Why a Booktrail?
1608 onwards: Richelieu’s France is a dark and dangerous place to be
The Cardinal’s Man
What you need to know before your trail
With enemies advancing on all sides and Cardinal Richelieu’s health failing, France is at breaking point. Yet salvation may arrive in the most unlikely form…
Born into poverty and with terrible deformities, Sebastian Morra is a dwarf with the wit of Tyrion Lannister and three foot, four inches of brazen pluck. Through a mixture of brains and luck, he has travelled far from his village to become a jester at the royal court. And with a talent for making enemies, he is soon drawn into the twilight world of Cardinal Richelieu, where he discovers he might just be theonly man with the talents to save France from her deadliest foes.
Travel Guide
Paris
The Paris of Richelieu was of course very different to that of today.
“Over time, he came to learn the city. The great arteries that quartered it, each named after its saint: Denis, Martin, Jacques and Antoine. The crammed Marais and Notre Dame which lay at its heart , along with a number of the muddy, nameless trails in-between.”
The city is suffering from the high taxes that Richelieu is imposing on the city, to pay for the wars with Spain and elsewhere. Life in the city is becoming harder and hungrier and it’s clear in the novel that some of the people who once lived in this city are now lying on its streets in utter despair.
The Palais Royal
“Inside the palace seemed even larger, an endless sequences of huge and pillared chambers floored with marble and roofed in gold; its cathedral proportions possessing a serenity which seemed unnatural after the bustle of the streets outside.”
This is the grand palace where Sebastien in the novel meets the king and where he realises what the world in this gilded cage is really like compared to the scenes of poverty outside. This is opulence beyond his wildest dreams – tapestries, painted landscapes, jewelled fabrics, Roman busts.
Streetview Maps
B) Paris - Pont Neuf
C) Paris - Palais Royal
Booktrailer Review
Susan @thebooktrailer
What a fascinating read. I love historical novels but this was like being dipped into the historical pot, imbued in dirt, grime and then placed on a barge up the Seine to meet the King of France and then draped with wealth before being threatened with death. This is of course the journey of at least one of the characters and the way the writing draws you in to each and every event is exciting. The reader is definitely a part of this novel and almost a character in themselves.
I love France, french things and have been to the places in the novel but I still felt that I learned a lot. It’s not a period of history that I’m very familiar with but it’s excited me enough to want to go back and spend longer in those museums, find out more about that statue I passed on my way to work etc. The writing is sharp, the plot exciting and it’s a swash buckling, historically fascinating story of struggle, wealth and hidden intrigue. What ever your thought of history, historical novels etc, this is recommended as this is how interesting your history lessons at school should have been.
Very impressive to make such a complicated part of history a very enjoyable and easy read. Will definitely be wanting more from this writer
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Cardinal’s Man
Destination: Paris Author/Guide: M. G. Sinclair Departure Time: 1608 onwards
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