The City of Tears is a gripping and atmospheric sequel to The Burning Chambers that brilliantly blends historical drama and intrigue. The book was meticulously researched and the vivid writing really brought this historical period to life. I found the whole story totally immersive and felt transported by the rich descriptions of Paris and Amsterdam. The characters, particularly Minou and Piet, are well-developed and relatable, which kept me fully invested in the plot. This author’s ability to weave a compelling story with historical accuracy always makes for a brilliant book and this one is just that - it’s a poignant and powerful tale of love, survival, and the enduring strength of the human spirit. If you love historical fiction then this series is a must read - I can’t wait for the next instalments!

Vor ein paar Jahren habe ich den ersten Teil dieser Serie gelesen, „The Burning Chambers“, und kann mich erinnern, das fand ich klasse. Wie für Ms Mosse üblich war das ein dicker historischer Schmöker, und spielte zum größten Teil im französischen Languedoc; Haupt-Prota war Minou, ein junges hugenottisches Mädel. Mit den Hugenotten, bzw. generell mit den Religionskriegen im Europa des 15./.16. Jahrhunderts kennt die Autorin sich bestens aus, einen weiteren sehr empfehlenswerten Roman, „Das Labyrinth“ hat mich - ebenfalls schon eine Weile her – mitgerissen, dabei ging es explizit um die Katharer. Auch im Languedoc zu verorten. Nun denn, „The City of Tears“ gibt es jetzt endlich auch in der erschwinglichen Taschenbuchausgabe, also habe ich zugegriffen 😊. Minou ist mittlerweile erwachsen, und wir setzen im Jahr 1572 ein. Ach, und noch kurz ein Wort zur Serie: man kann die Bücher auch beide separat voneinander lesen. Ich konnte mich auch nicht mehr an alle Details aus dem ersten Band erinnern; man kriegt alles, was man wissen muss zur Familienhistorie nebenbei geliefert; das passt schon.
So. Also: Dreh- und Angelpunkt der Reihe ist die Familie Reydon-Joubert; und aktuell haben wir da (hauptsächlich) die Eheleute Minou und Piet und ihre beiden Kinder Marta, 8 , und Jean-Jacques, etwa 2, plus Minous Schwester Alis, und den Bruder Aimeric. Durch eine unverhoffte Erbschaft gesellschaftlich und finanziell aufgestiegen, bewohnen die Jouberts mittlerweile das Chateau of Puivert, und es könnte eigentlich alles so nett und idyllisch sein, wenn da nicht im Hintergrund alles politisch brodeln würde. Die Familie ist nämlich protestantisch, und es toben die Glaubensschlachten. Als die Familie zur Hochzeit der katholischen Prinzessin Margot mit dem protestantischen Henri of Navarre geladen wird – heutzutage würde man es die VIP Heirat des Jahres nennen – sollen sich die Ereignisse überschlagen, und einige Tage nach dem gesellschaftlichem Grossereignis schlägt die Stimmung um und ein Massaker des Grauens, die Bartholomäusnacht, in der Tausende Hugenotten den Tod finden sollen, geht in die Geschichte ein…..und auch für die Jouberts wird es sehr schmerzlich, denn in den Gräueltagen verschwindet Marta, und eine Welt bricht zusammen…..
Minou, Piet und Jean-Jaques schaffen es, nach Amsterdam zu flüchten und sich ein neues Leben aufzubauen, aber auch hier soll dauerhaft kein Frieden aufkommen, weder familiär noch gesamtgesellschaftlich….
Mein Leseeindruck: Wow 😊. Auf 535 Seiten Spannung, Abenteuer, Liebe, Krieg und Frieden – alles dabei. Die Autorin hat hier mal wieder einen tollen historischen Roman abgeliefert, der mich mitgerissen hat. Mit Minou, die wir hier insgesamt etwa 2 Jahrzehnte begleiten, habe ich wieder mitgefiebert. Das war sehr emotional, und super spannend. Tolle Verquickung von, ich wiederhole mich wahrscheinlich, einer sehr emotionalen Familiengeschichte vor dem Hintergrund der europäischen Glaubenskriege. Die Autorin schafft es, hier recht detailliert die geschichtlichen / politischen Verhältnisse der Zeit rüberzubringen, ohne dass es eine Minute langweilig wird. Man sieht: Politik betrifft das alltägliche Leben aller.
Wir haben hier natürlich eine Menge kleiner Seitenerzählstränge, es wird hier vielen Familienmitgliedern Raum gegeben, aber hey, das Buch ist dick, es wird teils episch, aber im positiven Sinne.
Ich habe die originale Version auf Englisch gelesen, und muss dazu sagen, Ms Mosse schreibt mitreißend, aber ihr Stil ist ein bissel elaborierter als vieles, was ich sonst so auf Englisch lese. Passend zur zeitgeschichtlichen Epoche ist die Satzstellung teils ein wenig old-fashioned. Das würde mir bei einer Übersetzung wahrscheinlich gar nicht auffallen, aber als Nicht-Muttersprachlerin habe ich gemerkt, mein Lesetempo war hier ein wenig langsamer als sonst. Was völlig gut war – das hat das Lesevergnügen verlängert 😊. Aber tatsächlich habe ich seit langer Zeit mal wieder ein, zwei Wörter nachschlagen müssen.
Also, wie auch immer: das hier war mal wieder ein richtig guter historischer Roman. Kann ich sehr gerne weiterempfehlen, und ich freue mich auf den dritten Teil der Reihe, „The Ghost Ship“ der in ein paar Wochen als Taschenbuch erscheint!

