Thank you for finding this book and welcome to bookcrossing!

Bookcrossing is a wonderful place to share your love of reading with people all over the world. You can make an anonymous journal entry but if you do, you won't be able to get notification each time someone else journals this book. Following this books travels is very fun.

"Sullen-eyed and broken hearted, fourteen year old Catherine de'Medici rode into France. She was to marry Henry of Orleans, second son of the King, at the most immoral court in 16th century Europe sparked by humiliation and jealousy as she spied on Henry's lovemaking . Catherine plotted her revenge-a revenge that would change the destiny of Europe."

The first book in the Catherine De Medici series. Published 1951.
1. Madame Serpent (1951)
2. The Italian Woman (1952) (aka The Unholy Woman)
3. Queen Jezebel (1953)

Jean Plaidy is one of the pen names of British authorEleanor Hibbert (01-09-1906 to 18-01-1993) . Her best-known pseudonyms were Jean Plaidy, Victoria Holt, and Philippa Carr; she also wrote under the names Eleanor Burford, Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow, Anne Percival, and Ellalice Tate. By the time of her death, she had sold over 100 million books

She chose the pseudonym Jean Plaidy for her historical novels about the crowned heads of Europe. Her books written under this pseudonym were popular with the general public and were also hailed by critics and historians for their historical accuracy, quality of writing, and attention to detail.

I have decided to release this book as a bookray, the other two books in the series are now available for those who want to reading the series.

Here is a link to the same book that I am releasing as a different ray at the same time, so you can see what others thought.

There is also a Historical Fiction Book Club: Madame Serpent Discussion Thread you may wish to join in with, though be warned it may contain plot spoilers, so if you do not already know the particulars of Catherine life you may want to wait until you have finished the book before visiting it.

1. Please journal when you receive the book to let others know it has arrived safely.

2. Please read the book before other books (excluding any rings/rays that arrived first)Try to have this book read within 4 weeks.

3. When about halfway through, please contact the next person on the list for their mailing address.

4. Please journal again when you've read the book to describe what you thought, and again when it is on its way to the next reader.

Participants so far - order may change if others join
nediamnori UK (UK)
Tregossip UK (UK/Europe)
penelopewanders Switzerland (Europe) THIS RAY HAS BEEN COMPLETED

book size: 13.5cm x 20.1cm x 3cm, 400g

Other Jean Plaidy Rays I have started:
The Goldsmith's Wife by Jean Plaidy

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Posted to nediamnori87 today. Enjoy!

Arrived this morning with a postcard. Thank you very much looking forward to reading it.

I don't know much about the French courts around the time of Henry VIII as obviously he is one of the 'shining stars' of that period. I know the Kings of Spain and France were well regarded as powerful rulers so it was nice to read about the period from a different perspective and the intrigue of the French Court.
I feel very sorry for Catherine as she is portrayed in the book, I know that she becomes a very powerful lady later in life. I'd be interested to find out more information on where the sources came from about Catherine's deep love of Henry.

I enjoyed the writing style that was given in the book although it was a shame not to read more from the mind of Henry after the marriage.

I would be very interested also in reading further about the life of Catherine as she seems almost as brilliant a woman as Elizabeth I.

Thank you very much for sharing the book. I'm hoping to keep it for a week to use on the historical bookclub thread. I'll post it on soon.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Posted off to the next person in the ray I hope you enjoy it!

Back from holiday this morning and guess what was waiting - -

I read most of Jean Plaidy's many years ago in my late teens, so it was wonderful to re-read and had lost little of it's magic for me

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Madame Serpent is slithering her way to Switzerland. Bit like the ? snail mark on the front cover. Not guilty.

Arrived safely here in the Alps. Do I read correctly that I'm last for this ray (for now)? That would take some pressure off as I have a few rings which arrived while I was away. Do let me know if I have this wrong.

Interesting biography of Catherine de Medici's years married to Henry, King of France... but she's such an unpleasant person that it's not a very pleasant read. I felt sorry for her and kept wishing something would go her way, but at the same time she's so full of hatred...
It seems the ray ends here.. I'll check out what to do with this next.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I've given this to a friend visiting from Berlin. She's heard me talking about bookcrossing for years and as she has a long train journey tomorrow and is a history buff, I thought she'd enjoy this. Hopefully she'll sort out how to join and be able to register this soon!

I caught this book from a friend in CH. We have enjoyed passing books between each other for a while. I passed on a book called "The Fire" to her and I received this in return...