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St. Martin's Press
August 2009
On Sale: July 21, 2009
480 pages
ISBN: 0312368437
EAN: 9780312368432
Hardcover
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Historical
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. Bartholomewโs Day Massacre, Catherine de Medici is one of the most maligned monarchs in history. In her latest historical fiction, Jeanne Kalogridis tells Catherineโs storyโthat of a tender young girl, destined to be a pawn in Machiavellian games. Born into one of Florenceโs 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 familyโs enemies before finally being released and married off to the handsome Prince Henry of France. Overshadowed by her husbandโs mistress, the gorgeous, conniving Diane de Poitiers, and unable to bear children, Catherine resorted to the dark arts of sorcery to win Henryโs love and enhance her fertilityโfor which she would pay a price. Against the lavish and decadent backdrop of the French court, and Catherineโs 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.
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