This is the second book in the series
It is filled with drama, murder and revenge
The author writes so well and manages to tell a great story.
Can’t wait for the next instalment

I have already left a review on this book but for some reason it has reappeared in my listing. As 2 years have passed, all I can say really is that I thought it was brilliant. I love Kate Mosse and all her novels, I have yet to be disappointed!!

My thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for allowing me to read an advanced copy in return for an honest opinion.

Kate Mosse sets out in her Historical Note the history of the French Wars of Religion that took place between Huguenots (Protestants) and Catholics from 1562 and 1598 and explains that The City of Tears is the second book in The Burning Chambers series of novels set against the backdrop of 300 years of history from 16th century France and Amsterdam to the Cape of Good Hope in the 18th and 19th centuries. And there is a useful list of the principal characters and the historical characters at the beginning of the book, that helps in remembering who was who and how they were connected.

It’s been four years since I read The Burning Chambers, the first book in The Burning Chambers series, and time has moved on ten years since the events in that first book. You don’t have to read the first book before reading The City of Tears as with four years between the two books I didn’t find it hard to pick up the story, but I do think you need to read the Historical Note to get the background details of the French Wars of Religion first.

There is now a precarious peace in the French Wars of Religion and it looks as though that peace could be maintained as the queen mother, Catherine de Medici, has negotiated a marriage between her Catholic daughter Margot and the Huguenot Henri of Navarre. But that union is opposed by the hardline Catholic faction led by the Duke of Guise. As the novel opens Minou Joubert and Piet Reydon, now married and living in their castle in south west France, are preparing for their visit to Paris for the wedding.

This is a complicated story centred on Minou and Piet Reydon and their family. The wedding took place followed by the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre on 24 August 1572 when thousands of Protestants were murdered by Catholic troops, in Paris and across France. I’m not going to go into any more detail about the story other than to say it’s a compelling story of chaos and fear as Minou and her family escape, though suffering dreadful losses, including the disappearance of her seven year old daughter, and almost losing their lives. There’s murder, conspiracies, stolen relics and innumerable secrets are brought to light.

It is an enjoyable book, but because of its length it does lose pace in parts. It is not a book you can or would want to read quickly. The strength of the book for me is in the characterisation and the settings. Kate Mosse has thoroughly researched the period and the locations, rooting it firmly in the time it was set. What I particularly like is that she identifies that the characters and their families, apart from the historical ones, are imagined, inspired by ‘the kind of people who might have lived: ordinary women and men , struggling to live, love and survive against a backdrop of religious war and displacement.’ Just as devastating today, as it was then.

It is also a book that is strong on developing the characters, so that you feel for them as they struggle to survive all that is thrown at them, as it is certainly a tragic story. Having said that the ending is a positive one, except for cliff hanger on the last page that hints at what is to come in the third book, The Ghost Ship, a sweeping historical epic about love in a time of war, due out in July this year.

The sequel to The Burning Chambers continues to depict life in sixteenth century Europe where Catholic and Huguenot conflicts take centre stage. The story has honour and corruption on both sides of the war following the characters which we have already grown to love. This is a period of intense and complex religious and political turmoil. Set against this backdrop, Kate Mosse continues the epic love story of Minou and Piet now following their young family through intense (and sometimes implausible) highs and lows.

I thoroughly enjoyed the series. It’s extremely well researched and therefore not only historically accurate but also immersive and gripping. Kate Mosse is a master storyteller bringing her characters and the story to life at a fast pace without losing the depth and emotion of the strained times. I genuinely can’t wait for the next instalment to see where Mosse takes these characters next.

I like so much Kate Mosse writing style.
She expertly combines fiction with historical facts without leaving out mystery and romance. And still it doesn’t feel overwhelming but exquisite.

I knew the characters from book one so there were no surprises there. However, I deeply enjoyed reading about how they evolved in book two.

