Many thanks for all the wonderful suggestions for comfort reads. I think I ask for reading suggestions quite often and I do appreciate all the ideas that are passed along to me. I always write them down in my notebook. As it turns out I got Elizabeth Chadwick's The Greatest Knight from the library just as I was working on that post. As I want to read it before starting The Scarlet Lion (which I happened to get as a review copy), I went ahead and dived in. In terms of a gripping read, this is certainly it. Not all historical fiction is created equally. In the hands of a good author the past can really come alive and I am finding that to be the case with Chadwick. I'd never heard of William Marshal before, but he's an actual historical figure and Chadwick calls him "perhaps the greatest knight of the Middle Ages".
I won't talk about what I'm reading quite yet, but I do want to share a passage that I found interesting. What I love about good historical fiction is getting a feel for a period, and I like an author who is good at visuals and can make me see the story in my mind as I read it (if that makes sense?). It's also nice to get outside of the here and now, and the Middle Ages is about as far away as I can get at the moment I think.
William Marshal eventually became part of Eleanor of Aquitane's household, which is described here.
"Although he was accustomed to the trappings of wealth, William was astounded by the transformation Eleanor's arrival had wrought on apartments that this morning had been bare. Detailed embroideries in rich hues of red and gold blazed upon the walls while chained lamps hung from the roof beams and were augmented by candelabra alight with clear-burning beeswax candles. Oak benches strewn with plump cushions lined the sides of the room, as did several brightly painted coffers. Thick woollen curtains decorated with exquisite stitchwork and tassels of gold silk enclosed the Queen's great bed. Heavy scents of incense and musk drugged the air. At a sideboard scaled with silverware, a squire poured wine into silver goblets. Eleanor herself sat on a curved chair near a brazier, attended by her women and surrounded by a cluster of devoted men, including Salisbury."
What I always have a hard time imagining is the finery such as the embroidery or silver goblets contrasted with the rushes on the floor (which I think is like straw?) covering all the not very nice things that land on the floor! Perhaps in a royal household like Queen Eleanor's things would have been tidier? I expect things were not terribly clean at the time, however. It's hard to think of people living in these conditions, but fascinating at the same time. And books like these always make me appreciate living in the modern age.