Sorry kids, no feet.

First off, I should start of by saying I do not know that much about this particular time period in France. I know how the political landscape of France effects other countries in Europe (mainly England) at this point in time but I am unfamiliar with how the French situation came to be. What I find most fascinating about this particular period in European history is the women who wrote the history of the period whether it be Catherine de Medici, her former daughter-in-law, Mary Queen of Scot, or the formidable Elizabeth I of England. Women of this era were considered inferior creatures, unable to rule the world of men. Those three clearly missed that memo.
Anyway, about the book. I didn't think it was a terrible book. I didn't think it was a great book. I enjoyed C.W. Gortner's other books on the Spanish queens [b:The Last Queen: A Novel|2367495|The Last Queen A Novel|C.W. Gortner|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1396322470s/2367495.jpg|2374321] and [b:The Queen's Vow: A Novel Of Isabella Of Castile|12796941|The Queen's Vow A Novel Of Isabella Of Castile|C.W. Gortner|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1321053644s/12796941.jpg|17945131] much more than I enjoyed this book. In those novels, it felt like Gortner captured the essence of the Spanish culture of the time and his descriptions of the Spanish landscape were fantastic. I just wasn't drawn into France the was I was drawn into Spain.
Understandably at the time I'm sure there were a lot of players in the game of French politics and to give all of them the credit they deserve would require volumes, however, I felt there were quite a few characters who might have benefited from a little more attention. Catherine's son Francios II is one example. I realize he only lived and "reigned" for a short time period but I just felt as if the author only included Francios II because he had to. I felt like most of the first half of the book was written only because it had to be. The sole purpose of the first half of the book was to provide background for the story the author really wanted to tell, which was the story of the French Catholics vs. the French Huguenots. I do understand the ongoing struggles involving religion were a huge part of France (as well as most of Europe) at the time but I was left feeling like the author so badly wanted to tell that part of the story that he rushed through everything else just to get to that point.
Overall, the book was written well enough to keep me interested. The book moved right along through Catherine's life without any huge lags. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the life of Catherine de Medici. It's a good place to start. Another book (and a better book in my opinion) about Catherine de Medici for "beginners" would be [b:The Devil's Queen: A Novel of Catherine de Medici|6082552|The Devil's Queen A Novel of Catherine de Medici|Jeanne Kalogridis|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1312042928s/6082552.jpg|6259274].