The plot in this book is a bit more complex and there are big events that change the course of things and make the book even more interesting. The few twists in the story add spice in the experience and make the reader to want to finish the book in a sitting.

If you haven’t yet tried reading any of KM’s books, I highly urge you to do so.

Excellent as ever. Characters fly off the page and the historical detail are well researched and the addition of the authors blending in of fact and fiction is seamless. A wonderful introduction the history of France and Europe.

I will admit it has been awhile since I read the first book in this series, The Burning Chambers, so I felt very lost when I first delved into the pages of The City of Tears. It is quite a complex series so it is not the easiest to just pick up where you left off when it has been some time. However, things soon pick up and I did not stay too confused for too long. There are references to what has happened before to ease you along the journey in case you have forgotten and soon things develop into what is happening now that it does not matter too much beyond needing to understand that there are relationships and histories entwining the characters.

Initial difficulties aside this book is one to keep you on the edge of your seat. Just as things begin to look up for the main characters, something tragic occurs and, especially as often there are main characters that do not know what has occurred or why, it is an emotional journey that you take with them. This I definitely felt kept me coming back to finish a little bit more and see how it would all end.

The other charm of this story is the relationships between characters. Whether it is the relationships between the Joubert family members or their relationships with others they meet along the way, they are so well written and so genuine and so connected you feel as if you could slot yourself into their life and be one of their comrades, a close friend, or a sister and that really helps to make you feel invested in what is happening. One of my favourite things about any good story is the relationships, how they are written, how they develop and this book certainly delivers in that regard.

The only things I found frustrating about this book is the length, it does take some commitment and whenever a book is this long I do always feel there are things that could have been cut to quicken the pace a little. However, we would probably lose some of the emotion and relationships if that was to happen so it is a balancing act, I would just be aware that this is not a book you pick up one afternoon and expect to be done with later that day.

Whilst a lot of tragedy does happen throughout this book it does end on a positive note. Well there is a positive note before the massive cliff hangar - a not entirely unexpected reveal, but still one that leaves you wanting to know what went on in the time not written down. That is for the third book one supposes, which is, unfortunately, another long wait away.

This series is fast becoming an essential read for fans of historical fiction. The City of Tears is even more impressive than its predecessor, with a believable but consistently exciting plot surrounding an engaging family drama over generations. I wait eagerly for the next instalment.

I have been a huge fan of Kate Mosse since Labyrinth, and I am always in awe of her writing. The City of Tears is powerfully evocative, and Mosse has an amazing ability to really take you into the story. Everything is so elegantly interlinked together, and the historical research is astounding.

Brilliant - absorbing and epic; spans so much time! Just phenomenally researched which lends itself to amazing world-building.

I struggled to get into this book and did not really connect with the characters nor plot. I have liked other books by the author, but I found this one to just drag on a bit with the story.

The City of Tears is the second instalment of The Burning Chambers series by Kate Mosse. Its 10 years after The Burning Chambers - now June 1572 and France is enjoying a precarious peace following the violent years of the Wars of Religion. Beginning with what should be a happy occasion, the lives of the Joubert family are torn apart by an old enemy, Vidal, amid political and religious intrigue. Kate Mosse fans will not be disappointed!
With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC.

Kate Mosse is my very favourite Author and I've been hooked on Kate Mosse's books since Labyrinth which came out in 2005. So when The City of Tears by Kate Mosse came available I was so Honoured that I could get a copy to review. I just had to stop what I was doing and snuggle in my corner and open my Kindle. WoW.....Double WoW what a brilliant book. This is the second book in the The Burning Chambers series and it was a superb read. (I forgot to do a review sorry)
Within this new book by Kate we travel from the Languedoc to Paris and then Amsterdam, and we continue the story with two main characters Minou Joubert and her husband Piet and what a beautiful story this was............and about French history.

I loved it so much I ended up purchasing the book for my collection and the audio book to listen with my Husband. He loved it as well. Just like the first book.

Narrated by: Hattie Morahan was Excellent. Perfect for both books.

Kate Mosse you are a brilliant local story teller I can not recommend enough. My favourite author.

A Big thank you to Pan Macmillan/Mantle, Kate Mosse, NetGalley and The Pigeonhole for a complimentary copy of this novel at my request. This review is my unbiased opinion.

