What do you think?
Rate this book
Catherine #1
Krásna Catherine 1
V prvom dieli rozsiahleho sedemzväzkového cyklu známej francúzskej autorky historických románov Juliette Benzoniovej sa zoznamujeme s ústrednou postavou, krásnou Catherine Legoixovou, ktorej osudy na pozadí historických skutočností z dejín Francúzska upútali už milióny čitateľov v mnohých krajinách sveta.
Catherinne už ako trinásťročná stala sa svedkom vyčíňania vzbúrencov a smrti mldého Michela de Montsalvy. Vo výre občianskej vojny sa stretáva neskôr s rytierom Arnaudom de Montsalvy a zaľúbi sa doňho hlbokou, osudovou láskou.
Nezabudnuteľné sú opisy vzbúreného Paríža na začiatku 15.storočia a rovnako i zápas hrdinky o naplnenie jej nesmiernej vášne.
Krajina krváca, hlavná hrdinka spozná biedu i utrpenie, ale i nádheru a veľkosť citov. Navyše sa okolohrdinky roja záhadné postavy.
Získa si dievčina od Seiny lásku najmocnejšieho človeka, kráľa?
Catherinne už ako trinásťročná stala sa svedkom vyčíňania vzbúrencov a smrti mldého Michela de Montsalvy. Vo výre občianskej vojny sa stretáva neskôr s rytierom Arnaudom de Montsalvy a zaľúbi sa doňho hlbokou, osudovou láskou.
Nezabudnuteľné sú opisy vzbúreného Paríža na začiatku 15.storočia a rovnako i zápas hrdinky o naplnenie jej nesmiernej vášne.
Krajina krváca, hlavná hrdinka spozná biedu i utrpenie, ale i nádheru a veľkosť citov. Navyše sa okolohrdinky roja záhadné postavy.
Získa si dievčina od Seiny lásku najmocnejšieho človeka, kráľa?
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1963
29 people are currently reading
495 people want to read
About the author
Juliette Benzoni
304 books153 followersJuliette Benzoni, (Andrée-Marguerite-Juliette) was a French author and international bestseller in several genres, including historical romance, historical fiction, mystery and screenwriting. Named by the Media as the « Queen of History Novels » and « Daughter of Alexander Dumas».
Born 1920 in Paris and growing up in an upper-middle-class family. At the age of nine, she discovered her passion for history while looking at a photo of ‘Joan of Arc’. Benzoni studied at the Institut Catholique de Paris’, philosophy, law and literature. At the age of fifteen, her parents moved to Saint-Mandé where she lived until her death.
In 1941, she married a doctor from Dijon, and was soon mother of two children. During that period, she studied at the libraries of Dijon the History of the Dukes of Burgundy, where she stumbled on the Legend of the Order of the Golden Fleece, which would later inspire her for her Catherine series.
In 1950, her husband died and she went to Morocco, visiting relatives of her late husband and joined the editorial staff at a radio station and met her future husband, Colonel Count André Benzoni di Conza. They married in 1953, but because of the unstable political situation, she returned to Paris, while her husband was to join the 6th Regiment of Moroccan Spahis in Hué.
Back in Paris, she launched into journalism and worked for various Newspapers, Magazines and wrote for ‘Confidences’ historical articles and interviewed celebrities such as Jean Cocteau, Jean Marais, Erich von Stroheim and Maurice Chevalier.
In 1959, Gérald Gauthier, director of the Press Agency at Opéra Mundi, watched her in a popular television Quiz show and impressed by her historical knowledge about the Italian Renaissance asked her if she were able to write a historical romance series
in the style of Anne Golon's ‘Angélique’.
Benzoni affirmed, remembering her fascination for the ‘Order of the Golden Fleece’. Her research for that soon-to-become Bestseller took up three years and in 1963, 'Catherine, Il suffit d’un amour’ was published. The success was enormous and there followed in 1965, a Song called ‘Catherine, ma mie’ composed by Paul Amar, text by Juliette Benzoni.
