In the Shadow of a Queen

by Régine Reynolds-Cornell

Book Overview

The year is 1550. As she watches children at play in a royal park, Catherine, a widow, reminisces about her own childhood at the castle of Amboise as the unlikely playmate of Marguerite of Angoul?me,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1401044360
• ISBN13: 9781401044367
• Release Date: May 2002
• Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.99 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful book!

I couldn't put this book down. I'm a huge fan of historical books and this memoir is simply stunning. I originally purchased the book simply out of curiosity because Dr. Reynolds-Cornell was my French Literature professor in college. But once I started reading, I couldn't put it down and I've been recommending this book non-stop to friends and family alike. The very personalized descriptions of historically important events blended with the unfolding dramas of day-to-day life at court are beautifully presented. Loved it!

Provocative and fascinating

Dr. Regine Reynolds-Cornell, the internationally recognized writer and speaker in the field of Renaissance studies, writes a spirited account of the life of Marguerite de Navarre in her novel, In the Shadow of a Queen. Cornell frames the narrative with the fictional memoirs of Catharine du Marais, life-long friend of both Marguerite and her brother, Francis, who ruled as King of France during the years 1515-1547. The novel opens in 1550. Catherine is now in old age, but almost immediately she plunges the reader back into the year 1499, when, as a child, she is summoned by the imperial Louise d? Angouleme, mother of the future king, to serve as playmate for her daughter Marguerite at the Angouleme family seat at the Castle of Amboise. A life-long friendship with the 16th century heroine begins, continuing into adulthood when Catherine marries Mr.du Marais, master of the stables of Alencon, where Marguerite resides with her first husband, the Duke of Alencon. Cornell?s device of telling Marguerite?s story through Catherine?s eyes is a brilliant one. Although Catherine du Marais rubs shoulders with royalty, her father, who served as steward to Louis XII, was a commoner. Thus the reader is afforded a view of all ranks of 16th century French society, from servants to commoners to members of the lower nobility to the aristocracy to the royal household. Cornell?s writing flows as, through Catherine, she comments on virtually all aspects of the French Renaissance, including literary tastes, philosophy, fashion, food, marital relations and expectations, sex, life at court, and the devastation of the plague and death. It is Marguerite de Navarre?s role in the Protestant Reformation that is particularly fascinating, and Cornell does a masterful job in evoking the religious tensions and sentiments in pre-Reformation France. Although Marguerite considered herself a devout Catholic to her dying day, (which occurred in a convent,) modern scholars view her as one of the earliest Reformers in the Catholic Church. This book is an extraordinary window into 16th century France, and the larger European community as well. Future Queen of England Anne Boleyn served as a child at the court of Marguerite, where she no doubt had her own reformist tendencies honed. King Henry 8 unsuccessfully sought Marguerite?s hand after the death of Lady Jane Grey. Henry wasn?t the only king who vied for her: when Emperor Charles V held her brother Francis for ransom, Marguerite attempted the release negations herself in person. Negotiations broke down when she rejected Charles? marriage proposal. Angered at her refusal, Charles revoked her safe conduct pass, forcing Marguerite to gallop at breakneck speed on horseback with a small retainer across the Pyrenees mountains, barely making it back into France before the midnight expiration of her pass. This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in French history and culture, the Protestant Reform