Having read and enjoyed the Burning Chamber, I was very keen to read The City of Tears. Set during the holy war in France in the sixteenth century, we once more meet Minou and Piet Joubert and their family, and follow their lives through the turbulent times. (No spoliers!)
Kate Mosse's writing is always detailed and historically accurate but I find it really accessible. She is a master story-teller and an expert at building tension and I was once more gripped - I found myself really stressed at certain points! The weaving of history and top-notch fiction works so well, and I was there, in Paris and in Amsterdam.
Thank you to the author, the publishers and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this epic book. I am sure it will be critically acclaimed, as it should be. I am looking froward to Book Three already.

I have always enjoyed the way Kate Mosse can draw you into her books and make you feel the history, she makes it almost feel alive.
This book was no different but I felt more emotion for the characters in this book then the previous one, the burning chambers. I think it was like meeting up with friends you haven't seen for a while, and hearing all the news.
I am really looking forward to reading the third book.
Thank you netgalley

Another exceptionally great read from one of my favourite authors. What I love about Kate's writing is that she makes it possible for us to understand the humanity of historical characters without "dumbing down" her history. She doesn't put modern people in historical situations as so many authors do. Instead, she equips us with the historical understanding that enables us to empathise with characters who talk and act and respond with historical authenticity. And she does all this while telling us the most enthralling and compelling tales. Highly recommended.

A missing child, a mother’s anguish and a mystery going through the centuries. Kate Moses brings the turmoil of 16th century Europe to life.

This was as great as the first book. I love Mosse's writing, and definitely loved the energy, the characters, and plot of this book as well.

Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

When I initially heard Kate Mosse was planning a new trilogy I was full of anticipation, and the first book, The Burning Chambers, was all I expected it would be. However, I was disappointed that there would then be a long wait for the second and third books (but I obviously understand that writing as this level takes time). But what a book The City of Years is, well worth the wait. We once again meet up with Minou, who is now married to Piet with two children. The family visit Paris, but sadly this is devastating as it coincides with a massacre of Huguenots and during the mele Minou’s daughter is lost. Minou flees France and ends up in Amsterdam, her ‘City of Tears’
Full of wonderful historical description which adds to the maelstrom of emotions experienced throughout the book. It did take me a while to reacquaint myself with the characters and remember the previous story, so next time I will re-read the first two in advance of the third so my attention can be fully on the story rather than trying to plunge the depths of memory from a book read two years prior.
Looking forward to the final instalment.

The City of Tears is the second in Kate Mosse’s Burning Chambers series and it really didn’t disappoint. It was an absolute joy to return to Mosse’s evocative landscape and characters. It’s ten years after The Burning Chambers and begins with what should have been a happy occasion but becomes something else entirely. What follows is the story of a country torn apart by religious wars and the consequences for Minou and her loved ones. The historical and geographical research Mosse does for her books is very evident here and I’m always confident that she has done the legwork. As always I loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for my ARC

I really love Kate Mosse books, this was a good one to read and I was happy with it. I like her worlds and the creation of stories which are engulfing and easy to fall into. Great fun.

The City of Tears is the follow up to The Burning Chamber. Set in 1572 the story follows Minou and Piet Joubert and their family, as France is ripped apart by a holy war between the Catholics and Hugenots.
It's a story of revenge, persecution and loss, which hit me right in the feels on more than one occasion.
I loved this and predicted a couple of the plot scenes but it took nothing away from the story.
And like the Burning Chamber I had to remind myself to breathe.
Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for the ARC.

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

I absolutely LOVE Kate Mosse' books and was thrilled to be able to read this
It certainly did not disappoint

A wonderfully evocative book, wonderful setting

If you love your historical fiction you really can't go wrong with Ms Mosse' books
LOVED it

I love the novels of Kate Mosse and this was no exception. A brilliant book continuing the Burning Chambers series, follows the life of Minou Joubert from Amsterdam to Paris and back again. If you like a historical mystery book to sink your teeth into then this could be it.

I would read Kate Mosse’s shopping list if she published it, I adore her books. I had great intentions on keeping this for later in the year but I couldn’t wait, and was delighted to learn it was the second instalment of her The Burning Chamber series. It’ 1572, a decade since the conclusion of The Burning Chambers and Minou and her family are living happily in Puivert. But the planned royal marriage set to unite France has caused an uneasy peace, and peace, for some, is not wanted. Minou and her family are invited to the wedding, meaning travelling to Paris. It should be a happy occasion but within days of the marriage, her family will be pulled apart in ways you cannot imagine (I gasped!). We follow the family, and to an extent, their friends and those who want only harm for them, over a decade and expect to feel elated, heartbroken and encouraged in equal measure. I didn’t want to do anything other than read this book. It was beautiful, mesmerising and – I hope – left sufficiently open for another book in the series.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advance reading copy.

The sequel to Kate Mosse's historical epic The Burning Chambers is just as adventure packed and wide ranging as its predecessor.

