Following #1 Sunday Times bestseller The Burning Chambers, New York Times bestseller Kate Mosse returns with The City of Tears, a sweeping historical epic about love in a time of war. Alliances and Romance August 1572: Minou Joubert and her husband Piet travel to Paris to attend a royal wedding which, after a decade of religious wars, is intended to finally bring peace between the Catholics and … is intended to finally bring peace between the Catholics and the Huguenots.
Loyalty and Deception
Also in Paris is their oldest enemy, Vidal, in pursuit of an ancient relic that will change the course of history.
Revenge and Persecution
Within days of the marriage, thousands will lie dead in the street, and Minou’s family will be scattered to the four winds . . .
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I was slightly hamstrung by this not being a genre I usually read in however, that being said, I found this was a good read. I only found it was a ‘2nd’ book after I’d started, so perhaps that was part of my problem? The author is fantastic at her description though and a master of historical research. Many thanks to Netgalley and Pan MacMillan for the review copy!
If you like the Burning Chamber, you must read The City of Tears! Minou Joubert and her husband Piet are back in the suspenseful, heart wrenching sequel to The Burning Chamber. Minou and Piet live good lives, but when they are invited to Paris for a royal wedding, they find themselves thrust into the deceptions and violence driven by religious fanatics both Catholic and Protestant. Surviving the Saint Bartholomew’s massacre, Minou and Piet realize that their daughter Marta is missing. The search a perilous Paris, and ultimately flee to Amsterdam.
Set in real times with real people, The City of Tears reminds us of the cost of not understanding and accepting differences, religious or otherwise. I could not put it down, and my only regret is that Kate Mosse’s next book (there must be a sequel to this wonderful book!) is not yet ready.
Though I haven’t read the first book, I was still able to read this book as a stand-alone. If there is one thing I love about K. Mosse its the amazing way she blends history and a fictional story together to weave a tale that would the reader through time and space into the hearts of her characters.
She makes history interesting again. This story will take you back to the time between the battle of religions, between the Hughuenots and the Catholics. A time full of fear and loss, when the people knew grief and hardships. It’s spot on
** I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and St. Martin Press. I am voluntarily leaving a review. **
The City of Tears is historical fiction but is based on France’s holy wars in the sixteenth century. I must confess to knowing next to nothing about this era of time, but the author made both the history and the storyline enjoyable. This book is the second in a series, but you do not need to read the first, The Burning Chambers, to understand what is happening. Set in 1572, it spans twelve years, beginning with Minou Joubert and her husband Piet, who travel to Paris for a royal wedding between Catholics and Huguenots.
While in Paris for the wedding, the unthinkable happens, and marauders begin a murderous rampage of the city. Minou and Piet’s young daughter Marta is missing from their home, but they must quickly leave Paris without her and, with the help of friends, land in Amsterdam to start over again. They are successful in starting over, but their marriage suffers from the guilt of leaving their daughter behind.
Twelve years later, a young woman has been spotted resembling Minou with her blue and green eyes, and they are sure it is Marta. They decide to return to France to search for their daughter.
This book was an excellent story about the human condition of forging on despite the despair of grief. Minou’s grief was palpable, and I could almost feel it. She knew her daughter was still alive even when her husband accepted her death. I enjoyed this book thoroughly and look forward to reading the first and last in the series. I thank Net Galley and the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. I gave it four stars.
The City of Tears by Kate Mosse is a journey of 23 years, from 1572 to 1594, during the years of religious wars in France, between the Catholics and various Protestant groups. It was a bloody time that saw much upheaval. Primary in this journey are Minou and Piet, her husband. Minou was French; Piet had been born in the Netherlands but was now French. They lived in a villa in Puivert with Minou’s father and aunt, her brother and sister, and her and Piet’s two children. Near the beginning of the book, Alis, the sister, was shot, as she stood high on the walls of the keep. She survived, but the stress was too much for her father (and Minou’s) who died that night. The family, most of it kept to their plan of making the many-weeks journey to Paris to see the wedding of Marguerite de Valois to Henry of Navarre which many hope would heal the rift in France by joining the two factions in marriage. In fact, it got worse. Within days there was a massacre in Paris that spread too all of France. Minou’s brother was killed, and her daughter was lost, although she could never bring herself to admit that Marta was dead. The story progresses through the family’s years in Amsterdam, where they were relatively safe, and their reunion with their long-lost daughter. All of the story is written in blood. Very sad.
