The boldly original dramatic intertwined story of Catherine de' Medici Elisabeth de Valois
and Mary Queen of Scots - three queens exercising power in a world dominated by men.
'Alluring gripping real: an astonishing insight into the lives of three queens' ALICE ROBERTS
'Takes us into the hearts and minds of three extraordinary women' AMANDA FOREMAN 'Conveys the
vitality of the past as few books do. An enviable tour de force' SUZANNAH LIPSCOMB
Sixteenth-century Europe: Renaissance masters paint the ceilings of Florentine churches kings
battle for control of the Continent and the Reformation forever changes the religious
organisation of society. Amidst it all three young women come of age and into power in an era
of empires and revolutions. Catherine de' Medici's story begins in a convent stormed by
soldiers intent on seizing the key to power in Florence - Catherine herself a girl barely 11
years old. It ends with her as the controversial queen mother of France a woman both revered
and reviled. Mary Queen of Scots' story begins in Scotland and ends in England. A queen
turned traitor from the confines of her English prison she longs for the idyll of her
childhood in France. Elisabeth de Valois' story begins in France where she is born the
beloved daughter of a king. It ends tragically in Spain as a cherished queen consort and mother
- one who must make the ultimate sacrifice for her kingdom. Catherine Mary and Elisabeth
lived at the French court together for many years before scattering to different kingdoms.
These years bound them to one another through blood and marriage alliance and friendship love
and filial piety bonds that were tested when the women were forced to part and take on new
roles. To rule they would learn was to wage a constant war against the deeply entrenched
misogyny of their time. A crown could exalt a young woman. Equally it could destroy her.
Drawing on new archival research Young Queens masterfully weaves the personal stories of these
three queens into one revealing their hopes dreams desires and regrets in a time when even
the most powerful women lived at the mercy of the state.
