'If I held my whole kingdom in one hand and my son in the other, I would toss them both to the bottom of the sea before I would let them impede me.'
Sixteenth-century Princess Jeanne d'Albret is twice royal: her uncle is King of France, her father King of Navarre. She is small, she is often ill yet she won't allow that to define her. As a child, she is carried to the altar at the French King's command but she and her mother have a secret plan to get their own way...
Soon a new king is on the French throne. And when a second arranged marriage is forced on her, Jeanne is surprised by bliss. She can't stop talking or thinking about Antoine, first prince of the blood; she throws her whole self into their life together, even when the battlefield parts them.
Fiery and stubborn, wherever she goes, Jeanne is reminded of her famous poet-mother, protector of reformers, who could not break with the Catholic church despite her attraction to the new religious ideas. Jeanne resolves to go further and let nothing stop her. But what will this mean for her precious marriage? As the Civil Wars break out the Wars of Religion and Jeanne commits to the Huguenots, will her adored husband take the same path? How can she fend off the Pope, the Guises and the wily, evasive Queen Mother of France, Catherine de Medicis, while struggling for her son's rights and future?
Tracy Ryan's second novel in the Queens of Navarre trilogy is a story of both flesh and spirit, of passion and obsession, and their often devastating consequences for self and others.
Praise for The Queen's Apprenticeship, Queens of Navarre Book One:
'a triumphant foray into historical fiction...a compelling exploration of patriarchy, privilege and resistance in Renaissance France, set amid a vividly sketched milieu...with convincing fictional characters.' Cheryl Akle, The Australian
'the brilliant depth of character we want when reading historical fiction'...a buoyancy of storytelling' Jessie Tu, The Age
