Catherine De Medici [Hardcover]

Jean Plaidy (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 944 pages
• Publisher: Robert Hale Ltd (November 1969)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0709109067
• ISBN-13: 978-0709109068
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.8 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,130,734 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intrigue in the court of France, January 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Catherine De Medici (Hardcover)

I read the book when I was quite young. I still remember the many nights I stayed up to read it. And I read it TWICE! It gave a detailed account of Catherine de Medici from her childhood days till her death. The adventures and intrigue she went through can only be rivalled by the Chinese empress/emperor, Wu Che Tian. If you have seen the French movie, Queen Margot (starring Isabelle Adjani), it only gave you a fleeting glance of Catherine de Medici. After all she was just the Queen Mother of the title character of the movie. But in "Catherine de Medici", she took centre stage. See her manipulated and conspired to make her daughter and sons, queen and kings. And the price she paid for it would astound you. It is indeed unfortunate that this masterpiece by Jean Plaidy is out of print. Somebody should have the sense to reprint it again and again.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I DREAM TO WATCH IT LIKE IN A MOVIE!!!, August 17, 2003

By 

valya petcova (varna,bulgaria) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Catherine De Medici (Hardcover)

The caracters are so interesting,strong,attractive that i imagine them presented by great actors of the cinema.This is not only a triler,but a profound psychological exploration of the human nature.

5.0 out of 5 stars A really good book, and an interesting experiment, July 26, 2009

By 

Charlene Vickers (Winnipeg, Manitoba) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Catherine De Medici (Hardcover)

"Catherine de' Medici" was originally published as a trilogy - the original titles were "Madame Serpent", "The Italian Woman", and "Queen Jezebel". However it's bound, the trilogy or book is great reading.

It was also an interesting experiment. Unlike virtually all other modern works of fiction, the protagonist of "Catherine de' Medici" is completely unsympathetic. We see how she was moulded by her aunt and uncle into a soulless, heartless psychopath; how she manipulated and was manipulated by her husband and his mistress; how she used and abused her own children to achieve her own goal of ultimate power; and how her failure to understand the human heart led to her own downfall. It's a harrowing portrait of a psychopath protagonist. I suspect a lot of readers who are looking for melodrama and "glittering" intrigue never catch on, which is too bad: few writers are brave enough to attempt an unsympathetic protagonist, and those who do usually fail, often by making their protagonist more sympathetic than they originally intended to. Plaidy succeeds in part because she avoided this trap.

One note: this book was first published in the early 1950s and reflects the historical and psychological knowledge of its time.