The City of Tears by Kate Mosse

 “The Wars of Religion in France was a sequence of civil wars which began” in 1562 and ended in 1598.
“The Eighty Years War in the Low Countries” (Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg) “was no less complicated. Beginning in 1568, it was a revolt (…) against the violent occupation of Hapsburg Spain.”
“The Story of French Protestantism and the beginning of the Dutch Republic are both part of the larger European story of the Reformation.”
The story is set against the background of those religious wars, which also led to lucrative trade in religious relics and its falsification.

Amsterdam, 1572. A French cardinal, a powerful man, requests information about certain boy and his mother from Mariken Hassels. But she fears it would warrant boy’s death. Therefore, she tries to warn him. The boy, now would be a grown man.

Languedoc, southern France. Minou and Piet Reydon live happily at the “green valley set in the foothills of the mighty Pyrenees.” They “brought their children up in the light of the Reformed Church.” They believe in respecting other religions and hope for the same from the others. Piet likes the thrill of the battlefield, but his injured hand keeps him away from it. Now, he tries to find a purpose. And he finds it in supporting Calvinist rebels in the Dutch Provinces, making him a target for a Catholic cardinal.

Quercy, southwest France. A nine year old boy, named Volusien and known as Louis is taken by a powerful cardinal into his service. The boy is sharp witted. He never received any formal schooling, but he is smart at observing and listening.

Vidal du Plessis, now Cardinal Valentin, “was a personal Confessor to the Duke of Guise himself and, for ten years, had profited from the misery of civil war. He was now wealthy, he was powerful.” And hungry for religious relics. Nothing and no one will stop him from getting them.

One person searches for another. One goes into hiding. A third person begins a hunt for the one in hiding.

Engrossingly written, keeping a reader on toes, making it hard to put the book down.

The story begins with a few characters at different places and it seems as a lot of names are being introduced and it might be hard to follow. But that’s not the case. Most of the story is concentrated on Minou and Piet. And the other involved characters are skillfully woven into their story, beautifully coming together.

The characters are interesting. Minou is a wife and a mother, and at the same time a very strong woman, standing up for what she believes in. Piet despite being deprived of what he loves the most; he still finds purpose in his life. The cardinal, religious person of questionable character, is hungry for religious relics and unstoppable in getting them.

The time period is presented through the religious conflict, bringing also the St. Bartholomew’s massacre. Soldiers breaking into houses not painted with a cross’ “the white crosses marked the Catholic houses from Huguenot.” The scene is brutal giving a true sense of how it was. There was no mercy, no exception for women, children, or pastors. This scene is short and the story overall is not brutal in its descriptions.

This book II you can read as stand alone, but I highly recommend reading book I, Burning Chambers.

Release date: 19 January 2021

Source: Minotaur Books; St. Martin's Publishing Group