The Catherine series was translated into 26 languages. Benzoni's Works includes: 3 Single Novels, 17 series, 18 self-contained short stories; 55 million Readers and 300 million books sold Worldwide. She was a huge fan of the books by Agatha Christie, Anne Perry and Ken Follet. In 1978 she received from the White House a letter by President ‘Ronald Reagan’ for the way she described in her Novel ‘The Lure of the Falcon’ the Independence War!
Four of her Bestsellers the ‘Catherine, Marianne, Le Gerfaut and La Florentine’ series were filmed for French television, for which she wrote the Screenplay, together with Jean Chatenet. Although her later works were not widely translated, in 1984, she was one of the top ten female French writers whose works were translated into English. Two weeks before her death in 2016, her last book ‘Le Vol du Sancy: Des carats pour Ava’? was published. It was the 15th adventure of her favourite hero Prince Aldo Morosini, a mystery series.
Her Awards and Honours:
1973 the Alexandre Dumas Prix, for the Catherine and Marianne series.
1988, the Prix Littéraire « Louis Barthou » Silver Medal from the Académie Française for Felicia au soleil couchant.
1998, the Chevalier of the National Order of Merit Medal, by Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.
Born 1920 in Paris and growing up in an upper-middle-class family. At the age of nine, she discovered her passion for history while looking at a photo of ‘Joan of Arc’. Benzoni studied at the Institut Catholique de Paris’, philosophy, law and literature. At the age of fifteen, her parents moved to Saint-Mandé where she lived until her death.
In 1941, she married a doctor from Dijon, and was soon mother of two children. During that period, she studied at the libraries of Dijon the History of the Dukes of Burgundy, where she stumbled on the Legend of the Order of the Golden Fleece, which would later inspire her for her Catherine series.
In 1950, her husband died and she went to Morocco, visiting relatives of her late husband and joined the editorial staff at a radio station and met her future husband, Colonel Count André Benzoni di Conza. They married in 1953, but because of the unstable political situation, she returned to Paris, while her husband was to join the 6th Regiment of Moroccan Spahis in Hué.
Back in Paris, she launched into journalism and worked for various Newspapers, Magazines and wrote for ‘Confidences’ historical articles and interviewed celebrities such as Jean Cocteau, Jean Marais, Erich von Stroheim and Maurice Chevalier.
In 1959, Gérald Gauthier, director of the Press Agency at Opéra Mundi, watched her in a popular television Quiz show and impressed by her historical knowledge about the Italian Renaissance asked her if she were able to write a historical romance series
in the style of Anne Golon's ‘Angélique’.
Benzoni affirmed, remembering her fascination for the ‘Order of the Golden Fleece’. Her research for that soon-to-become Bestseller took up three years and in 1963, 'Catherine, Il suffit d’un amour’ was published. The success was enormous and there followed in 1965, a Song called ‘Catherine, ma mie’ composed by Paul Amar, text by Juliette Benzoni.
The Catherine series was translated into 26 languages. Benzoni's Works includes: 3 Single Novels, 17 series, 18 self-contained short stories; 55 million Readers and 300 million books sold Worldwide. She was a huge fan of the books by Agatha Christie, Anne Perry and Ken Follet. In 1978 she received from the White House a letter by President ‘Ronald Reagan’ for the way she described in her Novel ‘The Lure of the Falcon’ the Independence War!
Four of her Bestsellers the ‘Catherine, Marianne, Le Gerfaut and La Florentine’ series were filmed for French television, for which she wrote the Screenplay, together with Jean Chatenet. Although her later works were not widely translated, in 1984, she was one of the top ten female French writers whose works were translated into English. Two weeks before her death in 2016, her last book ‘Le Vol du Sancy: Des carats pour Ava’? was published. It was the 15th adventure of her favourite hero Prince Aldo Morosini, a mystery series.
Her Awards and Honours:
1973 the Alexandre Dumas Prix, for the Catherine and Marianne series.