It took a little to get into this book. It was several stories that took time to come together. It was written coldly at first, with little opportunity to bond with the characters. As it progressed, the characters came closer, although it was all very formal. The story offers a glimpse into a very bloody time in history, all over religion, as is often the case, although it is often not all within one country. It is a story of deceit, greed, madness, and love. By the middle of the book it had become a parge-turner; by the end it was a saga. I recommend for lovers of historical fiction. It is not for the casual reader as it will take some effort.
I received a free ARC of The City of Tears from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions and interpretations expressed herein are solely my own. #netgalley #thecityoftears
This is an engrossing read filled with meticulous historical detail that carries on from the first book in the series, The Burning Chamber. Minou Joubert Reydon, now married to her childhood love, Piet, and the mother of two children, lives contentedly in the south of France as chatelaine to the estate that was surprisingly her birth right. Underneath her contentment lies a slight unease that her enemy, Vidal, now a powerful Catholic cardinal, who had nearly succeeded in killing her and usurping her inheritance, might strike again, despite her husband’s assurances. But Piet has his own fears and concerns that are wrapped up in the politics of the Huguenot religion and the conflict with the Catholics that are momentarily at a simmer after years of war. A peace of sort has been negotiated in the form of a marriage between the Navarre prince and the royal princess. And as a prominent member of the Huguenots Piet feels he must go. The wedding and the Reydon family attendance sets off a series of events and catastrophes that last for years and forever change the course of one family’s history and that of a nation.
Kate Mosse’s storytelling excellence comes into play yet again in this riveting tale of politics, religion and revenge. She weaves in so much fact and detail with a wonderful tale you know you are in the hands of someone who understands how to keep a reader engaged. If you loved the Burning Chamber you’ll love this sequel.
This historical novel is well written with complex characters brought to life through compelling story telling and world building. There are times when, with the help of the author, you are so engrossed in the story that you can almost feel the cobbled streets beneath your feet.
While the story can sometimes feel dense as Mosse tells her tale because of the complexity of the events and their historical significance, overall the book is fascinating and in several places fast-paced and unputdownable. This is a family saga and history lesson all in one terrific story.
If you love historical novels, add this book to you must-read list. You need not have read the first book in the series, “The Burning Chambers,” but if you start with this book, you will undoubtedly want to pick up the first book soon.
My thanks to Minotaur and Edelweiss for an eARC.
The City of Tears by Kate Mosse is an historical epic that deals with loss, tragedy and love centered around the religious wars between the Catholics and the Huguenots. It is the story of Minou and her husband Piet who go to Paris to attend a royal wedding between the Catholic Crown and the Huguenot King with the intent of bringing an end to the holy war. Without giving any spoilers away, this book for me personally was a very intense, complex read. It started off a little slow for me, but as I continued reading, I grew more and more intrigued and had to keep reading. The author’s research and in depth look at the history of the religious wars was very thorough and well written. I received an Advance Reader Copy and these are solely my opinions.
560 pages
4 stars
Minou and Piet travel to Paris in this, book two of the series, for a royal wedding. It is hoped that the wedding will heal the hurts of France.
However, there is evil afoot. Bad intentions by old foes and some surprising new ones add tension to the story. Vidal, an influential Cardinal, is also in Paris searching for an ancient relic whose loss he believes Piet knows something about.
Piet who survived a wounding is unable to fight but supports the Huguenot cause in other ways. He is very much involved with the Amsterdam Huguenots.
This is a very well written and plotted novel. I enjoyed it very much and it dovetails right into the first book in the series, “The Burning Chambers.” I liked Minou and Piet. They make a very good pair and they seem like ordinary people but are so much more.
I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for forwarding to me a copy of this absolutely wonderful book for me to read, enjoy and review.