The Burning Chambers: Kate Mosse (The Burning Chambers, 1)

Product Information

But before Minou can decipher the mysterious message, a chance encounter with a young Huguenot convert, Piet Reydon, changes her destiny forever. For Piet has a dangerous mission of his own, and he will need Minou's help if he is to get out of La Cité alive.

The Burning Chambers is a refreshingly accessible and compulsively readable piece of historical fiction that marks the beginning of the Burning Chambers trilogy. Kate Mosse, of Labyrinth fame, has crafted a wonderful tale that takes place during the infamous Huguenot religious wars in France. It is filled with tension, romance, betrayal, and some relatively infrequent but nonetheless harrowing depictions of violence. Languedoc, region in Southern France, was marked by Cathars Inquisitions before the 14th century and after the 15th century the region experienced another Crusade now against Huguenots (French Protestants), who seemed to be putting the strongest resistance in this particular region. Another of Mosse’s immersive dramas, which takes you to the heart of the past - Grazia on The Burning Chambers Mosse clearly did her homework and knows how to bring history to life! This was outstanding, well thought out and well researched. I am not a sailor, nor a history buff, but this story makes me want to become both. It begins with Louise, a young woman who lives with her grandparents. Having lost both of her parents earlier, she is about to become very wealthy when she comes of age and accepts her inheritance. This sets her up for her future, where she decides to follow her dream of sailing. When she meets Gilles, a wine merchant's apprentice, she realizes she can be more than she ever thought possible. Their relationship is modern and refreshing and everything it should be for a female captain in the 1600's looking to change the rules. Languedoc, southern France. Minou and Piet Reydon live happily at the “green valley set in the foothills of the mighty Pyrenees.” They “brought their children up in the light of the Reformed Church.” They believe in respecting other religions and hope for the same from the others. Piet likes the thrill of the battlefield, but his injured hand keeps him away from it. Now, he tries to find a purpose. And he finds it in supporting Calvinist rebels in the Dutch Provinces, making him a target for a Catholic cardinal.In letzter Konsequenz fehlt dem Roman meiner Meinung nach trotz der ausgefeilten Charaktere und des gut konstruierten Plots etwas an Tiefe....Manche Figuren sind zwar handlungsrelvant, bleiben aber seltsam konturlos und tauchen auch im weiteren Geschehen nicht mehr auf.....und ob es noch einen weiteren Band geben wird, bleibt für mich wieder offen....!? Es ist eine gefühlte Ewigkeit her, dass ich Kate Mosses ersten Band gelesen habe...an wirklich viel konnte ich mich zugegebener Maßen auch nicht mehr erinnern....vor allem war mir nicht bewusst, dass es noch eine Fortsetzung geben wird.... Every inch a classic Mosse novel, The City of Tears is diligently researched, beautifully written and, crucially right now, both substantial and immersive – if you want to leave 21st-century pandemic Britain behind, this should be your preferred mode of transport - Radio Times Esta novela histórica se desarrolla en Francia en el siglo XVI, y nos muestra la lucha de poder entre católicos y protestantes (hugonotes), siendo esta intolerancia religiosa, uno de los elementos más fuertes de la novela. Comienza con un prólogo fechado en 1862 en Sudáfrica, que nos permite entender cuales serán los nexos comunes de la trama de esta trilogía: un diario, un testamento, un antiguo secreto y dos familias enfrentadas desde hace 300 años.

