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Monday, March 1, 2010

Publisher's Weekly Review is in!

And it's a nice one, despite the evident gender confusion. Guess I should take it as a compliment that the reviewer thought I was a girl :)

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici / C.W. Gortner.
Ballantine, $25 (400p) ISBN 978-0-345-50186-8
Catherine de Medici uses her natural and supernatural gifts to protect the French throne in Gortner's (The Last Queen) portrait of a queen willing to sacrifice happiness and reputation to fulfill her family's royal destiny. Orphan Catherine has her first vision at age 10, and three years later is betrothed to Henri d'Orleans, brother of the sickly heir to the French throne. She heads to France with a vial of poison hidden among her possessions, and after negotiating an uneasy truce with her husband's mistress, she matures into a powerful court presence, though power, she learns, comes at a price. Three of her sons become king in succession as the widow Catherine wields ever-increasing influence to keep the ambitious de Guise clan at bay and religious adversaries from murdering each other. Gortner's is not the first fictional reinterpretation of a historical villainess—Catherine's role in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, for instance, is recounted in a way sympathetic to her—but hers (should be "his") is remarkably thoughtful in its insight into an unapologetically ruthless queen.

6 comments:

Katherine said...

Congratulations! I can't wait to read it.

Daphne said...

That's great (gender confusion aside!). When I first read The Last Queen in 2007 I was amazed that it had been written buy a man (I don't know if you remember me sending you an email at the time telling you that!). I'm really looking forward to this one as well.

C.W. Gortner said...

Thanks, Katherine and Daphne (and yes, Daphne, I do remember your e-mail; I was very flattered.)

Sarah Johnson said...

Congrats, Christopher! Heh, I saw that when I read the review this morning and had to read it again to see if they'd really gotten it wrong. You're not the only male author I've seen that happen to, if it's any consolation. (Look for the PW review of JC Martin's Push Not the River... another novel about a woman written by a man.)

Celticlady's Reviews said...

Great review!!! Happy for you... Can't wait to read this new book...

Mary Sharratt said...

The gender confusion is good because the reader was wholly convinced about your heroine's voice and viewpoint.