Médicis Daughter: A Novel of Marguerite de Valois by Sophie Perinot

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours/Netgalley

Read: November 28, 2015

Winter, 1564. Beautiful young Princess Margot is summoned to the court of France, where nothing is what it seems and a wrong word can lead to ruin. Known across Europe as Madame la Serpente, Margot’s intimidating mother, Queen Catherine de Médicis, is a powerful force in a country devastated by religious war. Among the crafty nobility of the royal court, Margot learns the intriguing and unspoken rules she must live by to please her poisonous family. Eager to be an obedient daughter, Margot accepts her role as a marriage pawn, even as she is charmed by the powerful, charismatic Duc de Guise. Though Margot's heart belongs to Guise, her hand will be offered to Henri of Navarre, a Huguenot leader and a notorious heretic looking to seal a tenuous truce. But the promised peace is a mirage: her mother's schemes are endless, and her brothers plot vengeance in the streets of Paris. When Margot's wedding devolves into the bloodshed of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, she will be forced to choose between her family and her soul.

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Marguerite de Valois

I fell for Sophie Perinot’s work in 2012 when I read The Sister Queens. I was a young reviewer, but I was struck by the novel’s scope and mesmerized by the author’s command of language and prose. It was her debut piece, but it was captivating and I made a mental note to keep an eye out for her next release. Medicis Daughter hit the market more than three years later, but the novel proved well-worth the wait and cemented Perinot’s place as one of my favorite writers of historic fiction.

Atmospherically, the novel swept me off my feet. Perinot’s depiction of the French court was beautifully drawn and I was wholly captivated by both the political and social interaction that unfolded among its players. Margot is young when first introduced, but she is a quick study in an environment that does not make allowances for inexperience. This was an intense game of cat and mouse, a world where you are either predator or prey, and I liked how Perinot was able to illustrate those concepts through her interpretation the Valois’ reign.

Margot fascinated me in her own right. She isn’t an easy character, but her layers and complexity are hard to ignore. Her family is ruthless and self-serving and while she possesses many of the same characteristics, she plays them much differently and distinguishing herself as a somewhat unique force. Her goals and ambitions are relatively modest, but her loyalties are often at odds. Her courage and tenacity are intriguing and while I didn’t always agree with the course of her actions, I found much admire in the determination and resolve required in carrying them out.

Historically speaking that novel covers only part of Margot’s history, but it teases the imagination and feels complete in its telling. Rich with intrigue, rivalry and passion, Medicis Daughter is not to be missed.

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“Your Highness, every woman in the Queen’s household has a duty to Her Majesty, a duty of obedience... The duty you owe the Queen is different than that owed by the others. Yours is the duty of une fille de France and a daughter. The nature of your duty—to reflect well upon your royal house and to marry to the crown’s advantage in due time—has been clear since your infancy. Such duty, set upon your shoulders by birth, cannot be declined. You may, however, fail in it.”

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The Forbidden Queen by Anne O'Brien

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: December 30, 2013

1415. The Battle of Agincourt is over, and the young princess Katherine de Valois is the prize to be offered to Henry V of England. The innocent Katherine is smitten with Henry, but soon understands that her sole purpose is to produce an heir to unite England and France. When Henry leaves her a widow at the age of 21, Katherine is forced to resign herself to a quiet life as the Dowager Queen; her duty is to raise her son, the young King of England, and little more. But Katherine is still young and passionate. Many desire her, and her hand in marriage is worth a kingdom. Setting aside those driven by ambition, Katherine falls in love with her servant Owen Tudor, and glimpses the happiness that love can bring. But their enemies are circling, all battling for power and determined to prevent their marriage. Katherine will have to fight to control her own destiny... In this compelling and beautifully written book, Anne O’Brien tells the story of the innocent young princess, Katherine de Valois, a pawn in a ruthless political game between England and France, and the woman who founded the most famous royal dynasty of all – the Tudors.

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Henry V weds Catherine of Valois

Katherine de Valois is a tantalizingly enigmatic historic figure. The daughter of Charles VI and Isabeau of Bavaria, Katherine married Henry V in June 1420 and was crowned Queen of England the following year. She welcomed a son in December 1421 and became a widow in August 1422. Still young and marriageable, the queen dowager planned to wed Edmund Beaufort, but intervention by Parliament quashed all hope of a possible marriage. Forced to live in her son's household, Katherine found happiness in the arms of one of her staff, a Welshman by the name of Owen Tudor. The facts of their relationship are rather sketchy, but the union resulted in the birth of at least three children if not more. The eldest of these was Edmund Tudor, father of Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty.

Already fond of the story, I was eager to read Anne O'Brien's The Forbidden Queen, but my enthusiasm was unfortunately short-lived.  

The Queen's Room State room at Leeds Castle
Image by Richard Croft

For one, there is little atmospheric detail and no timetable by which the reader might make reference. Births, deaths, and various battles are occasionally mentioned, but the narrative is marked by the distinct absence of both physical and political ambiance. 

The lack of authenticity also bothered me. Take for example Katherine's life after she is ordered to reside in her son's household. Am I truly to believe that outside the question of marriage, the queen dowager was allowed to live virtually free of Parliament, that she could uproot the royal youngster on a whim or that the child king wouldn't be surrounded by subordinates acting in the interest of the Lord Protector? I'm sorry, but I don't see it. Not during the intense power struggles of the Middle Ages. 

O'Brien's attempt to explore Katherine as someone who suffered confidence issues showed promise, but the context made it difficult for me to see her as someone of independent strength. Her courage and spirit ebbs and flows exclusively on the romantic attentions of men, making her appear codependent rather than capable. 

A difficult read, the only bits I truly enjoyed were the scenes in which Katherine questions her sanity. The allusion created a nice bridge between her father, Charles VI, and her eldest son, Henry VI, both of whom suffered some form of mental instability. 

Historically speaking, it is an interesting piece, but I think O'Brien could have done a lot more with it.

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What an inheritance for a young girl to shoulder. Madness on one side, wanton lewdness on the other. The lurid rumours filled my young mind. Would I become like Charles and Isabeau? Would I inherit my parents’ natures, as I had inherited my mother’s fair hair?

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