You think Game of Thrones was based on the Hollow Crown? Think again. A century before the English War of the Roses, the last French Capetian dynasty revelled in adultery, treachery, revenge and blood.

In 1314, as fire consumed him at the stake, Jacques de Molay, last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, condemned by the will of King Philippe IV, screamed his final curse: that within the year, the king would face the Tribunal of Heaven – and that his dynasty would wither and die.

The story spans across 7 gripping books, written in 20 years, by a member of the Académie française. Only Shakespeare did better with his 8 plays from Richard II to Richard III.

This book was written on commission for the bicentenary of the United States of America, and the 1st centenary of the state of Colorado. The funny part is that it starts … with the creation of Earth!

Then it casts dinosaurs as “inhabitants” around 130 million years ago, before going to the local native Americans. After that waves after waves of newcomers – some settlers, most invaders.

This is about lives of people being in history, making history until the 1970s. An epic story? Yes. But it also conveys its subtext about the dark sides of the human journey.

When you study Henry VIII’s reign, you learn a fateful acronym: DBDDBS (Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived). It certainly should not be the only thing remembered about the six wives of that psychopathic king who inspired Perrault’s tale Bluebeard.

This series goes through the detailed lives of each of Henry’s wives, from their young ages to the very last seconds of their lives. (Literally – not for the faint-hearted!). But it means you can never forget their names: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn,  Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, Catherine Parr. RIP.

BIO: EJ Langlois is a French-born author and screenwriter who weaves together contemporary women’s fiction, urban fantasy, dystopias, and a love of pop culture. Over the years, she has somewhat stubbornly cultivated her Anglophilia, well beyond practising Shakespeare’s language. The combined effects of Brexit, the writing of her movie saga “Three.1” and the 2020 pandemic made her decideto leave Paris, France and move to London, UK. Connect with her on Linkedin, HERE or follow her on instagram, HERE.