Church, a separate and mighty power, able to mobilise armies as well as threaten excommunication to those who crossed it.

Money, too, was central to the relationships in this book. Money has to be raised so that money can be spent. The church must be taxed and God appeased by ever more extravagant buildings. Henry is building Westminster Abbey and the nation is paying for it. Unrest is calmed with acts of extravagant generosity but stoked when taxes are raised to pay for them. Earls are, essentially, bribed to support the king against other earls who will, in turn, demand bribes of their own.

It’s a chaotic, dangerous world, in which Queen Ailenor often retreats to shelter amongst her own ladies, dressed in the finest gowns, eating food flavoured with spices imported from thousands of miles away – a life of unimaginable luxury, not only intrinsically desirable but necessary if she is to retain the status and authority of her role.

McGrath’s book offers an insight into a lost world. It almost makes the world of today’s political and economic powers look sane by comparison.

I voluntarily read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

This is a first time author for me

I loved this
Well researched and found this absorbing
History is my thing and loved this time period
loved the mis of fact and fiction which I felt added to the subject and story

Would recommend the book

I found this story terrific, well researched and engrossing.
I didn't know a lot about the specific historical time and was happy to learn more while being entertained by this complex novel.
The mix of historical facts and fiction works well and the author did a great job in keeping them balanced.
The characters are well thought and the historical background is vivid.
An excellent read, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

An enjoyable story based on the life of Ailenor of Provence who became Queen of England in the 1200s. There is also the fictional subplot of a tailor's daughter alongside it although I was a little disappointed that this was entirely made up as she seemed an important character whilst reading. I did enjoy this and will probably read the rest in the She Wolves series as it's a period of history I know little about.