The Devil’s Queen
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- $119.00
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- $119.00
Descripción editorial
A compelling tale of love, lust and murder which traces the evolution of Catherine de Medici – the great-granddaughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent – from an unloved, timid orphan to France's most cunning monarch
A cold, ruthless murderess and occultist, or a loyal wife and mother, and the most competent monarch France ever knew?
In The Devil’s Queen, Jeanne Kalogridis examines Catherine de'Medici’s attraction to astrology and the dark arts, as well as the political, religious and personal forces that converged during her life.
Catherine de'Medici was one of France's most notorious and blood thirsty monarchs, feared by some as an occultist, seen to be consorting with the likes of Nostradamus and thought to have been responsible for the brutal St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.
For many she was loved as a monarch devoted to bringing about peace during the Wars of Religion. Others saw her as an unfortunate victim of circumstances, struggling to come to terms with the death of her own husband whom she loved dearly, as well as the tragic death of her own parents at an early age.
In Kalogridis' most passionate and thought-provoking novel, we follow in the footsteps of France's orphan queen and her rise to power in the tumultuous climate of sixteenth century France.
Reviews
Praise for Jeanne Kalogridis:
The Borgia Bride:
‘Love, lust, incest and murder: this historical romance has it all’
Mail on Sunday
'From sexual passion to mortal danger, the dramatic shift of real historical events will keep the reader turning the pages'
Philippa Gregory
'Corset-busting escapism'
The Sunday Times
About the author
Jeanne Kalogridis was born in Florida in 1954. She earned a BA in Russian and an MA in Linguistics from the University of South Florida and went on to teach English as a Second Language at the American University in Washington, D.C. She now lives with her husband on the West Coast of the US, sharing a house with two dogs. Her interests include yoga, Buddhism, languages, art, and reading everything ever published.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this soap opera rendition of 16th-century power and politics, the ruthless and manipulative wife of France's King Henry II, reviled for her role in the civil and religious wars that roiled France, is conned into a deal with the devil. After her arranged marriage to the future French king, Catherine de Medici dedicates her life to protecting her husband and his reign, bartering away her soul to ensure that she provides heirs. Seasoned historic novelist Kalogridis (The Borgia Bride) nails the palace intrigue and lush pageantry of the Renaissance, but can't get a grip on her heroine's slippery, troubled heart. Catherine confesses to a core of evil, and history certainly supports that view, but Kalogridis suggests that the real trade-off of Catherine's Faustian bargain was to become a royal doormat, swallowing her courage and pride to become a dutiful and ignored wife and mother. For all her passion and attention to detail, however, Kalogridis doesn't quite bring the powerful, tortured figure back from her historical purgatory.
