Catherine: The Lady of Montsalvy (Catherine # 7)

Catherine’s long quest to be reunited with her jealous, violent husband Arnaud plunges her into her most dangerous adventure yet. On an arduous journey that takes her through Lorraine, Luxembourg and Flanders, before she can finally return to her own domain of Montsalvy, she faces a succession of perilous challenges, including an assassination attempt on an imprisoned king; a harrowing physical ordeal at the hands of a band of brigands; a confrontation with an imposter posing as Joan of Arc; and an encounter with her obsessed former lover, Duke Phillipe of Burgundy. Will her longed-for reconciliation with Arnaud ever come to pass; and what will be the final fate of the Lady of Montsalvy?

Telos Publishing is proud to present the first ever English-language translation of the seventh and final book in Juliette Benzoni’s acclaimed, best-selling series of historical romance novels.

Translated into English by Linda Compagnoni Walther and Stephen James Walker

298pp 6×9-format paperback novel.
ISBN: 978-1-84583-183-7
Published 1 June 2021

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Juliette Benzoni was born Andrée-Marguerite-Juliette Mangin on 30 October 1920 in Paris, France. She spent her childhood in Saint-Germain-des-Pres until she was almost 15 years old, when her family went to live in Saint-Mandé. She was educated at College d’Hulet, then at the Institut Catholique, where she studied philosophy, law and literature. In 1941 she married a doctor from Dijon, Maurice Gallois, and was soon mother of two children, Anne and Jean-François. In her twenties, she spent many hours in libraries, studying the history of Burgundy in Medieval times. One day she came across the legend of the Order of the Golden Fleece, which would later inspire her to write the Catherine series.

After her husband died in 1950, she went to Morocco to visit a relative of his, and ended up staying for two years, joining the editorial staff at a radio station called Radio-International. She then met Colonel André Benzoni, who in 1953 became her second husband. After her return to Paris, France, she launched into journalism, writing for several newspapers. At the beginning of the 1960s, a literary editor who had seen her make a television appearance invited her to write a historical romance in the style of Anne Golon’s Angelique. The outcome was Catherine: One Love is Enough (original title, Catherine, Il Suffit d’un Amour), the hugely successful first entry in what was originally intended to be a five book series.

Next came another big success with the Marianne series, set during the Napoleonic period, beginning with Marianne: A Star for Napoleon (original title, Marianne: Une Étoile Pour Napoléon). Juliette was then asked if she would write two additional Catherine books, due to their sensational popularity. She agreed, and the series’ seventh and final entry, La Dame de Montsalvy, appeared in 1979.

In 1983, the French station Antenne 2 adapted Marianne: A Star for Napoleon for television, directed by Marion Sarraut. This led on three years later to a television adaptation of all seven books in the Catherine series, again directed by Sarraut; the end result pleased Juliette far more than a substandard movie version produced in 1968.

Juliette continued to write up to her death on 7 February 2016.

For more information about Juliette and the Catherine books click on this link to the official website: www.catherinedemontsalvy.ch.

Photo above is © Linda Compagnoni Walther