1988, the Prix Littéraire « Louis Barthou » Silver Medal from the Académie Française for Felicia au soleil couchant.
1998, the Chevalier of the National Order of Merit Medal, by Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
April 29, 2013
What should I say... Forty years passed since it was published for the first time in ex-YU... In libraries in Serbia, still one of the most borrowed titles and author... Librarians crying for new edition, Serbian one... publishers deaf...
One of the best ever ever ever ever historical romance, and French one... and the author is still writes and she is more than 90 years old... bestseller author in France for decades... Each title solds about 100.000 copies after first publication... French history and l'amour! What can you ask more?! :)
One of the best ever ever ever ever historical romance, and French one... and the author is still writes and she is more than 90 years old... bestseller author in France for decades... Each title solds about 100.000 copies after first publication... French history and l'amour! What can you ask more?! :)
October 14, 2016
Knjiga je otišla u štampu, biće za sajam :)
August 19, 2017
How could a story with such a great and riveting beginning possibly become a wincing marathon and ultimately end so poorly?
How?!
By now, I'm used to misleadingly brilliant prologues that mask bad or mediocre stories, but, Lord help me, rarely if ever have I been so cross at how a book's plot unfolded. I can't even blame it on unrealistically high expectations, mine were modest at best because I already had read Benzoni's work and knew she was a decent-to-good writer but prone to over-the-top romance plots served with a good amount of melodrama brought in by misunderstandings; plus, her Catherine series is often pitted against and compared to Anne Golon's Angélique series, another saga with which I had similar issues, but that now stand out as rather bloody brilliant in comparison.
So, let's start enumerating the reasons why I'm still tempted to toss this into the rubbish can. But not before the positives first, like the setting: 15th century France, with the Hundred Years War in full swing and the French fighting the English armies, and since it's never enough to kill thy enemy but thou must fight thy neighbour as well, add in the civil strife between the partisans of the two branches of the royal House of Valois, the Armagnacs and the Burgundians, both slaughtering each other in the streets of Paris, where our heroine lives. Catherine Legoix's family aren't partisans of any band, but their neutrality is shattered when the 12-year-old girl witnesses a fight between Armagnacs and Burgundians in which the former are the losers and are condemned to public execution. One of their lot is a young knight, Michel de Montsalvy, whose valour (and striking good looks, of course) captivates Catherine, who then schemes to and succeeds in helping him escape the scaffold to go hide in her house. Unfortunately, things go awry, Michel is found hiding and lynched by a furious mob that also kills Catherine's father, burns her home and sends her, her mother and sister to seek refuge in the countryside.
So far, so good. The Hundred Years War isn't a period many romances are set in, to my knowledge, which is by itself a plus. Besides, the story doesn't even read like a romance but like a good old mainstream historical fiction novel, one of Benzoni's fortes, because she's very good at settings and capturing the essence of a period in general. And thirdly, the prose is unassuming, unpretentious, somewhat modern (although this might be a matter of the translation, because I read other of her books in the original and don't recall her giving off this "modern language" vibe), and easy to read. Finally, the characters are well fleshed out in the prologue, you already get a sense of their personalities and behaviour, something not easy to do in only a prologue chapter or two.
It's once the long prologue is over when things roll downhill and land with a loud crash at the bottom of the slope. When we next meet Catherine, she is in her 20s already, and from a rather unremarkable child whose only asset was her beautiful hair, she's grown into the stereotypical perfect beauty with violet eyes (Groan... not that eye colour again!), who likes girly girl stuff, works helping her wealthy cloth merchant uncle, and dreams of girly girl ambitions, namely have beautiful dresses made of rich and costly cloth and find true love. But Catherine's true love isn't some vague not-yet-introduced hunk on a horse; it's a dead man. Happens that the girl had fallen so badly for the young knight she'd saved that she thinks she'll never ever, not in a thousand years, love anyone again. She'll die a maiden, and faithful to the murdered knight's memory, naturally. What? You don't believe that's possible?
