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Title details for The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C. W. Gortner - Available

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici

A Novel

by C. W. Gortner
Cassandra Campbell
Audiobook
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From C. W. Gortner, acclaimed author of The Last Queen, comes an ambitious and gripping new novel about the dramatic, tragic, and misunderstood life of one of history's most powerful and influential women: Catherine de Medici.

To some, she was the ruthless queen who led France into an era of savage violence. To others, she was the passionate savior of the French monarchy. In this brilliantly imagined novel, acclaimed author C. W. Gortner brings Catherine to life in her own voice, allowing us to enter the intimate world of a woman whose determination to protect her family's throne and realm plunged her into a lethal struggle for power.

From the fairy-tale chateaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    July 30, 2010

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781483072012
      • File size: 460525 KB
      • Duration: 15:59:25

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Catherine de' Medici, great granddaughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent, was born for greatness, and she fulfills her destiny as Queen of France, as well as regent and advisor for her three sons, each of whom later becomes king. Cassandra Campbell tells this fictionalized account of Catherine's life with little embellishment in the dialogue or accents of those who surround Catherine. But it is Catherine's story, and Campbell focuses her attention on the depth of Catherine's character and her development from the Italian girl who arrived in France to marry the king's second son. Campbell imbues her voice with determination and maturity as Catherine learns the ways of the court and its politics. Later, we hear harshness in Campbell's tone as Catherine sees herself losing everything that reminds her of the girl she used to be. E.N. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 1, 2010
      Catherine de Medici uses her natural and supernatural gifts to protect the French throne in Gortner's (The Last Queen
      ) portrait of a queen willing to sacrifice happiness and reputation to fulfill her family's royal destiny. Orphan Catherine has her first vision at age 10, and three years later is betrothed to Henri d'Orleans, brother of the sickly heir to the French throne. She heads to France with a vial of poison hidden among her possessions, and after negotiating an uneasy truce with her husband's mistress, she matures into a powerful court presence, though power, she learns, comes at a price. Three of her sons become king in succession as the widow Catherine wields ever-increasing influence to keep the ambitious de Guise clan at bay and religious adversaries from murdering each other. Gortner's is not the first fictional reinterpretation of a historical villainess—Catherine's role in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, for instance, is recounted in a way sympathetic to her—but hers is remarkably thoughtful in its insight into an unapologetically ruthless queen.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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