The 2nd book, City of Tears, has just been released, but I wanted to start with this book and it certainly did not disappoint. The reason I share this context is because this is what Mosse has woven perfectly into her novel of the Burning Chambers.

But this volume is rooted 300 years earlier in the Languedoc, in the city of Carcassonne that Mosse brought so vividly to life in her earlier books, and in Toulouse, where in 1562 the tensions between Catholics and Protestants spilled into violence that fuelled 35 years of civil war.In Kate Mosse's Joubert Family Chronicles series, she takes readers on a thrilling journey from 16th-century France to Paris, Amsterdam, London and beyond, in a gripping story of love, betrayal and divided loyalties. He was engaged in a battle for the very soul of France, a battle that would define how men could live and be free. Ana, a young Spanish woman, lives in a small town on the north-west coast of Tenerife which lies in the shadow of a mighty volcano.

The object of her wrath, the reason for it, and its relation to the main narrative are revealed only gradually, and as this takes shape, Mosse’s skill at marshalling the multiple strands of her story becomes evident. I enjoy reading about people that are a bit more complex, and here you were either a hero (with no personality flaws) or a villain (with no redeeming qualities).With a moving prose, the story engages three historical places of Carcassonne, Toulouse, and Puivert, bringing the richness of those places: their history and secrets of those who know those places well. Kate Mosse has written her trademark gripping historical fiction packed with adventure, mystery, conflict and romance. Meet nearly 1000 women whose names deserve to be better known: from the Mothers of Invention and the trailblazing women at the Bar; warrior queens and pirate commanders; the women who dedicated their lives to the natural world or to medicine; those women of courage who resisted and fought for what they believed; to the unsung heroes of stage, screen and stadium.