Winner of the Publishers Weekly 2018 BookLife Prize in the General Fiction category.“A masterpiece that paints an extraordinary emotional and political vision of its times. Satisfying, educational, and hard to put down.”—Midwest Book Review“Dramatically engrossing and historically searching.”—Kirkus ReviewsAnne, Duchess of Brittany, is the love of King Louis XII of France’s life. Too bad he’s … love of King Louis XII of France’s life. Too bad he’s already married. While his annulment proceedings create Europe’s most sensational scandal of 1498, Anne returns to Brittany to take back control of her duchy that her late husband, Charles VIII, King of France, had wrested from her.
At age twenty-one, Anne is sovereign ruler of Brittany as well as Europe’s most wealthy widow. But can she maintain Brittany’s independence from France if she accepts Louis’ offer to make her Queen of France once more?
With Italian arrivals to the French court from Cesare Borgia to Niccolò Machiavelli, Anne and Louis’ story unfolds as the feudal era gives way to the dawn of the Renaissance. Their love for each other tested by conflicting duties to their respective countries, the two rulers struggle to navigate a collision course that will reshape the map of sixteenth-century Europe.
Book Two of the Anne of Brittany Series, the gripping tale of a larger than life queen. To begin your discovery of Anne of Brittany, read Anne and Charles, Book One.
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“Anne and Louis,” written by Rozsa Gaston, plays out as an intelligent treatment of the lives of Louis XII of France and Anne of Brittany, with an emphasis on the latter.
Anne had been betrothed a number of times, but her two actual marriages brought her to the throne of France—both times. How that occurred is nicely told. One marriage proves much happier than the other. Was it the first to Charles VIII or the second, to Louis XII?
Anne’s court features an array of characters ranging from Anne and Louis, to her marriageable ladies-in-waiting, to visiting young gallants, to cardinals, to Cesare Borgia, and to Niccolò Machiavelli. Although tensions (and sometimes romance) break out among these, conflicts are generally mild.
The strongest story points concern Anne’s child-bearing performance and the game of thrones that is negotiated and executed within and behind the scenes. In Anne, Gaston unveils a dimensional character, one who sets her sights on goals and, despite setbacks, moves toward them.
The second in a three-novel series about the life of Anne of Brittany by Rozsa Gaston, I have to say this one is just OK.
Picking up Anne’s life after the death of her first husband, King Charles VIII of France, Anne soon winds up married to her late husband’s cousin and successor, King Louis XII – a man she has admired since childhood. Even though the marriage is presented as a love match on both sides, Anne, is determined this time to ensure the independence of her home duchy of Brittany — something she was unable to do with her first husband.
The problem with a love match however is that it’s far less intriguing than, say, a more uneven and unpredictable relationship — like the one Anne had with her first husband. That relationship helped make the first book in this series interesting. Also, the politics (mostly Louis’s efforts to annul his first marriage and Anne’s efforts to marry off her ladies-in-waiting) and warfare (chiefly Louis’s desire to conquer parts of Italy) were not particularly engrossing to me.
When I read historical fiction (which I do a lot) I’m much more interested in the people and their relationships with each other, rather than historical events. And while the author did make a valiant effort to include some of the memorable figures of this era (i.e. Christine de Pizan and Niccolo Macchiavelli), many of those passages were forced and felt contrived. So that overall, this novel did not feel either believable or authentic. Plus, it ends VERY abruptly, without presenting much of a set-up for the third and final volume in the series.
Nevertheless, I will likely finish the series. After all, it’s not everyday you meet a smart, strong Medieval woman who is Queen of France twice over. I just can’t say this is among the better historical novels I’ve read. Maybe Anne’s life would have worked better with a two-novel approach.