The only things I knew about Catherine de Medici were that she was Italian and that she had a reputation for being a ruthless murderess. I did not realize that she was a Queen in France, and Gortner explained her reputation away while keeping her from looking like a despot.

I love good historical fiction because it teaches me something, in the guise of an adventure story. This one takes place from 1529 to 1589, during the reign of Henry VIII of England and shortly thereafter, and I have often thought that would be one of the most dangerous times ever to have been a royal. I was reminded by this story that it would also have been a difficult time to be religious. While England was fighting over whether it would be Catholic or Protestant, France was struggling with the advent of Calvin and the Huguenots. In the center of this conflict sat Catherine de Medici, trying to hold the French throne for her sons and parceling out her daughters to various alliances.

No one could help feeling sorry for Catherine in her early life. She certainly developed a thicker skin than I ever could have. I cannot imagine seeing this kind of constant bloodshed and enduring the deaths of so many people you know or love, and still keeping your sanity, let alone your equilibrium.

When I read a Tudor book, I know the history so I can spot the inaccuracies or inventions. In this case, I do not know the history, so I cannot really speak to that. However, this did not have the feeling of being grossly inaccurate and the author does provide a list of scholarly works that contributed to his research and which he suggests reading for historical background. I would not hesitate to read other historical fiction by Mr. Gortner.
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I've read a few books involving her as a character but I enjoyed this portrayal of her. A lot of others books show her as the total opposite so in this one I totally feel for her. ( )

I find myself hoping this is what Catherine de Medici was truly like. What a life! There was such tragedy, triumph too.
After reading two CW Gortner novels, I am definitely looking forward to his newest. I like his style, his work is very easy to read, stuffed with information without causing total confusion. I was up way too late at night reading this book. ( )

3.75 stars

Catherine de Medici married a man who would become King of France in the mid-1500s, Henry II. During her marriage, her husband routinely ignored her in favour of his older mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Catherine did later have children with Henry, and she would do anything to protect the throne for her sons. She saw all four of her sons become king, eventually. At the time, there were many fervent Catholics at court, including the power-hungry Guises, who wanted the Huguenots to be destroyed. Catherine would later develop a nasty reputation, and the nicknames “Queen Jezebel” and “Madame le Serpent”.

This was quite good. I've read only a little bit about Catherine (and only fiction). So much happened, though, that it felt like Gortner had to leave a lot out, so time skipped forward a lot in the book. It would have been nice to be able to fill those gaps in more. I liked the note at the end that brought us “up to date” about all the major “characters” in the book, what happened after Catherine died. Of course, he also mentions some of the things he changed or left out. Overall, it was pretty good. ( )

I slogged my way thru Jeanne Kalogridis' book about Catherine (The Devil's Queen). I was really looking forward to reading this one. I think I started this one about a year ago, and almost got half way thru. I can't bring myself to try and pick it up again and slog thru this one too. There are too many other books I desperately want to read. Right now I'm the opinion that while she's certainly a figure of history, I don't find much about her that's interesting enough to warrant nearly 400 pages.