Oh, of course it's not possible! Our girl soon manages to catch the eye of the biggest womaniser in France when her feisty self causes a disturbance at a religious procession. Said womaniser turns out to be the young Duke of Burgundy, Philippe de Valois, a.k.a. Philippe le Bon (who I'm guessing was nicknamed "the Good" for things other than his performance between the sheets, but who knows!), who becomes determined to make her his mistress. Trouble is, there's her chastity promise made to a ghost and, if that's not bad enough, Montsalvy had been condemned to death by Philippe's dad, the former Duke Jean Sans Peur.
And then, soon enters the third wheel, Arnaud de Montsalvy, brother to Michel and a confirmed fool of a Took. He's found half-dead by Catherine's party on their way back home from the procession, is brought to an inn to be cured by the most farcical Muslim doctor I've had the pleasure to be entertained by in fiction, the good Abou al-Khair, who makes up in comic relief for what he lacks in depth. Once the fool of a Took is patched up and healed, love blossoms and it's all sighs and rainbows. No, not love. Lust at first sight is more like it.
And there, ladies and gentlemen, is where the novel stops being a good story and turns into a telenovela that'd put the Latin American telenovelas to shame. Catherine loses her heart and her brains to Arnaud, and why? Because he looks e-x-a-c-t-l-y like Michel, but expanded and improved: taller, more muscled and much handsomer. Can you believe that's all it takes to convince this girl that she's found the love of her life and that both are Fated to be together? No joke, that's what happens.
But, whilst they're in the process of happily ripping each other's clothes to shreds for reproductive purposes, the good knight finds out the girl's name is Legoix and everything changes. No joke! He was so sure she was the love of his life, was ready to bed her and all that, without even knowing what her name was! And now that he does, he hates her, calls her a whore and kicks her out of the room, a room SHE is paying for. Why? Because he is under the mistaken impression that the killers of Michel were the Legoix family (one of Catherine's relatives participated in the lynching) and has sworn vengeance on them. The girl is too proud to disabuse him, and despite his hate for her, contempt for her and his name-calling, she still thinks he's the love of her life.
Dear old gods...
Fortunately, he disappears from the story until the last part. But don't think the novel improves because of that. Not at all. Remember Duke Philippe? He still plans to make her his mistress, but a royal duke can't just bed a commoner, so he marries her off to one of his noblemen, Garin de Brazey, a mature Councillor with just one eye and a very interesting personality. Predictably, the girl tries to alternately keep herself "pure" for her idiot of a knight and to seduce de Brazey so the Duke can't claim her maidenhead; all of which only results in misery for poor Garin, who seems to genuinely love her and has to suffer her caprices. And to complicate things more, Arnaud reappears in a very unexpected circumstance I won't spoil, and Catherine immediately forgets she was planning to bed her husband to rush to Arnaud's arms. Again they're interrupted on the brink of sinning by Jean of Luxembourg, one of Philippe's retainers, who comes to arrest Arnaud for supposed treason. Can you guess what happens? Arnaud immediately decides she was sent as a seductress to distract him for long enough to have him arrested, and calls her a whore again. Oh, and he again calls her a whore next day when she "mistakenly" is retained at Philippe's bedchamber.
So, tell me again: Why exactly does Catherine pine so much and so fiercely for this man who always assumes the worst about her and slut-shames her at every turn? Why does she decide to alternately be with Philippe, then with Garin, whenever Arnaud is away, as if he doesn't exist, only to forget everything to run to Arnaud's arms every time he comes back? If that's not the very definition of clingy, needy, inconsistent and stupid, I don't know what it could possibly be.
Anyway, I'm giving this 3 stars merely for these reasons: 1. the nice Prologue, with the set-up and ambiance, 2. the characterisation of Philippe de Valois, 3. Garin de Brazey, and 4. the historical "feel" of the story throughout, because for once the period isn't wallpaper decoration here. Besides that, there's nothing else to recommend this novel for, certainly not the heroine nor the hero, and much less the "romance."
