Mistress of France

A renaissance novel of destiny, love and power.Mistress of France is an intriguing story of love and lust, jealousy and ambition, magic and murder set in the glorious palaces and chateaux of Renaissance France.When Diane de Poitiers welcomes home the young princes of France, held as hostages in Spain for four years, she quickly gains their trust and sparks a passion that will endure a lifetime.Bartered as a bride in the complex power struggle of three kingdoms, 14-year-old Catherine de Medici soon arrives in France to marry Henri duc d'Orleans, the second son of glamorous King Francois. From hostage to the royal palaces of France both Catherine and her new husband must put the trauma of their childhood aside and try to find a place in the most glittering court of Christendom. But Catherine quickly realises she will have to use all her Medici cunning to shine while her marriage is whispered as a misalliance, and she is called the ‘Grocer’s daughter’. Her only ally is the disturbing Italian sorcerer, Cosimo Ruggieri, a man prepared to use the dark arts to manipulate her destiny.The eerie unearthing of an Egyptian talisman with untold powers sends Henri's confidante the beautiful Diane on a quest to fulfill the mysterious prophesy of her destiny – She will rise higher than a queen. But the elegant widow attracts the jealousy of the king's spiteful mistress and the court begins to fracture.