In a country torn apart by religious war, things can change in an instant, and no one in France is safe. Henriette is desperate to hold onto her life and hand it on to the next generation. To do so, she must have an heir, something that she has so far failed to do.
Based on a true story
The Cleves sisters' story starts with Marie, the youngest sister introduces you to the world of court politics in France of the 1500s. Like most great noble families of the period, the web of intermarriages and alliances made enemies out of blood relatives. It also meant that the stories of the people who served the Valois monarchs were as intertwined and as complicated as their marriages.
Led by the ever-vigilant Catherine de Medici, Queen Mother of France and a force of nature, the members of the court shaped the political and religious future of France of the Sixteenth Century. In upcoming novels, you'll meet the often- derided Charlotte, Madame de Sauve, and enough royal mistresses to satisfy your need for scandal.
Goodreads Rating: 3.47 stars with under 100 reviews
Genre Listing: Historical Fiction, French Culture
Get the book: Amazon
Goodreads Challenge: 4/30
2018 Reading Challenge: #8, A book under 300 pages (Challenge can be found here.)
Previous reviews of the series: Almost a Queen by Laura Du Pre - the first book in the Three Grace's Trilogy
Book Review:
I read Almost a Queen by Laura Du Pre in 2017, and I really enjoyed it. Lady of the Court follows middle Cleve's sister Henriette. The second story has some overlap to Almost a Queen as it takes place towards the end of Marie's story. Because of the overlap in events, I highly reading these two books close together. Each of the books is under 200 pages, and because of that, I spent a good portion of Lady of the Court trying to remember who was who, and what happened. Once I got past that, I really enjoyed Lady of the Court.
Laura Du Pre has a fantastic gift of telling a very detailed historical fiction in very few pages. Her books are concise but enjoyable. I'm amazed that she was able to tell a story that spanned several years in just 150 some pages. That being said, thus far I feel like the two books could have been combined into one since it has the same characters and overlaps in events. I think it would work well as one book.
Even though she was more the best friend type character of Henriette, I really liked Margot's character. She enjoyed the games of court and the scheming. I would love to read a story on her if depicted the same level of conniving as Du Pre's version of the Navarre Queen did. These books and similar ones are making me want to research dissolved nations. Weird, I know.
My main issue with this book is the editing and formatting. It wasn't anything significant, but the frequency of extra spaces and punctuation was distracting. I'm not sure if it was my kindle or the book, but at the start, there were some pages that were duplicated, and it made it hard to follow along. Aside from that, I really enjoyed the story, and as soon as I finished it I went straight into the third book Fate's Mistress.
Laura Du Pre has a fantastic gift of telling a very detailed historical fiction in very few pages. Her books are concise but enjoyable. I'm amazed that she was able to tell a story that spanned several years in just 150 some pages. That being said, thus far I feel like the two books could have been combined into one since it has the same characters and overlaps in events. I think it would work well as one book.
Even though she was more the best friend type character of Henriette, I really liked Margot's character. She enjoyed the games of court and the scheming. I would love to read a story on her if depicted the same level of conniving as Du Pre's version of the Navarre Queen did. These books and similar ones are making me want to research dissolved nations. Weird, I know.
My main issue with this book is the editing and formatting. It wasn't anything significant, but the frequency of extra spaces and punctuation was distracting. I'm not sure if it was my kindle or the book, but at the start, there were some pages that were duplicated, and it made it hard to follow along. Aside from that, I really enjoyed the story, and as soon as I finished it I went straight into the third book Fate's Mistress.
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