The Devil's Queen
The Devil's Queen: A Novel of Catherine de Medici
The Devil's Queen
Jeanne Kalogridis
From Jeanne Kalogridis, the bestselling author of I, Mona Lisa and The Borgia Bride, comes a new novel that tells the passionate story of a queen who loved not wisely . . . but all too well.Confidante of Nostradamus, scheming mother-in-law to Mary, Queen of Scots, and architect of the bloody St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, Catherine de Medici is one of the most maligned monarchs in history. In her latest historical fiction, Jeanne Kalogridis tells Catherine’s story—that of a tender young girl, destined to be a pawn in Machiavellian games. Born into one of Florence’s most powerful families, Catherine was soon left a fabulously rich heiress by the early deaths of her parents. Violent conflict rent the city state and she found herself imprisoned and threatened by her family’s enemies before finally being released and married off to the handsome Prince Henry of France. Overshadowed by her husband’s mistress, the gorgeous, conniving Diane de Poitiers, and unable to bear children, Catherine resorted to the dark arts of sorcery to win Henry’s love and enhance her fertility—for which she would pay a price. Against the lavish and decadent backdrop of the French court, and Catherine’s blood-soaked visions of the future, Kalogridis reveals the great love and desire Catherine bore for her husband, Henry, and her stark determination to keep her sons on the throne.

Book Details

Genre: 

  • Educational
  • Fiction
  • Historical Fiction

Age Level: 

  • 12 and up
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MDG

Caterina de Medici, the Italian duchess of Florence, has witnessed betrayal and hardship at a young age. As a prisoner of the rebels who wanted to take over Florence, she has suffered through hunger, cold, and the plague. With the help from a horoscopist and prophet, Cosimo Ruggieri, Caterina was able to escape from her captors and be placed in the favor of her uncle, Pope Clement VII. In a political power play, Clement married her to a French prince, where she was forced learn a new language, customs, and name: Catherine, queen of France.

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This novel is about the long, powerful life of France's own Queen Catherine de Medici. The book starts at her childhood when she had to run for her life as revolts chased her and eventually imprisoned her. Readers learn of all her hardships, and how she came to be Queen of France. All her struggles to keep her children on the throne and the smart wits she possessed are revealed. This book tells all about real events in French History from Queen Catherine's point of view, from the revolts of citizens to the lavish court life in France's famous castles.

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