One of my favourite book/drama genres is history, be it European or Asian. I have always been fascinated by the life of Catherine de Medici, having read about her decades ago. What was it like, an Italian merchant’s daughter married to (at the time of her marriage) the 2nd son of the French King, Francis I. She was sent to the French court at the age of 14 and her marriage was arranged by the Pope, Clement VII.

What I remembered most about this historical figure was the fact that she had to share her husband who became King Henry II with his mistress, the much older Diane de Poitiers. In “The Serpent Queen”, Catherine who is now widowed, tells her story to a servant girl who was known as “It”. Catherine promotes the servant girl to be her personal companion, saving her from the bullying in the servants’ quarters.

In this drama, Catherine is shown as an intelligent woman. She did fall in love with her husband and only bore children many years into the marriage. Unfortunately, King Henry II was never in love with her and only performed his conjugal duties out of obligation. The one he truly loved was the favoured Diane de Poitiers who had much influence on the King’s political decisions.

There’s a lot of fighting for power and wealth among the court nobles, particularly the Guise and Bourbon families. They don’t respect Catherine even when she is appointed Regent, this is when Henry II sets off to war with the Holy Roman Emperor. She did a good job as Regent but even after all that, Henry II cannot love her as his affections are all reserved for Diane who receives the fabulous fairy-tale looking Chateau de Chenonceau.