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Title details for The Devil's Queen by Jeanne Kalogridis - Available

The Devil's Queen

A Novel of Catherine de Medici

by Jeanne Kalogridis
Kate Reading
Audiobook
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1 of 1 copy available

Catherine de Medici is one of the most maligned monarchs in history: blamed for the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in which hundreds of innocents died. What motivated this Renaissance woman who was born of Florence's most powerful family, and one day came to rule France?
In her latest historical fiction bestseller, Jeanne Kalogridis tells the story of Catherine, a tender young girl, destined to be a pawn in Machiavellian games. Left a fabulously rich heiress, imprisoned and threatened by her family's enemies, she was finally married off to a handsome prince of France.
Overshadowed by her husband's mistress, the conniving Diane de Poitiers, and now consort to a King, Catherine resorted to sorcery to win his love, enhance her fertility and foil her enemies. Against the lavish and decadent backdrop of the French court, and Catherine's visions induced by the black arts, Kalogoris reveals the great love and desire Catherine bore for her husband Henry, and her stark determination to keep her sons on the throne.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    July 7, 2009

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781427207135
      • File size: 518533 KB
      • Duration: 18:00:16

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Jeanne Kalogridis creates a new and improved picture of Catherine de Medici, the wife of King Henri II, a queen much hated by the French people. Whether or not you're convinced of the author's perspective of the queen, you'll be captivated by Kate Reading's narration. She eases us into Catherine's character with fluid pronunciations of Italian and French and a flow that sweeps us into her story. Reading's strong, emotive tones encourage listeners to care about a woman who loves her husband and children so dearly that she's willing to participate in murder to ensure their safety and secure their futures. Reading portrays forceful mystics of the period as Kalogridis suggests that Catherine was swayed by predictions made by Nostradamus and the intuitions of the medieval psychic Cosimo Ruggieri. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 11, 2009
      In this soap opera rendition of 16th-century power and politics, the ruthless and manipulative wife of France's King Henry II, reviled for her role in the civil and religious wars that roiled France, is conned into a deal with the devil. After her arranged marriage to the future French king, Catherine de Medici dedicates her life to protecting her husband and his reign, bartering away her soul to ensure that she provides heirs. Seasoned historic novelist Kalogridis (The Borgia Bride
      ) nails the palace intrigue and lush pageantry of the Renaissance, but can't get a grip on her heroine's slippery, troubled heart. Catherine confesses to a core of evil, and history certainly supports that view, but Kalogridis suggests that the real trade-off of Catherine's Faustian bargain was to become a royal doormat, swallowing her courage and pride to become a dutiful and ignored wife and mother. For all her passion and attention to detail, however, Kalogridis doesn't quite bring the powerful, tortured figure back from her historical purgatory.

    • Library Journal

      October 15, 2009
      Kalogridis's (www.jeannekalogridis.com) latest historical novel, following "I, Mona Lisa" (2006), traces the rise of Catherine de Medici, great-granddaughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent, from imprisoned orphan to one of France's most maligned monarchs. While both the unabridged and the abridged recordings feature a brilliant, perfectly nuanced performance by pseudonymous narrator Kate Reading (Jennifer Mendenhall, who also reads under the name Johanna Ward), in the abridgment, Kalogridis's sympathetic, richly detailed portrayal of Catherine seems sketchy and the plot, incomplete. The unabridged edition is recommended only for fans of paranormal and historical fiction.Beth Farrell, Portage Cty. Dist. Lib., Garrettsville, OH

      Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Catherine de Medici's obsession with witchcraft, sorcery, and Nostradamus begins when she's captured by rebel insurgents as a child. Her talents for the dark arts further intensify after her political marriage to France's Prince Henri. Award-winning narrator Kate Reading seems like an ideal choice to re-create de Medici, the wife of one French king and the mother of three. Reading gives it her all, using every skill in her repertoire to breathe life into characters. She frequently over-emotes in dramatic scenes, but her deep, husky voice makes de Medici especially believable in the creepier, more sinister sections. Graphic scenes of sex and violence have been edited from this abridgment, and the result leaves holes in the story that make the characters less interesting. Reading works hard to make the story as engaging and dramatic as possible. A.R.H. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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