The City Of Tears by Kate Mosse

A breathtaking historical novel of revenge, persecution and loss, The City of Tears by Kate Mosse follows on from her Sunday Times number one bestseller, The Burning Chambers.

May 1572: for ten violent years the Wars of Religion have raged across France. Neighbours have become enemies, countless lives have been lost, and the country has been torn apart over matters of religion, citizenship and sovereignty. But now a precarious peace is in the balance and a royal wedding has been negotiated. It is a marriage that could see France reunited at last.

An invitation has arrived for Minou Joubert and her family to attend this historic wedding in Paris in August. But what Minou does not know is that the Joubert family’s oldest enemy, Vidal, will also be there. Nor that, within days of the marriage, on the eve of the Feast Day of St Bartholomew, her family will be scattered to the four winds and one of her beloved children will have disappeared without trace . . .

Sweeping from Paris and Chartres to the City of Tears itself – the great refugee city of Amsterdam – this is a story of one family’s fight to stay together and survive against the devastating tides of history . . .

About the author

Kate Mosse is an award-winning novelist, playwright, essayist and non-fiction writer, the author of eight novels and short story collections, including the multimillion-selling Languedoc Trilogy, The Burning Chambers Series and number one bestselling Gothic fiction The Winter Ghosts and The Taxidermist’s Daughter. Her books have been translated into thirty-seven languages and published in more than forty countries. The Founder Director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, she is the

Review

‘The City of Tears’ is a stunning piece of historical fiction that evokes the period to the extent that you feel completely immersed in the story. You know that when you pick up a Kate Mosse book that you are going to get a book ripe with details and descriptions that are rich in colour. It is clear Kate does extensive research and this comes across in her sublime writing. Yes, you are learning about history but it's entertaining at the same time. Also you can trust that what you are reading reflects that time in history and this allows you to delve into Google and traverse many a rabbit hole. A very large hole indeed when it was about the fashion of the French court during the wedding!

This is the second book in this series and follows on from ‘The Burning Chambers’ but you are able to read it as a standalone. However, in this case I would recommend reading the first one to allow you to pick up on the small details and nuances that are peppered through the book. Plus you need to read the scenes that coined ‘The Lady in the Mist’ descriptions!

I first came upon Kate’s work after watching the tv adaptation of ‘Labyrinth’ and quickly devoured all the books in that series. For me now Kate is an auto-buy author. I wouldn't even have to look at the blurb before buying as you know that you are going to be reading an exceptional piece of writing. ‘The City of Tears’ was no different. It was packed full of plotlines that gradually intertwined to reach an explosive finale. Every single scene came to me in images as if I were watching a film and it allowed me to fly through this book in a day. I can still picture those final island scenes weeks later and this us what a great book does. It stays and worms into a part of your mind and won't let go. I read ALOT of books and the majority of the plots are forgotten pretty instantly, but I know that this one will stay with me. It has whetted my appetite for more, especially after that cliffhanger! There better be more coming…

This is been a great standard of books on the blog today as this is another 5 ⭐ review! Let me know if you pick this one up.