Synopsis (from book cover):

Summer, 1942.  A spirited and courageous young woman, Sandrine, finds herself drawn into the world of the Resistance in Carcassonne under German Occupation.  Her network –  codenamed ‘Citadel’ – is made up of ordinary women who risk everything to fight the sinister battles raging in the shadows around them.  as the war reaches its violent and bloody conclusion, Sandrine’s fate is tied up with that of three very different men.  But who is the real enemy?  Who is the real threat?  And who is the true guardian of the ancient secrets that for generations have drawn people to the foothills of the Pyrenean mountains?

This is the story of  ’Citadel’ – an epic tale of passion, loyalty, courage and betrayal.

Review:

This is the third and final book in Kate Mosse’s Languedoc trilogy, the previous two books being Labyrinth and Sepulchre.  Labyrinth was set in the walled city of Carcassone, Sepulchre was set in Rennes les Bains and Citadel is set in the Bastide, the city just outside the walled city of Carcassonne.

I found the setting particularly enjoyable, having visited the places on my holiday to France last year. For me the book was a page turner.  It crosses two time lines, the period of world war two and the much earlier period of AD 342.

Like the first two books in the series, the two time lines eventually connect together.  The descriptive writing takes the reader back to what it must have been like during the war time occupation.  It tells of the resistance and in particular the role of women in that movement.  I won’t say any more, I don’t want to spoil the plot for anyone who has a desire to read the book.

Although the trilogy is complete I hope that Kate writes another novel based in the Midi area of France.  I thoroughly recommend the series and now feel the urge to read them from the beginning again.  Now where did I put Labyrinth…

  • You can read my review on Sepulchre here.

8 Comments CherryPie on Mar 2nd 2013

8 Responses to “Citadel by Kate Mosse”

  1. ....peter:) says:

    I found your description of the Citadel very informative Cherie… it brings back the days when i hade to write book reports in school… i wish now that i had your help with a few of them… wonderful work….peter:)

  2. Claude says:

    I’ve always been very interested in stories of the French Resistance in WW2. Thanks for your description. I’ll put the book on my reading list. I also very much enjoyed your photos of that region during your Holiday in France.

  3. james higham says:

    A spirited and courageous young woman, Sandrine

    Are all female heroines of the type? :)

    And is this THE Kate Mosse?

    • CherryPie says:

      No I don’t think so… all the female characters in the book were very different. They were all heroines in different ways as were their male counterparts heroes.

      That depends on exactly which Kate Mosse you are thinking about.

  4. Claude says:

    Thank you very much for the extra links, Cherie.