 Additionally, Penman chronicles the life and character of Ellen, daughter of Simon de Montfort and niece to Henry III; her betrothal to Llewelyn (negotiated prior to de Montfort's death); and the conflict between Ellen and her cousin Edward, soon to become King Edward, who opposes the betrothal.The Plantagenet series focuses on the Angevin King Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, beginning with the sinking of the "White Ship", the marriage of the Empress Maude and Geoffrey of Anjou, and Henry's birth and childhood in "When Christ and His Saints Slept.