Penman, Sharon Kay. Devil's Brood.(Brief article)(Book review)

* Penman, Sharon Kay. Devil's Brood. Putnam. Oct. 2008. c.752p. ISBN 978-0399-15526-0. $27.95. F

In Penman's final volume of her trilogy based on the lives of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine (When Christ and His Saints Slept; Time and Chance), the best-selling author concludes the tumultuous love story between these two strong-willed, brilliant rulers. As the novel opens, their four sons are beginning to chafe under the heavy hand of their father, who has crowned the eldest, Hal, as a coregent but gives him little authority or power. Egged on by their mother, the young king and his brothers mount a decadelong crusade …