Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* If the serious history readers among your library patrons believe that Tudor England is the only place where family and religious conflict at the highest level makes riveting reading matter, those folks need to take a close look across the English Channel and see what was transpiring at the same time in the French court. The French contemporary to Elizabeth I was Queen Catherine de' Medici, widow of King Henri II and mother to three kings after him. Catherine loved power, but as we see in this highly dramatic dual biography, she hadn't the finesse of Queen Bess and made a big mistake in making her beautiful daughter, Marguerite of Valois, an enemy. This, of course, was a time in European history when Catholicism was confronted by ever-encroaching Protestantism, and this struggle came to a head in England in the messy divorce of Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon. In France, it reached its climax in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, a bloody country-wide conflagration ignited by Queen Catherine's forced marriage of her very religious and very Catholic daughter to the Protestant king of Navarre. Tudor struggles pale in comparison! Read this along with Antonia Fraser's classic Mary Queen of Scots (1969), who was briefly married to one of Catherine de' Medici's sons.--Hooper, Brad Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Goldstone (The Lady Queen) upends conventional thought with this well-researched and well-written book, arguing that Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589), the French queen mother, was less Machiavellian in nature than generally believed and that she reacted to geopolitical situations with disastrous results for both her family and France. As a Catholic "power broker," de' Medici manipulated friends and rivals in her meticulous plan to ensure the marriage of her reluctant daughter Marguerite marriage to a French Huguenot (Protestant) prince-then just as carefully had the new husband's wedding party slaughtered four days later. While this was clearly a ploy to combat the threat of a rising Protestantantism, it created an untenable political situation in France. For her part, Marguerite showed considerable intellect and negotiating skills as she maneuvered around religions, powerful French families, and constantly shifting political terrain while being sabotaged by her family and husband. Goldstone's witty comments make this historical family drama as easy to read as the best fiction, but it's all the more tragic for being true. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
This engrossing, action-packed narrative immerses readers in a tumultuous period of European history. Prolific biographer Goldstone (The Lady Queen) turns her attention to France, focusing on the poisonous rivalry between the powerful Catherine de Medici and her daughter Marguerite. A true disciple of Machiavelli, to whom Goldstone frequently compares her, Catherine was the mother of three kings and two queens and ruled France as regent for almost three decades. Determined to see her sons advance and dedicated above all else to her own survival, she was unscrupulous enough to manipulate, control, and exploit Marguerite to advance her political agenda. Played out against the backdrop of the French wars of religion, this is a story of espionage, assassination, intrigue, and chicanery but also one that poignantly reminds readers of the vulnerabilities faced by women of the age. Although the complexities of shifting allegiances and alliances may be difficult to follow, readers are sure to be captivated by the lush details of these women's lives: early marriages, the dynastic obsession with fertility, the dangers of childbirth, the sexual escapades of the court, the flagrant presence of mistresses, and the humiliations endured by royal wives. The atrocities fueled by Catholic-Protestant tensions form an equally gripping subtext to this story. VERDICT This highly accessible account is recommended for general but serious readers interested in European history and royal biography.-Marie M. Mullaney, Caldwell Coll., NJ © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Two Renaissance queenswho also happened to be mother and daughterreceive a thorough treatment. Goldstone certainly knows her queens (The Maid and the Queen: The Secret History of Joan of Arc, 2012, etc.). Through the story of this mother-daughter relationship of Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589) and her daughter, Marguerite de Valois (1553-1615), the author spins a tangled tale of rivalry, ambition, and, especiallyfor the rare women leaders of the timesheer self-preservation. Catherine is the more well-documented monarch: married at age 14 to the French prince who became Henri II, she grew from a docile pawn of her wealthy family into a formidable player in the Catholic-Huguenot wars by acting as regent to one son and minence grise to another. Indeed, Goldstone reveals her to be "an able disciple of Machiavelli" in her eagerness to play her children off one another. Marguerite is less known, but she was an extremely important component to the religious animosities roiling Europe and Britain at the time, as she was forced to marry the leader of the Huguenot party, her cousin Henry of Navarre (future Henri IV), as a way for her mother to neutralize the pesky Protestant element threatening the stability of France. Her marriage to Henry in 1572 precipitated the horrific Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre five days later and caused the spiritual grief of her life. Catherine and Marguerite were often at odds, but Marguerite proved no shrinking violet. While her mother manipulated the interests of her spoiled favorite son, Henri III, Marguerite managed to conduct her own love affairs and championed to her advantage the political maneuvering of her younger brother. Throughout the book, Goldstone has a remarkable handle on these often Byzantine royal machinations. History brought to vivid life in the characters of these women of purpose. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
