New Book for Review: Historical Novel ‘The Confessions of Catherine de Medici’ by C.W. Gortner

NEW pb Confessions cover C.W. Gortner is touring from June 13 – 24, 2011 with his historical novel, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici.

Catherine de Medici was one of history’s most powerful women.  She has been called brilliant and bold, but was also known as a vengeful Italian Jezebel who resorted to murder to protect her family’s throne.  Was she the ruthless queen who led France into an era of savage violence? Or was she the passionate savior of the French monarchy?

Originally published in hardcover in 2010, C.W. Gortner’s novel THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI (Ballantine Trade Paperback; On Sale: May 24, 2011) challenges the dark legend surrounding Catherine de Medici, revealing her tumultuous youth as a papal pawn; her gift of second sight; her courageous fight to save France; and her secret passion for a man she is fated to destroy.

The last legitimate descendant of the illustrious Medici line, Catherine suffers the expulsion of her family from her native Florence and narrowly escapes death at the hands of an enraged mob.  Married to a French prince, eventually a queen in name if not in her husband’s heart, she strives to create a role for herself, aided by her patronage of the famous clairvoyant Nostradamus and her own innate gift as a seer.  But in her 40th year, Catherine is widowed, left alone with six young children as regent of a kingdom torn apart by religious discord and the ambitions of a treacherous nobility.

Relying on her tenacity, wit, and uncanny gift for compromise, Catherine seizes power, intent on securing the throne for her sons.  She allies herself with the enigmatic Protestant leader Coligny, with whom she shares an intimate secret, and implacably carves a path toward peace, unaware that her own dark fate looms before her—a fate that, if she is to save France, will demand the sacrifice of her ideals, her reputation, and the passion of her embattled heart.

From the fairy-tale châteaux 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.

432 pages

Visit C.W. Gortner online at www.cwgortner.com.

UPDATE: This tour is now closed.  We hope you’ll check our New Books for Review page to see what else we have available. Thanks to all participating blog hosts and reviewers!


One Response to “New Book for Review: Historical Novel ‘The Confessions of Catherine de Medici’ by C.W. Gortner”

  1. Would love to review The Confessions of Catherine de Medici. Thank you.

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