The Devil's Queen

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 best seller, 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

Slow start, great book. Love Jeanne!

I've been a Jeanne Kalogridis fan for years. This is just one more installation of her historic genius.

Excellant!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I did not sleep for days. could not stop listening.

What did you like best about this story?

A better understanding of Catherines place in history

Which scene was your favorite?

When she was being lifted up on the wall.

Catherine Medici

This book is enjoyable. It has made me want to read more abouth Queen Catherine and her family.

Very interesting twist on this infamous queen

I enjoyed this take on Catherine M. History tends to make her out to be an evil, calculating, cold woman. This book gave a refreshing point of view on the struggles of women in the political scene of Renaissance Europe. Her involvement with astrology/occult and her keen intelligence of people, politics and herself, even at times very lurid and gritty, was very provocative.

Engaging and Entertaining

I enjoyed this audiobook very much. The narrator was excellent, and really conveyed the tone and mood of the book well.
The story was extremely engaging and was one of those "hard to put down" books. I love that all of the French names were pronounced correctly as well. This grand overarching story of Catherine di Medici was an great read.

The Devils Queen

As a lover of history this turned out to be a fascinating story. Part accurate history part tantalizing myth. Loved it.

Yawn

I love historical fiction and thought I would like to read about Catherine de Medici. I guess I picked the wrong book. I almost did not go beyond the first part of the download. I could not stand the character as a child and found her to be so simpering and annoying that I wondered why anyone would write about her, let alone want to read about her.

It picked up a bit in the middle section, and then lost me again in the end. Too much intrigue, too much astrology ( and I can't believe I would say that, but I was tired of it), and too much of poor decision making that led to disasterous consequences. It took me quite a bit longer to get through this story because I found my mind wandering and I kept having to repeat sections to get caught up. I'd rather read something that keeps my attention.

Again, it's personal preference but this story just did not hit the mark for me.

I can't continue with this wretched book.

If the author of this book has intended to portray the most insufferable and tiresome child in the whole history of English literature, then she has succeeded beyond her wildest dreams. If the author hoped that the narrator might have the sort of whining voice entirely suitable for such a repellent child, then her hopes are fulfilled. As for me, I cannot continue listening. Absolutely nothing about the pretensions of this unlovable child are of the slightest interest to anyone with an adult mind. If the endless monologues are intended to set the stage for a grown-up who was to become a pivotal figure in English history, then all I can say is that the Tudors were lucky to come to power because the fact that no one did away with this child before she produced a child is a miracle. Save your money. This is not a book worth reading or hearing.

Great Reader but...

What disappointed you about The Devil's Queen?

Repetitive, repetitive, repetitive; then it begins to repeat itself. There was such a queen. She may have been a believer in Astrology.
For this reader's taste, far too many visions/dreams, too many times the same thing happens -

Has The Devil's Queen turned you off from other books in this genre?

There's some great historic fiction out there. This isn't one of them.

Have you listened to any of Kate Reading’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Ms. Reading is a superior reader and made a truly awful book almost bearable.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Devil's Queen?

Far too often the Queen (dare I call her Catherine?) has visions. Yuck. She's written as a wily and brilliant negotiator - doing incredibly short-sighted things.

One foreshadowing of her husband's death was plenty. Ditto the rest.

Unbalanced, ultimately unsatisfying historical fiction

If you’re interested in Catherine de Medici, actual biographies are far more interesting that this novel, which is an awkward mashup of gruesome supernatural invention and historical summaries seemingly borrowed entirely from history books. The fiction and the history fail to come together in an interesting or satisfying way, with the ending being an abrupt and boring cop out. Between a few graphic scenes of violence, long stretches of the novel seem to exist only out of obligation to history. The fictionalized version of Catherine fails to develop meaningfully as a character through the second half of the novel despite decades passing. The over the top supernatural elements ultimately do not impact the story as the events of French history in the novel could have easily happened without any magical intervention, and as a “secret history” there is simply not enough going on with the characters to make it interesting.

I gave this novel an honest try and listened to the whole thing despite misgivings that kept popping up, and found myself enjoying some individual scenes, but as the book wound down I was looking forward to a big reward for all the craziness that happened much earlier in the book that never materialized. My final feelings for the plot was just “that’s it?”