How?!
By now, I'm used to misleadingly brilliant prologues that mask bad or mediocre stories, but, Lord help me, rarely if ever have I been so cross at how a book's plot unfolded. I can't even blame it on unrealistically high expectations, mine were modest at best because I already had read Benzoni's work and knew she was a decent-to-good writer but prone to over-the-top romance plots served with a good amount of melodrama brought in by misunderstandings; plus, her Catherine series is often pitted against and compared to Anne Golon's Angélique series, another saga with which I had similar issues, but that now stand out as rather bloody brilliant in comparison.
So, let's start enumerating the reasons why I'm still tempted to toss this into the rubbish can. But not before the positives first, like the setting: 15th century France, with the Hundred Years War in full swing and the French fighting the English armies, and since it's never enough to kill thy enemy but thou must fight thy neighbour as well, add in the civil strife between the partisans of the two branches of the royal House of Valois, the Armagnacs and the Burgundians, both slaughtering each other in the streets of Paris, where our heroine lives. Catherine Legoix's family aren't partisans of any band, but their neutrality is shattered when the 12-year-old girl witnesses a fight between Armagnacs and Burgundians in which the former are the losers and are condemned to public execution. One of their lot is a young knight, Michel de Montsalvy, whose valour (and striking good looks, of course) captivates Catherine, who then schemes to and succeeds in helping him escape the scaffold to go hide in her house. Unfortunately, things go awry, Michel is found hiding and lynched by a furious mob that also kills Catherine's father, burns her home and sends her, her mother and sister to seek refuge in the countryside.
So far, so good. The Hundred Years War isn't a period many romances are set in, to my knowledge, which is by itself a plus. Besides, the story doesn't even read like a romance but like a good old mainstream historical fiction novel, one of Benzoni's fortes, because she's very good at settings and capturing the essence of a period in general. And thirdly, the prose is unassuming, unpretentious, somewhat modern (although this might be a matter of the translation, because I read other of her books in the original and don't recall her giving off this "modern language" vibe), and easy to read. Finally, the characters are well fleshed out in the prologue, you already get a sense of their personalities and behaviour, something not easy to do in only a prologue chapter or two.
It's once the long prologue is over when things roll downhill and land with a loud crash at the bottom of the slope. When we next meet Catherine, she is in her 20s already, and from a rather unremarkable child whose only asset was her beautiful hair, she's grown into the stereotypical perfect beauty with violet eyes (Groan... not that eye colour again!), who likes girly girl stuff, works helping her wealthy cloth merchant uncle, and dreams of girly girl ambitions, namely have beautiful dresses made of rich and costly cloth and find true love. But Catherine's true love isn't some vague not-yet-introduced hunk on a horse; it's a dead man. Happens that the girl had fallen so badly for the young knight she'd saved that she thinks she'll never ever, not in a thousand years, love anyone again. She'll die a maiden, and faithful to the murdered knight's memory, naturally. What? You don't believe that's possible?
Oh, of course it's not possible! Our girl soon manages to catch the eye of the biggest womaniser in France when her feisty self causes a disturbance at a religious procession. Said womaniser turns out to be the young Duke of Burgundy, Philippe de Valois, a.k.a. Philippe le Bon (who I'm guessing was nicknamed "the Good" for things other than his performance between the sheets, but who knows!), who becomes determined to make her his mistress. Trouble is, there's her chastity promise made to a ghost and, if that's not bad enough, Montsalvy had been condemned to death by Philippe's dad, the former Duke Jean Sans Peur.
And then, soon enters the third wheel, Arnaud de Montsalvy, brother to Michel and a confirmed fool of a Took. He's found half-dead by Catherine's party on their way back home from the procession, is brought to an inn to be cured by the most farcical Muslim doctor I've had the pleasure to be entertained by in fiction, the good Abou al-Khair, who makes up in comic relief for what he lacks in depth. Once the fool of a Took is patched up and healed, love blossoms and it's all sighs and rainbows. No, not love. Lust at first sight is more like it.
