Blood, Fire and Gold: The story of Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici

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While I have read many histories of Elizabeth and Mary, Queen of Scots, - and a few about Catherine Medici - Paranque's book put them into a perspective and relationship that made them much easier to understand. Elizabeth and Catherine were working with a completely different tool set and while we can read all about their lives, the world they lived in, we cannot truly know what it was like to be them. But nothing has been said of their complicated thirty years of friendship, competition and conflict that changed the face of Europe. They had learned their trade the hard way, under the burning sun of North Africa, on the battlefields of El Alamein and Alam el Halfa.

Speaking of Elizabeth and Catherine, Paranque treats her subjects with equal parts criticism and empathy. When the issue of Elizabeth’s marriage came into play, Catherine de Medici entered Elizabeth I’s life, starting a 30- year relationship that began as a friendship but changed into a rivalry in the end.

Even Mary Queen of Scots, who Paranque asserts wasn't actually Elizabeth's ultimate rival, is treated with understanding and sympathy but also never sanctified. Catherine is too often portrayed as a scheming poisoner, but she was a queen who lost her husband and 3 sons while trying to guide France through a tumultuous time of religious unrest.

Although Catherine de Medici got the same amount of time in the book somehow Elizabeth dominates it. It diminishes the authority of the book which is a shame as the author is clearly knowledgeable and passionate and has written an engaging, relatable, absorbing story.Upon ascending the throne, Elizabeth held a strong exchange of letters with the Queen Mother of France throughout her lifetime, revealing a complicated relationship. The author traces Elizabeth and Catherine's difficult childhoods, and both of their efforts to secure power. This also allowed me to learn more about Catherine life and what was going on at the same time in their respective lives.

One a Virgin Queen who ruled her kingdom alone, and the other a clandestine leader who used her children to shape the dynasties of Europe, much has been written about these iconic women. I really enjoyed the juxtaposition of these two monarchs' lives (it was really more like three monarchs because Mary Queen of Scots plays a big role, too). This blending of history and fiction simply confuses new readers and is not the method suggested to achieve such an aim (at least Paranque admits the usage, though).

Catherine de Medici and Elizabeth I had to communicate through ambassadors and letters, which Paranque translated into modern English, making it easier for modern readers to understand. After all, Elizabeth is the first woman who’s name was named after an age- The Elizabethan Age, or the Golden Age for that matter.