The second in a five book series which explores the history of Hugenot refugees in Europe, The City of Tears fast forwards to 10 years after the events of the first book. Minou is no longer a girl on the brink of womanhood, but a woman with two young children. But her husband has recently grown distant, and a trip to Paris to witness a royal marriage which will unite the Catholics and Hugenots threatens their family, and comes to have disastrous consequences.

Mosse's skill at interweaving the personal with monumental historic events is what makes these books so wonderful and compelling. The factual historical background is perfectly intertwined with the characters Mosse has created, and this serves to show us the effects of what happened on everyday people. Yet at the same time, Mosse's characters are anything but 'everyday' - after spending a full book with Minou and her family we are endeared to her and the colourful cast of characters. The women in the novels are all wonderfully drawn, strong and independent - but without becoming cliche's, and they are all very distinct, with their own personalities.

The wider themes of the novel are bound in the lives of these characters - such as the impact of religious persecution, the perils of religious fanaticism, and the experiences of refugees. As all good historical fiction does, this series holds a mirror up to our present time, and makes us consider how we might be repeating history.

As with the first book in the series the plot is exciting, fast moving and compelling, the emotional bond to the characters pulling you in to need to find out more. This is a book, and a series, you can get utterly lost in. The only possible criticism is that by the time the next books are release you may need to revisit these novels, especially in order to fully understand those modern day prologues. However, it is certainly no hardship to have to go back to these wonderful books and the immersive world that Mosse has created.

I have to confess that despite being very excited to be allowed to preview this book, I wondered how much I would enjoy the setting as not much of it is in The Languedoc, which is what first drew me to Kate Mosse's books. I didn't need to be worried though as the expertise of Ms. Mosse makes the story so alive and compelling that I just had to read on to find out what happend. I think that I enjoyed this even more than the first in the trilogy. Only problem now is that the wait to bring all the threads together in the third volume will be interminable.

This is the second in Kate Mosse's new trilogy, and that follows the fortunes of the Joubert family in France during the period of religious wars and persecution in the sixteenth century. This is a journey through history through the eyes and experiences of this family, and ranges from. Puivert in the south, on to Paris and the St Bartholomew's day massacre before finally settling in Amsterdam. The twists and turns of intrigue in the plot keep the reader completely absorbed in the book and I can't wait for the the third book!

Following on from The Burning Chambers, this second book is no exception, great world building and characters.
A great book!

The sequel to The Burning Chambers is another brilliant novel by Kate Mosse. Following the continuing (mis)fortunes of the Joubert family, City of Tears is another page turner full of non stop action and intrigue.

The tantalising snippets of action in South Africa 300 years later add to the drama. Kate Mosse is an expert at mixing historical drama with myth and legend, and her latest is no exception.

The only down side to this book, is that for the first time with a Mosse novel, I didn’t get the sense of historical realism that she normally produces. If we weren’t told that the action was taking place in the late 16th century, I could have believed it was taking place at anytime in the last 500 years. Maybe that’s because for the first time there was no serious time ape at in Carcossone, a city that Mosse writes beautifully. Still, this is a brilliant book!

You expect a jolly good read combined with the reassuring knowledge that the historical background is correct and that is, once again, exactly what Kate Moss delivers with 'The City of Tears'.
Whilst all fans of historical fiction can enjoy this I feel the extreme degree of factual details will appeal immensely to some and yet, at the same time, be a bit too overwhelming for those who want a softer historical read. If you are one of the latter then persevere with your reading as the characters become stronger and you inevitably become increasingly emotionally involved.
Thank you to Pan MacMillan Mantle books and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a great fan of Kate Mosse’s historical novels set in sixteenth century France and had thoroughly enjoyed The Burning Chamber a few years ago as well as the Labyrinth series which she had written earlier.
This is the second book in her new Burning Chambers trilogy and moves from Languedoc in Southern France at the beginning to Paris and then Amsterdam as we follow the story of Minou, Piet and their family.
I know Languedoc well so had been to several of the places mentioned in the book which really brought the story to life for me.
It was also interesting to read about Paris and Amsterdam in the context of the religious wars of the time. This book has been incredibly well researched and as well as being a gripping family story it was also an interesting historical description of these turbulent times.
When Minou, Piet and their family go to the royal wedding in Paris which purports to unite the Catholics and Huguenots they hope this will be the end of the religious conflict. Marguerite de Valois and Henri of Bourbon are marrying and many people flock to Paris. However in the midst of all the excitement something awful happens which has a terrible affect on Minou’s own family.
I liked the characters of Minou and Piet. Minou is not a shy retiring woman- she is always in the midst of all the action. Piet is strong and brave and does all he can to protect his family whilst trying to avoid the clutches of his arch enemy, Vidal the evil priest who has tried to destroy him in the past.
This is a long book with many characters, some old and some new but I raced through it, being pleased of the distraction it offered me in the dark times we are in at the present.
This is a well researched engrossing read that had me hooked right from page one and when I got to the end, the cliffhanger certainly left me wanting more.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my arc in exchange for an honest review.