The Confessions of Catherine de Medici
C.W. Gortner, 2010
Random House
416 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780345501868
Summary
The truth is, none of us are innocent. We all have sins to confess.
So reveals Catherine de Medici in this brilliantly imagined novel about one of history’s most powerful and controversial women. To some she was the ruthless queen who led France into an era of savage violence. To others she was the passionate savior of the French monarchy. Acclaimed author C. W. Gortner brings Catherine to life in her own voice, allowing us to enter into the intimate world of a woman whose determination to protect her family’s throne and realm plunged her into a lethal struggle for power.
The last legitimate descendant of the illustrious Medici line, Catherine suffers the expulsion of her family from her native Florence and narrowly escapes death at the hands of an enraged mob. While still a teenager, she is betrothed to Henri, son of François I of France, and sent from Italy to an unfamiliar realm where she is overshadowed and humiliated by her husband’s lifelong mistress. Ever resilient, Catherine strives to create a role for herself through her patronage of the famous clairvoyant Nostradamus and her own innate gift as a seer. But in her fortieth year, Catherine is widowed, left alone with six young children as regent of a kingdom torn apart by religious discord and the ambitions of a treacherous nobility.
Relying on her tenacity, wit, and uncanny gift for compromise, Catherine seizes power, intent on securing the throne for her sons. She allies herself with the enigmatic Protestant leader Coligny, with whom she shares an intimate secret, and implacably carves a path toward peace, unaware that her own dark fate looms before her—a fate that, if she is to save France, will demand the sacrifice of her ideals, her reputation, and the passion of her embattled heart.
From the fairy-tale châteaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Raised—southern Spain
• Education—M.F.A., (university unknown)
• Currently—lives in northern California, USA
Half-Spanish by birth, C.W. Gortner was raised in southern Spain, where he developed a lifelong fascination with history. After holding various jobs in the fashion industry, he earned a MFA in Writing with an emphasis in Renaissance Studies. He has taught university seminars on the 16th century and women in history, as well as workshops on writing, historical research, and marketing.
Acclaimed for his insight into his characters, he travels extensively to research his books. He has slept in a medieval Spanish castle, danced in a Tudor great hall, and explored library archives all over Europe.
His debut historical novel The Last Queen gained international praise and has been sold in ten countries to date. His new novel, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, his second, was published in 2010. He is currently at work on The Princess Isabella, his third historical novel, and The Tudor Secret, the first book in his new Tudor suspense series, The Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles.
C.W. lives with his partner in northern California. (From the author's website.)
Book Reviews
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 is remarkably thoughtful in its insight into an unapologetically ruthless queen.
Publishers Weekly
History has depicted Catherine de Medici (1519–89), wife of one king and mother of three, as a grotesque monster, poisoning and murdering to gain and maintain control over the French throne. After the death of Henri II, she began the struggle of her life—keeping one son after the other on the throne through the religious wars that threatened to tear France apart. In this meticulously researched novel, Gortner (The Last Queen) gives us a Catherine who is passionate yet sometimes naive. Most of her decisions following her husband's death are made to keep peace in France or safeguard her children. Yet she is still held responsible for the 1572 St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, in which thousands of French Protestants were slaughtered. Verdict: While the Catherine depicted here is in some ways similar to Jeanne Kalodigris's protagonist in The Devil's Queen, Gortner breathes more life into his queen. Historical fiction fans will appreciate the vivid details of Renaissance France.—Pamela O'Sullivan, Coll. of Brockport Lib., SUNY
Library Journal
Gortner...fleshes out the notorious Catherine de Medici centuries after her death. Was she a victim of historical, political, and social circumstances or merely a ruthlessly ambitious power seeker? ... Alison Weir and Philippa Gregory fans will devour this smashing fictonal biography of a complex woman whose legend has withstood the test of time. —Margaret Flanagan
Booklist
Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for The Confessions of Catherine de Medici:
1. In Confessions, C.W. Gortner is determined to present a sympathetic picture of Catherine de Medici, a figure much maligned in history. His goal is to flesh her out as a complex and multi-faceted human being—one who will gain readers' sympathy. Does he succeed?
2. Some historians believe that France would have toppled into revolution 200 years earlier than it did—had Catherine not been at the helm. In what ways was she instrumental in preserving the Valois line and the stability of her country?
3. How do you see Catherine: as a murderess, victim, opportunist, or savior? Would you consider her means of survival ruthless...or pragmatic?
4. Talk about Catherine's early life in Florence, her imprisonment, and rescue. What must it have felt like to be a prisoner, then find yourself bride of a prince of France, Europe's most powerful state?
5. What about Catherine's arrival in France? What kind of reception does she receive? What are her expectations...and what does she find? What kind of prejudice does she face as an Italian in France?
6. Say, what about that mistress? How would you describe Diane de Poitiers, her hold over Henri, her status at court, and her position vis-a-vis Catherine? In what way does that change?
7. Discuss the religious strife that infected most of Europe. What would it have been like to live through such violent turmoil? (Any parallels we can draw today?) Talk about the ways in which Catherine seeks to keep peace between the Catholics and Huguenots?
8. How does Gortner present the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre—events leading up to it, misjudgments and missteps, provocations, the spark that set it off...and Catherine's role?
9. Discuss Catherine's relationship with Coligny. What brought them together...and what led them to the final tragic moment between them? Was that moment inevitable?
10. How does Gortner treat Catherine's belief in the occult? How strong an influence is it on her? What do you feel about her visions?
11. Talk about Catherine's children. Are any of them worthy of her devotion? Are any admirable...likeable?
12. Is there regret in Catherine's account for the actions she's taken....the sacrifices she's made?
13. How do you account for Catherine's bad reputation in history?
14. Catherine's life was not her own. Talk about the role throughout history of young high-born women—who were used as pawns in male games of power. Catherine is only one in a long line of pubescent girls married off to seal the deal, either geopolitical or financial...can you think of others?
15. Having finished, what part of this book most surprised you? Which part most engaged you...or did you find most interesting? What have you learned from reading The Confessions...about the 16th century, the religious wars, French monarchy, about Catherine herself? Do you feel smarter?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
top of page (summary)