And there, ladies and gentlemen, is where the novel stops being a good story and turns into a telenovela that'd put the Latin American telenovelas to shame. Catherine loses her heart and her brains to Arnaud, and why? Because he looks e-x-a-c-t-l-y like Michel, but expanded and improved: taller, more muscled and much handsomer. Can you believe that's all it takes to convince this girl that she's found the love of her life and that both are Fated to be together? No joke, that's what happens.
But, whilst they're in the process of happily ripping each other's clothes to shreds for reproductive purposes, the good knight finds out the girl's name is Legoix and everything changes. No joke! He was so sure she was the love of his life, was ready to bed her and all that, without even knowing what her name was! And now that he does, he hates her, calls her a whore and kicks her out of the room, a room SHE is paying for. Why? Because he is under the mistaken impression that the killers of Michel were the Legoix family (one of Catherine's relatives participated in the lynching) and has sworn vengeance on them. The girl is too proud to disabuse him, and despite his hate for her, contempt for her and his name-calling, she still thinks he's the love of her life.
Dear old gods...
Fortunately, he disappears from the story until the last part. But don't think the novel improves because of that. Not at all. Remember Duke Philippe? He still plans to make her his mistress, but a royal duke can't just bed a commoner, so he marries her off to one of his noblemen, Garin de Brazey, a mature Councillor with just one eye and a very interesting personality. Predictably, the girl tries to alternately keep herself "pure" for her idiot of a knight and to seduce de Brazey so the Duke can't claim her maidenhead; all of which only results in misery for poor Garin, who seems to genuinely love her and has to suffer her caprices. And to complicate things more, Arnaud reappears in a very unexpected circumstance I won't spoil, and Catherine immediately forgets she was planning to bed her husband to rush to Arnaud's arms. Again they're interrupted on the brink of sinning by Jean of Luxembourg, one of Philippe's retainers, who comes to arrest Arnaud for supposed treason. Can you guess what happens? Arnaud immediately decides she was sent as a seductress to distract him for long enough to have him arrested, and calls her a whore again. Oh, and he again calls her a whore next day when she "mistakenly" is retained at Philippe's bedchamber.
So, tell me again: Why exactly does Catherine pine so much and so fiercely for this man who always assumes the worst about her and slut-shames her at every turn? Why does she decide to alternately be with Philippe, then with Garin, whenever Arnaud is away, as if he doesn't exist, only to forget everything to run to Arnaud's arms every time he comes back? If that's not the very definition of clingy, needy, inconsistent and stupid, I don't know what it could possibly be.
Anyway, I'm giving this 3 stars merely for these reasons: 1. the nice Prologue, with the set-up and ambiance, 2. the characterisation of Philippe de Valois, 3. Garin de Brazey, and 4. the historical "feel" of the story throughout, because for once the period isn't wallpaper decoration here. Besides that, there's nothing else to recommend this novel for, certainly not the heroine nor the hero, and much less the "romance."
June 29, 2020
During the 1960s and 1970s, these historical novel series (particularly those from France) were absolute reading rites-of-passage for many pre-teens and young adults - and although Benzoni’s heroine never quite eclipses Anne and Serge Golon’s enchanting Angelique and her series of far-flung escapades, there’s still plenty to enjoy in the first of the Catherine series.
The period of the Hundred Years War is well-researched and written - so much so that you can almost forgive the (now) overtly purple prose of the love scenes and several of the unlikely plot turns employed by the author throughout the novel.
The period of the Hundred Years War is well-researched and written - so much so that you can almost forgive the (now) overtly purple prose of the love scenes and several of the unlikely plot turns employed by the author throughout the novel.
October 13, 2012
This was the first romance novel I ever read --- and it do impressed me that it started me on the long path of being a lover of historical romance novels.
