The Devil’s Queen was my first historical fiction and doesn’t fall into the speculative realm that I normally read, but it is still one of my favorites. I bought the book from the library for twenty-five cents. It sat on the sale cart for three weeks. At least that’s the number of times I passed it up. The spine of the book caught my eye every time I passed, but the cover with its fleeing woman and red cursive font seemed far too romancy for me. So, each time I pulled it free I’d think, oh yeah, I already looked at that one and I’d slip it back into place. After the third time, I told myself it was only a quarter, so what if it’s not a good book? This is one of those cases where I am so glad I stopped judging a book by its cover.
Most of us already know who Catherine de Medici was, queen of France, wife of Henry II, mother-in-law to Mary Queen of Scots, as well as a significant figure in the Wars of Religion. While this book takes many liberties and Kalogridis doesn’t attempt to sugarcoat her main character, she makes it feel as though it were, in fact, a truthful account. The Devil’s Queen fills in many chunks of time missing from Catherine’s life as the author weaves the factual with the fictional.
Kalogridis opens with Catherine’s childhood, beginning with the revolts among the Florentines and the Medicis and we see young Catherine orphaned and living in a convent during a time of the bubonic plague. Eventually, Catherine marries Henry II but is cast aside for a mistress as she struggles to have children. Through the first of the book, the author gives reason for Catherine’s cutthroat and unsentimental behavior, as she will do anything to save herself, even resorting to the occult to produce an heir. Once the queen finally conceives, she is then plagued by dreams and the predictions of Nostradamus and Ruggiei, having her believe that Henry and her children are in grave danger. Catherine spends much of the novel doing everything in her power to keep her family safe.
For true lovers of the historical genre, a few things as well as the liberties taken would have to be taken in stride, but the story itself is interesting and captivating. It is a very strong novel with a bit of shock value that occult lovers may find appealing, but general readers may not. I read very little historical fiction, but Kalogridis certainly opened a door for me into this genre and sparked an interest in the Medici family as well.
Born into one of Florence’s most powerful families, Catherine was soon left a fabulously rich orphan. Violent conflict tore apart the city state and she found herself imprisoned before finally being released and married off to the handsome Prince Henri of France. Overshadowed by her husband’s mistress, the gorgeous, conniving Diane de Poitiers, and unable to bear children, Catherine resorted to the dark arts of sorcery to win Henri’s love and enhance her fertility―for which she would pay a price. Against the lavish and decadent backdrop of the French court, and Catherine’s blood-soaked visions of the future, Kalogridis reveals the great love and desire Catherine bore for her husband, Henri, and her stark determination to keep her sons on the throne.
