The City of Tears (The Burning Chambers #2) Review

“The suffering of those we love is harder to bear than anything we feel on our own behalf.”

I read The City of Tears by Kate Mosse for two reasons. The first because I love her writing and the second because it fulfilled a criteria on my first reading challenge of 2021 which can be found here https://fictionvixenreads.com/2021/04/21/first-reading-challenge-of-2021/, which was read the next book in a series.

The City of Tears is the second instalment in the five-book The Burning Chambers series and continues this enthralling historical fiction saga that explores the history of Huguenot refugees in Europe. It’s ten years after the events in the first book and many things have changed. It’s August, 1572, and Minou Joubert (aka Marguerite Reydon-Joubert, Châtelaine of Puiver) is now married to Piet Reydon, a Huguenot soldier and they have two children – seven year old Marta and toddler Jean-Jacques. The pair leave behind the serenity of Puivert in Languedoc and travel to Paris to celebrate the royal wedding of Charles IX’s sister, Catholic Marguerite de Valois, and Protestant Henry III of Navarre, the first Bourbon King of France, with the marriage intended to bring peace to France after a decade of the brutal and bloody religious wars, to unite the divided country. However, once there they become aware that Piet’s childhood friend turned enemy Vidal, who is now a Catholic cardinal is also in the city. Alongside the Duke of Guise and other renegade Catholics, Vidal is planning to strike when important Huguenot’s are in town to witness the wedding. But the violence spreads into what is now known as the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre in which thousands of Protestant Huguenots were slaughtered in the streets on the orders of the French king. In the chaos and desperation to escape Paris, young Marta disappears. In exile from France, they establish a new life in Amsterdam, but not knowing their daughters fate begins to impact their marriage considerably.

I loved the character portrayal by the author especially of Minou, Piet, and Cardinal Valentin. Minou is a wife,mother and a strong woman who stands up for her beliefs. Piet is a central character to a transition of power from Catholic to Protestant in Amsterdam. The cardinal, a religious person of vile character is hungry for religious relics and relentless in his pursuit for them.

It’s breathtakingly written and the backstories of the characters are given more depth as the narrative continues. Kate Mosse brings to life the terrors and perils of the times with trauma and tragedy present at every turn. Filled to the brim with drama, danger, thrills, emotion, action and much more, I cannot recommend The City of Tears highly enough.

The City of Tears is a well researched, intricate novel that compelled me to keep reading late in to the night. In my opinion it is better than the first installment and the cliffhanger at the end of the book left me frustrated and shouting out loud simply because I know I have to wait to find out the outcome. it is a 5 star read, if I could i would award it more stars I loved it from cover to cover.