As a fascinating and dangerous period, it effectively sets up the Catholic/Huguenot conflicts that are layered through the story, both in smaller character motivation and the larger social framework.

Also, the is a theme of the importance of the gender of the heir to the estate, where the newborn girls were murdered to save as much possible wealth. This novel has everything you could ever want in a novel of this genre and time period: struggles for power, religious strife, torture, old family secrets, characters of noble birth, mysteries, danger, betrayal, poison, inheritances, villains and heroes, romance, love, and murder! At the end of the book, all ends well for the heroes, and they're beloved, and most villains are defeated.Her father, Bernard Joubert, was a faithful Catholic, but it was her late mother, who was a true Languedocien, promoting tolerance through selling books expressing her believes. Languedoc, region in Southern France, was marked by Cathars Inquisitions before the 14th century and after the 15th century the region experienced another Crusade now against Huguenots (French Protestants), who seemed to be putting the strongest resistance in this particular region. The gripping sequel to The Burning Chambers is set in France in 1572, where the Wars of Religion have been raging for ten violent years. I knew nothing about this period of French history or the conflict between the Catholics and the Huguenots.

The atmosphere is on point, and I was transported to France during this unique and tumultuous time period. This as it says is only book one but don't worry as the next book is set in another time zone about different people .In Kate Mosse's Joubert Family Chronicles series, she takes readers on a thrilling journey from 16th-century France to Paris, Amsterdam, London and beyond, in a gripping story of love, betrayal and divided loyalties. I loved learning about the time period and thought her descriptions of the places and historical events were very well done, but I found the characters in the story very one dimensional. Not being able to make any sense of this whatsoever, she puts it out of her mind, unaware she is in grave danger.