The Devil's Queen

A Novel of Catherine de Medici

By: Jeanne Kalogridis

Narrated by: Kate Reading

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.

©2009 Jeanne Kalogridis; (P)2009 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

<p>“Both the unabridged and abridged recordings feature a brilliant, perfectly nuanced performance by pseudonymous narrator Kate Reading...” —<i>Library Journal</i><br><br>“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.” —<i>AudioFile</i><br><br>“Jeanne Kalogridis's deftly written historical novel is superbly narrated by Kate Reading...<i>The Devil's Queen</i> is enthusiastically recommended as a personal 'theater of the mind' experience.” —<i>The Midwest Book Review</i></p>

explicit child sacrifice

I stopped this book when I got to the explicit description of child sacrifice. Audible should be ashamed of selling this title.

The novel was a fictional story with some history.

The novel was a fictional story with some historical facts. Based on the fantasy idea that Catherine De Medici was involved with black arts.