A gorgeously written, utterly absorbing epic and, despite being set in the sixteenth century, has some very pertinent messages for our time about the evils of religious persecution and the transcendent power of love and family. In case it’s not clear enough yet, I absolutely LOVED it - Lucy Foley, author of The Hunting Party Kate Mosse has a wonderful grasp of European Renaissance history (particularly French) and with such clever unassuming detail, brings The City of Tears alive with a fictional narrative that is interlaced with fascinating real events. This is the second book in the Burning Chambers series and continues the epic adventure of Minuo Reydon-Joubert and Piet Reydon, with a lens on the Catholic and Huguenot conflicts in the sixteenth century. A period of complex religious and political wars which Kate Mosse manages to tread carefully, illustrating that there is honour and corruption on both sides. As usual it’s Mosse’s apparent passion for this period of history that shines through here, with vivid descriptions of an extremely volatile time in French history. The story is highly atmospheric, which is only heightened by the wonderful detailed depictions of everyday life during a turbulent time. The underlying feeling of paranoia, mistrust and the threat of being called out as a blasphemer or nonbeliever is ever present and constantly played upon to great effect. But most of all this about Religion started with war on 1st March 1562 with Massacre of unarmed Huguenots in Vassy by The Catholic forces of Francis Duke of Guise this religion at its worst. The story begins in 1562 Carcassonne with a 19 year old Minou, who works at her father’s bookshop. A bookshop known for “selling books to suit all religious tastes” and to be “out of step with the increasingly intolerant times.” Her father, Bernard Joubert, was a faithful Catholic, but it was her late mother, who was a true Languedocien, promoting tolerance through selling books expressing her believes. Five years earlier, the plague took her life and now her husband is troubled by the Inquisition.Another of Mosse’s immersive dramas, which takes you to the heart of the past - Grazia Book of the Week Reading this book made me once again realize that organized religion can and did often bring its share of grief, loss of life, and hardship to the people. It certainly should never be the intention of any religion to place itself above another's beliefs, but that has unfortunately happened down through the ages. Certainly, in this book, the second in The Burning Chambers series, those concepts have been once again been brought to light.

The Burning Chambers is an immersive book full of intrigue, romance, war, and adventure that you can just sink into." - Stylist (UK) The Wars of Religion in France was a sequence of civil wars which began” in 1562 and ended in 1598. The Story of French Protestantism and the beginning of the Dutch Republic are both part of the larger European story of the Reformation.” The second main character is Gilles, a young man who was ‘rescued’ by Louise and taken under her wing. They become close. He has quite a secret. We learn of his difficult upbringing, and about his going to work for his uncle at a young age.

What is Kate Mosse’s Joubert Family Chronicles series about?

Minou and Piet Joubert and their family are Huguenots in France, a place that has always considered themselves a Catholic domain. Minou and her family are invited to Paris to witness, in an attempt to calm the aggression between the Catholics and Huguenots, the marriage of the crown princess of the Catholic rulers and the Huguenot King of Navarre. It is hoped that this union will bring a lasting peace to the country that has been plagued by warring religious factions. Mosse clearly did her homework and knows how to bring history to life! This was outstanding, well thought out and well researched. I am not a sailor (but my oldest son is, so I used him quite a bit for reference), but I am a history buff, and this story combines both effortlessly. It begins with Louise, the granddaughter of the Reydon-Joubert family as she comes into her inheritance, a large sum which sets her up for her future. A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy. Internationally-acclaimed author Kate Mosse to become Visiting Professor at University of Chichester". University of Chichester. 21 March 2019 . Retrieved 27 January 2021.

The Burning Chambers is a chunk of a read, no bones about it. That said, it reads like a dream. It’s gripping, with great tension, and there’s mystery and adventure everywhere you look. The atmosphere is on point, and I was transported to France during this unique and tumultuous time period. What research did you do to enable you to bring sixteenth-century France (and the beginnings of the Wars of Religion)so vividly to life? This felt nothing like the first 2 books in the series. The whole atmosphere was entirely different. Infact, I'd say this was a different genre. The first books were historical dramas, where as this was an adventure-romance. I like both genres, but I was caught off-guard by the mid-series change. The plot also didn't have much reliance on the first two stories. Other than following the same family (but a different generation), it seemed fairly unrelated; more like whole other companion series than a direct sequel. Can you tell us a little about the trip that first sparked The Burning Chambers, and the moment you knew you had something worth writing a series about?Above all, though, The Burning Chambers is a tour de force, a compelling adventure that views the past with insight, compassion and humour, and reminds us of the variety of women’s voices so often forgotten in the official accounts. Bernard sends Minou and Aimeric to Toulouse to stay with his dead wife's sister and her important husband, a Catholic town official to keep them safe but that doesn't work. There she meets Piet and learns about his Huguenot cause. The town is involved in a full out Catholic-Huguenot battle and the family is in a real struggle to survive. Exile and emigration are perennial themes in literature, especially historical fiction, but it’s noticeable, reading the second volume of Kate Mosse’s Burning Chambers trilogy about the Huguenot diaspora, how timely a story of refugees seems at this moment in Europe’s history and how sharply the parallels stand out. 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 the Huguenots. Mosse does what good popular historical novelists do best - make the past enticingly otherworldly, while also claiming it as our own * Independent *