In the Shadow of a Queen

About the Book

The year is 1550. As she watches children at play in a royal park, Catherine, a widow, reminisces about her own childhood at the castle of Amboise as the unlikely playmate of Marguerite of Angoulême, and her younger brother François. Marguerite, Countess of Angoulême, Duchess of Alençon and Queen of Navarre, preceded in death by François I, King of France, is now buried in the land over which she reigned. Catherine, whose adult life as lady-in-waiting had been dedicated to Marguerite, leaves the Castle of Pau and returns to Amboise, where it all began. Excerpts from her diary, her vivid memory of those she knew and her own recollection of historical events or of commonplace moments are the source of the Memoirs that she wrote as a legacy to her children and to those who live after them.

About the Author

Born and reared in Paris, France, Régine Reynolds-Cornell is a former staff member of the United Nations and instructor in the Peace Corps. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, she received her doctorate degree in Sixteenth Century Studies. During her teaching career she published numerous articles and wrote, co-authored or edited more than a dozen books on the Renaissance and the Reformation which were published in both Europe and the United States. Now retired with the title of Emerita Professor, she remains a prolific writer and speaker in the field of Renaissance studies. She is also a Docent at the High Museum of Art of Atlanta and a member of the Board of Governors of the Alliance Française of Atlanta where she teaches Literature as a volunteer. This is her first novel.