Minou is a young catholic woman in sixteenth century
Carcassonne, France, the daughter of book seller Bernard Joubert. But her
father has a secret he has never told and this leads Minou, her teenage brother
Aimeric, and seven-year-old sister Alis gradually into terrible danger. It is
the time of the religious trouble in France, hugenots against catholics, which
lead to outbreaks of civil war. The burning chambers are the torture rooms of
the French catholic Inquisition. Into this turmoil walks Piet, a young Hugenot
who has stolen something of great value for the cause. The Turin Shroud. It is
an engaging and entertaining historical novel, with friends and foes to add
intrigue and danger to the fate of Minou, including the mysterious Lady of Puivert
(who seems a bit like MiLady in the Three Musketeers). Kate Mosse does her
research well, and it’s a time in French history that I don’t know much about,
so that was refreshing. We find ourselves after some turns about at the battle
of Toulouse. The confusion and vagaries of a sixteenth century city battle are
well portrayed, and I did worry about our three youngsters, struggling to
reconnect. But ultimately, I enjoyed this read more for the sense of place and
history than anything extraordinary in the plot. There was an intriguing
episode parked at the beginning of the book, in South Africa, which must relate
to later events. I kept waiting, disappointingly for the story to somehow
include this, perhaps in two time-frames or something, but no show. Since this
is the first of a trilogy, I guess we will eventually circle back, but if
you’re one of those people, like me, who browse the first few pages in a
bookshop and think ‘aha, I like this,’ you might be irritated to find yourself in
an entirely different country and century. Just saying…
