Heartbreaking but incredibly poignant, Eleanore of Avignon follows the title character Elea, who was trained as a midwife by her mother but was unable to save her mother and baby brother during childbirth. She has enemies in the church that want to brand her a witch, but when the plague sweeps through France, Elea apprentices with the pope’s personal surgeon to use both the medical knowledge of doctors and midwives to try and cure victims. The story is well told with many historical details, but it is the relationships between characters that shine brightly.

I was hooked from the cover and so glad I was able to read this, it had that historical fiction element that I wanted and enjoyed getting to know these characters. It uses Provence well and I thought the use of Black Death was a great threat. Elizabeth DeLozier wrote this in a way that I wanted to keep reading this and going on this journey with the characters.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a historical fiction novel set during the Black Death and I thought this one was exceptional. Accurate to the time, yet feminist without being man-hating. I cared deeply about the characters and it made me eager to read some more stories from the Middle Ages.

Eleanore is a pleasant and eagerly helpful healer that any reader will enjoy spending time with in this quickly evolving story of life in the mid-1300's. Clearly well-researched, this story includes valid medical and historical information so artfully woven into Eleanor's work with patients that I felt totally immersed in old Avignon and gladly followed Eleanor between the woods, the town, the Pope's palace, and every rewarding turn in the plot.

What I really loved:
- I’m in a fair historical fiction mood lately and this one did not disappoint! I loved the feeling of being taken back in time to Avignon. Having visited the Provence region of France a handful of years ago, it was lovely revisiting it in a different way, through a historic lens, and through the eyes of characters that really lived.
- There were many characters that I really enjoyed, and while the novel didn’t go too terribly deep into who they were as people, it felt like the spirit of who they were was captured well.
- I loved the herbalist and midwifery perspective and feeling like I was a fly on the wall as physicians attempted to do the best they could with the knowledge they had (and some absolutely outrageous ideas) to fight off an invisible enemy that can now be treated with basic antibiotics.
- I really enjoyed the female perspective of a character trying to become something that society deemed entirely unattainable. While there were some unrealistic turns in the plot with her character, I suspended my disbelief for the sake of being hopeful and happy that a female character in a terrible time in history was able to come out okay.
- It was bingeable - I read most of it in one sitting and just couldn’t stop. Lots of plot!

What I didn’t love:
- This felt like a really fast read! Some of that was because it was really good, and so I read quickly. But also I don’t know that this was a very large book either. I think if the author had wanted to, she could’ve expanded even more on the events and people of the time in more detail. But as it stands, it was still fantastic and enjoyable. If you especially are the type of reader that does not enjoy dense historical fiction with lots of detail but stories that you can still feel immersed in, I think this is a solid choice!
- I feel like all the loose ends were tied up very quickly at the end. It was still well done but the end kind of snuck up on me and then the story was over. I still think readers will be entirely content with the ending regardless!

Overall:
I really did enjoy this one! It immersed me in a time and place, surrounded me with historical people and events, and kept me reading until the last line. If you like historical fiction, just enjoy detail to really set the stage and the players (but not too much), and a good feministy plot line, I definitely recommend it!

Thank you to both Dutton (Penguin) and Netgalley for allowing me to read an early review copy!