The Burning Chambers

The Burning Chambers by Kate Mosse

Published by Mantle

3rd May 2018

Carcassonne 1562: Nineteen-year-old Minou Joubert receives an anonymous letter at her father's bookshop. Sealed with a distinctive family crest, it contains just five words: SHE KNOWS THAT YOU LIVE.

But before Minou can decipher the mysterious message, a chance encounter with a young Huguenot convert, Piet Reydon, changes her destiny forever. For Piet has a dangerous mission of his own, and he will need Minou's help if he is to get out of La Cité alive.

Toulouse: As the religious divide deepens in the Midi, and old friends become enemies, Minou and Piet both find themselves trapped in Toulouse, facing new dangers as sectarian tensions ignite across the city, the battle-lines are drawn in blood and the conspiracy darkens further.

Meanwhile, as a long-hidden document threatens to resurface, the mistress of Puivert is obsessed with uncovering its secret and strengthening her power . . .

Having loved Kate Mosse's first trilogy of books set in France, I was super eager to get my teeth, as it were, stuck into her new series of books, once again set in the Languedoc region. This time we are transported to 1562 where the battle between the Huguenots and the Catholics is starting to come to fruition and lives can hang in the balance dependent on which faith you follow.  Minou Joubert and her family are Catholics and they own a bookshop in Carcassonne.  Her father has been ill for some time, and Minou has been running the shop for him whilst also caring for her younger brother and sister.  One day whilst at the shop she receives a mysterious letter that contains the words - "She knows that you live" but that is all; Minou has no clue as to the author of the letter or to whom the letter is referring to.

Our story then moves across France to Toulouse where the battle for religious supremacy is nearing a climax and Minou begins to spend more time with Piet Reydon, a man she initially met in Carcassonne but who has returned to Toulouse carrying a most sacred possession that keeps his life in danger.  

Kate Mosse now weaves a historical tale filled with characters both good and evil but whilst also maintaining that grip on historical fact so that you could actually believe that this story really did happen, and that these characters really did exist.  I can't wait to read the next instalment to find out what is going to happen next in this wars of religion trilogy and how on earth the reader is going to be transported from 16th century France to 19th century South Africa.  The mind boggles!

Happy Reading

Miss Chapters x