Queen Jezebel (The Medici Trilogy: Volume 3)
A review of Jean Plaidy’s novel about the intrude of the de Medicis and the Huguenot
Rating: 4 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
“I consider myself extremely lucky to have been born and raised in London,” said Queen Jezebel author Jean Plaidy. “And to have had on my doorstep this most fascinating of cities with so many relics of 2000 years of history still to be found in its streets. One of my greatest pleasures was…exploring London.”
Jean Plaidy, whose real name was Eleanor Hibbert, passed away in 1993. Her books, written as Jean Plaidy, Victoria Holt, Philippa Carr, and other pen names, continue to be hugely popular. This re-release of Queen Jezebel is the third book in the Jean Plaidy Catherine de Medici trilogy.
Queen Jezebel portrays a strong Catherine unlike her sons, who are weak and a little bit crazy. Plaidy blends history, romance and the drama of the times. She writes of the de Medici family struggles and inner family intrigue. The historical details build the story and you understand who and what the de Medicis are about. Plaidy’s writing stands the test of time.
To end the violence between the Catholics and the Huguenots (member of the French Protestant Reformed Chuch), King Charles and his aging mother Catherine de Medici arrange the marriage of Charles’ sister Margot to the Huguenot king Henry of Navarre. Almost everyone hopes this will be the beginning of peace in France. While the Huguenots are still celebrating in Paris, Catherine tricks her son into thinking that his life is in danger. He gives the order to rid France of its pestilential Huguenots forever. This is the downfall of Catherine and her scheming.
Hibbert wrote five hours a day, seven days a week, starting at 7:30 in the morning and completing at least 5,000 words by lunchtime. In the afternoons, she replied personally to the countless fan letters she had received from all over the world.
“I love my work so much that nothing would stop me writing,” Hibbert once said. “If I take even a week’s break, I just feel miserable. It’s like a drug. Never regret. If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience.”
Hibbert was very prolific and wrote 77 novels as Jean Plaidy. Writing as Victoria Holt she wrote gothic romances. And as Philipa Carr she wrote the Daughters of England saga that spanned more than four centuries. Eleanor Hibbert wrote a total of 183 books.
Hibbert credited married life to her success. “I found that married life gave me the necessary freedom to follow an ambition which had been with me since childhood,” she said. “I started to write in earnest.”
Hibbert was born in 1906 in London. Her father, Joseph Burford, was a dockworker who loved to read. She studied shorthand, typewriting, and languages at a business college. Eleanor left school at the age of 16 and went to work for a jeweler. She married George Percival Hibbert, a wholesale leather merchant twenty years her senior. She was at her typewriter on a cruise ship sailing from Athens to Port Said, Egypt when she died suddenly on January 18th 1993. She was buried at sea.
“It’s nicer to be read,” said Hibbert, “than to get nice reviews.” Fortunately, she gets both. More than 100 million of Hibbert’s books have been sold.
Queen Jezebel: A Catherine de’ Medici Novel by Jean Plaidy. Trade Paperback, 464 pages, Publisher Touchstone, (March 12, 2013). Language: English, ISBN-13: 978-1451686548 $16.00
[adrotate group=”8″]