In this book we travel from the Languedoc to Paris and then Amsterdam, the city of tears. We continue the story with Piet and Minou. I’ve read quite a few novels about the Huguenot community of London, escaped from France during this time, so it was a new perspective to read about their persecution as it moved across Europe. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book

Steeped in the historical detail of sixteenth-century religious tension and war in France, ‘The City of Tears’ by Kate Mosse continues the story started in ‘The Burning Chambers’. Through the eyes of Minou and Piet we experience the Saint Bartholomew’s day massacre of Huguenots and its aftermath as the story moves from Paris and Chartres to Amsterdam, home to refugees and a protestant uprising.
It is 1572 and the action starts in Puivert, Languedoc, where the Reydons have found a fragile peace from Catholic persecution of the Huguenots. Minou and Piet take their family to Paris to witness the diplomatically-sensitive royal wedding of catholic King Charles’s sister Marguerite to the protestant Henry of Navarre. Unknown to the Reydons their old enemy Cardinal Valentin, also known as Vidal du Plessis, is in Paris planning to kill Huguenots. What follows drives the old enemies together and sets in motion Mosse’s story. The Reydons are forced to flee to save their lives, leaving behind one daughter possibly dead or missing. They run to Amsterdam where they establish a new life though their grief for Marta ruptures their previous marital harmony. But religious extremism follows them and once again they must face the threat of violence. As Piet’s past catches up with him, an uncomfortable family secret is revealed. The need to find the truth once and for all takes them to Chartres and the home of a hunter of religious relics.
These books need be read with full concentration. This period of history is a gap in my knowledge, which made ‘The City of Tears’ an interesting read. The story lacked drama, though I find it difficult to pin down why. Minou is the heart of this book and it is she who pulled me on through some of the heavy historical detail. I settled into the book better when I gave up trying to remember the historical fact and let Minou’s fictional story take over.
As in ‘The Burning Chambers’, the Prologue is set in South Africa two centuries later. And still the woman featured in 1862 is a mystery. ‘The City of Tears’ is set at a time of change in French Protestantism and the birth of the Dutch Republic and is one of a series of novels covering 300 years of religious turmoil in Europe. Mosse follows the geographical movement of the Huguenot refugees from sixteenth-century France and Amsterdam to the Cape of Good Hope in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. No word on how many novels this series will finally comprise.
I think I will always prefer ‘Labyrinth’.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

Set in sixteenth century France and Amsterdam, this is typical wide-spanning Kate Mosse: war, death, religion, love and personal tragedy. Minou and her husband Piet live a quiet life in Carcassonne with their children and her family, a life that is promptly blown apart when a letter arrives from Paris, inviting them to a royal wedding. We're in the middle of the Wars of Religions so naturally, the journey to the capital and their time there is not without drama and loss. I had not read the previous novel in the series, The Burning Chambers, and I think my enjoyment of this one suffered as a result. Constant references to what had been before between the lovers, and in particular the (slightly saccharine, if coming to it from nowhere) "Lady of the Mists,' were harder to stomach than if I'd been party to the events. Likewise, there was no explanation until fairly late as to who the mysterious, darkly menacing Vidal was. Nonetheless, it was richly evocative, frequently moving and always enjoyable. If I was left slightly confused by the ending, I can only assume this is because there is a sequel in the writing.

This one has been on the shelf for a while, I love #KateMosse books but I do need to psych myself up. I had my favourite reading combination … an ebook and an audiobook version which was perfect was fully immersing myself into this story.
Kate Mosse is an expert in educating people like myself in French History. This series is fascinating and has certainly piqued an interest in the Holy Wars. Before these books I am ashamed to say I knew very little of French history but am learning all about the 16th Century, Huguenots and Catholics in a beautifully narrated story told from the point of view of the Huguenot family of Minou Joubert. I cannot recommend Kate Mosse highly enough.

Many thanks to #Netgalley for advance ebook and audiobook of #TheCityOfTears by #KateMosse in exchange for an honest review.

I want to say something right off the bat: as much as I would love to read more historical fiction, I always tend to struggle with it. It's not my go-to genre and it takes me a lot longer to read than other genres.

But I did audiobook the first book in the series, The Burning Chambers, last year via my local library and, while I didn't warm to it completely, I did like it and thought I would request this via NetGalley and continue the series, with this book starting around 10 years after the events of Burning Chamber.

Minou & Piet are now married, with a young family, living in peace & happiness on their estate in Puiver. After receiving an invitation to the Royal wedding of Charles IX's sister to Henry of Navarre and going to Paris, they find themselves caught up in the Bartholemew's Day massacre. Fleeing for their lives, they become refugees and discover that their 7 year old daughter, Marta, is missing...

I should have warmed to this one. The writing is solid (you can't fault Kate Mosse's writing and her storytelling skills) and the level of detail and world building is just as good as it was in Burning Chamber.

But (yes, there is a but), there was something that I couldn't warm to within this story. Now, I can't decide if it was the story itself, the direction it was going in, the fact it was a historical or I didn't get on with several of the main characters, or another reason. But I couldn't click with this.

I'm not saying this is a bad historical - I'm happy to push this into people's hands if they are fans of historical novels with elements of family saga and religion - but I think I have to accept that, even though I want to read Kate Mosse, I might have to let this series go.