The Burning Chambers

Since 2006's Labyrinth, Women's Prize for Fiction cofounder Mosse has turned out historically rich books with a questing, spiritual edge. Here, in 1562 France, 19-year-old Minou Joubert gets involved with a young Huguenot convert named Piet Reydon, with religious tensions ratcheting up sharply even as the ominous mistress of Puivert Château is consolidating her power.

April 22, 2019
Against a backdrop of conflict between Catholics and Protestants in 1562 France, 19-year-old Minou Joubert, the intelligent and spirited Catholic daughter of a bookseller, and Piet Reydon, a warmhearted Huguenot soldier, fall in love in this tense, atmospheric thriller, the first of a trilogy from bestseller Mosse (the Languedoc trilogy). The plot centers on a disputed inheritance and a stolen religious relic that ruthless men will stop at nothing to possess. The author displays her usual flair for descriptive detail, whether it’s a dusty Renaissance bookstore or a storm-drenched countryside. Unfortunately, a psychotic villain and one-dimensional fanatics stand in awkward contrast to such nuanced characters as Minou and Piet. When all parties converge on a castle in the Pyrenees, the various story lines are resolved in a fashion that feels a trifle pat. Nonetheless, Mosse brings vividly to life the mounting strains in a community filled with fear and mutual mistrust. Readers will eagerly await the sequels, which will chart how the feuding plays out over the next few centuries. Agent: Mark Lucas, LAW (U.K.).

May 1, 2019
Mosse returns to Languedoc, her favored historical territory, for a swashbuckler about a purloined inheritance and religious persecution. The main plot of this series launch--set in 1562, during the regency of Catherine de Medici--has all the ingredients of a fairy-tale adventure. Mosse's young heroine, Minou Joubert, daughter of a Carcassonne bookseller, is actually of noble birth. Puzzling out exactly how this came to be is the book's main agenda. The principal players are Minou, her father, Bernard, her brother, Aimeric, and younger sister, Alis. All are Huguenots, members of the often persecuted French Protestant minority. They find an ally in Piet, a Protestant soldier of fortune. Piet and Minou are struck by un coup de foudre--love at first sight. The villains are Blanche, who is the third wife and now widow of Lord Bruyère of Puivert, whom, italicized passages reveal, she poisoned. Blanche hopes to retain the Puivert lands and titles by producing an heir, although she is pregnant not by Bruyère but by her lover, Vidal, a priest (who also happens to be Piet's estranged friend). Vidal hopes Blanche's influence can help him usurp a bishop's throne, and he also plots to take credit for recovering the stolen Shroud of Antioch, even if it means passing off a fake relic as the real thing. Blanche is desperate to locate, and destroy, a will that is the sole evidence of a competing claim to her late husband's estate. Amid battles, Inquisition torture sessions, massacres of Huguenot civilians and collateral Catholic damage, the complex tale spreads tentacles throughout the Midi region of France. The exposition is somewhat heavy-handed as characters discuss political upheavals, military factions, and religious strife past and present--including the purge of the Cathar heresy. However, the history is engrossing and goes down easy thanks to the hurtling plot. Mosse has successfully cornered the Midi market.

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April 1, 2019
France's late-sixteenth-century Wars of Religion provide the searing backdrop for this meaty historical by the bestselling author of the Languedoc trilogy. In the first installment in a new series, Mosse returns to her beloved Languedoc to lay the foundation of a generational saga that will eventually wind its way through centuries and across continents. In addition to the brutal religious conflict between Catholics and Huguenots plaguing the countryside and turning friends into enemies, a long-buried family secret provides another element of intrigue amidst the ensuing chaos. When a bookseller's daughter, Minou Joubert, receives a cryptic letter containing only five words, she knows that you live, a chain of events is set in motion that includes adventure, betrayal, and a Romeo-and-Juliet-like romance between Catholic Minou and Huguenot Piet Reydon. As usual, Mosse infuses the narrative with plenty of authentic historical detail while creating a highly charged atmosphere of intrigue. The mystery, the love story, and the incendiary nature of both setting and plot will keep readers turning the pages and eagerly awaiting the next volume.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)