Afterwards we visited mum in the nearby care home on a day when she was not quite herself.

Much later in the day we dined in the Giggling Squid before visiting Theatre Severn to hear Kate Mosse ‘Unlocking the Secrets of the Labyrinth’. She shared her inspiration for her novel Labyrinth and the subsequent books in the trilogy and the book that didn’t quite fit in with her research.

Kate shared the beauty, history and mystery of Carcassonne and the Languedoc region from the 13th century wars of religion between Catholics and Cathars in south-west France to modern-day Grail legends and conspiracy theories.

The talk brought back fond memories of my visit to Carcassonne.

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.

It’s 1928, Freddie Watson is still grieving for his brother, lost in the Great War.  Driving through the foothills of the French Pyrenees, his car spins off the road in a snowstorm.  Freddie takes refuge in an isolated village and there meets a beautiful, captivating woman.  They spend the night talking of love and loss and war.  But by daybreak, Fabrissa has vanished and Freddie realises he holds the key to an ancient mystery that leads him deep into the mountains, to a cave that has concealed an appalling secret for 700 years…

Review:

I found this book by chance when I was looking for different book to read over the Christmas period.  I am glad I did, it is the perfect time of year for a  Christmas ghost story. The main character Freddie, is well drawn and the reader can feel the hurt and grief that he has been left with since the loss of his brother who declared missing in action during the war.

After a bout of illness a doctor suggests that Freddie tour the castles and ruins of Ariege to recover his shattered nerves.  The descriptions of the Pyrenees transported me there, especially as I had traveled near that area earlier this year.  Freddie starts to hear whispering in the hills and following a car crash this leads him on and unexpected journey and discovery.

I found the book a fun light read with interesting characters and setting.

PS: The book I had intended to read over Christmas turned up today.  It wasn’t where I thought I had left it…

Synopsis (from the book cover):

Set against the tumultuous backdrop of southern France, Sepulchre is the stunning new novel of obsession and revenge from the number one bestselling author of Labyrinth.

OCTOBER 1891:  Seventeen-year-old Leonie Vernier and her brother Anatole abandon the gas-lit streets of Paris for the sanctuary of the Domaine de la Cade, some miles south of the medieval city of Carcassonne.  But, in the ancient woods that surround the isolated country house, Leonie stumbles across a ruined Visigoth sepulchre – and a timeless mystery whose traces are written in blood.  As she peels back the layers of the past, she uncovers the existence of a unique deck of tarot cards that are rumoured to hold the power of life and death.

OCTOBER 2007:  Researching a biography of the composer Claude Debussy in the apparent tranquillity of the Pyrenean foothills.  Meredith Martin also seeks the key to her own complex legacy.  Armed with a haunting piece of piano music and a sepia photograph, she soon becomes immersed in the story of a tragic love, a missing girl, an unquiet soul, and the strange events of one cataclysmic night more than a century ago.

As the Feast of All Saints approaches – when the veil between life and death is at its thinnest – Meredith is drawn inexorably to a secluded forest glade where the secrets of the past are far from buried…

Review:

Recently my Mum lent me Kate’s new book to read so I thought I better read this one first.  Sepulchre had been sitting on my shelf for couple of years in my pile of  ‘to read’ books.  I am glad I picked out the book to read, it was a welcome change from all the non-fiction books I have been reading recently.  Although the story itself is fictional there are themes within the book that relate to history and other interesting subjects that can be researched further in a factual context.  It is the sort of book I think is ideal for a book group because there are lots of areas for exploration and discussion.

An unplanned Tarot reading in the modern time-line leads back to the unique Tarot deck in the medieval time-line.  I found the story quite compelling as it swaps between the two time-lines, eventually drawing them together for the denouement.  The story is set in the region of the Languedoc, the history of which is described in such a way that I feel compelled to visit the area.

In passing the book mentions many topics including : Cathar; Visigoth; Albigensians; Occitan; Bousquet Tarot; Asmodeus; Temple of Solomon; Paul Foster Case; Golden mean, not to mention the mysterious Audric Baillard…

Well worth a read; a chilling story with lots of twists and turns set in a perfect location with lots of teasers for further exploration.