June 20, 2016
Ce livre je l'ai lu au moins cinq fois. Il ne faillit jamais à m'émouvoir. Jamais. Les personnages sont si bien construits qu'on s'attache tout de suite à eux. Le drame et la romance s'entrechoquent dans une violence mesurée. Et le style de l'autrice est juste irrésistible.
January 18, 2013
This book is absolutely AMAZING. The historic background is brilliant written, medieval customs are described with precision and the action is full of unexpected twists. I am in love with this book and plan to read a whole series!
June 11, 2013
I just found a couple of books of this series by only 1,5 Euros at www.bobliopolis.be
This is first book in the Catherine series and this series is the beginning of the "roman historiques" written by this author, in 1964.
This is the story of Catherine Legoix who fails in love the nobleman Arnaud de Montsalvy but she is obliged to become the wife of the great financier of the Duke - Philippe le Bon, Duke of Bourgogne.
Even if in the beginning the main character has a more juvenile than a grown woman, the story flows quite easily.
The historical background is the Hundred Years War.
This is first book in the Catherine series and this series is the beginning of the "roman historiques" written by this author, in 1964.
This is the story of Catherine Legoix who fails in love the nobleman Arnaud de Montsalvy but she is obliged to become the wife of the great financier of the Duke - Philippe le Bon, Duke of Bourgogne.
Even if in the beginning the main character has a more juvenile than a grown woman, the story flows quite easily.
The historical background is the Hundred Years War.
August 29, 2017
Je to niečo ako Angelika :). Bolo to skvelé, ale treba mať pri čítaní pevné nervy. Hlavným zaľúbencom osud nepraje a v niektorých situáciách to už ozaj snáď ani nie je možné, aké hlúpe náhody a okolnosti im prídu do cesty.
September 15, 2014
Catherine started out with interesting characters and a compelling premise. After the first 1/4 of the book it fell into the banality and redundancy that characterizes the romance novel. Juliette Benzoni is a writer who does her research. This is why I continued to read this book, I felt promise in opening. However, the story just didn't have any life to it. Anything that made it more than a romance novel. Perhaps it's my fault for wanting more than that. When I heard if Benzoni first it was in comparison to Serge and Anne Golon's Angelique series. Now THAT is a fabulous series. Great characters, compelling story, wonderfully accurate research and historical reference. Catherine is a simple romance novel. Catherine herself never quite eclipses her role as romance heroine as Angelique does. There were moments when I felt the story could've been interesting, but the writer spent too an entire book 'setting up' her series. That's how it felt at least. Catherine doesn't seem like a complete book but rather a jumping off point for the beautiful Catherine and the handsome Arnaud to start their star crossed lovers future. There were many loose ends left and the writer tended towards the cartoonish at times, or at least the two dimensional. Too bad. There was some promise at times but it fell way short in the end. I highly recommend the Angelique series to anyone looking for a great female character in this vein but leagues better.
July 3, 2019
As a historical action/adventure saga, the Catherine series is splendid! It's truly exciting, thrilling, 'lose sleep over it because you just can't put it down' stuff. The romance plot, on the other hand... :/ Jesus Christ, Catherine, literally *anyone* would be better! ...okay, maybe not quite anyone as this series is chock-full of despicable men, many worse than Arnaud. It's quite an accomplishment on Arnaud's part, though, that he managed to inspire such bitter loathing in 15-year-old me (who was a) a romantic, b) as 'unwoke' as you could be regarding the issues of feminism, and c) pretty used to rapey abusive "heroes"). And as much as I liked Catherine herself, her obsession with Arnaud (based entirely on his looks and ) brought her potential down considerably and made the series hard to read at times. Despite this, I still rate it highly, partly out of nostalgia, and partly because, if you discount everything Arnaud-related (which is admittedly hard, because he becomes Catherine's main motivation pretty much as soon as she meets him), these books are so much fun!
October 23, 2013
Une extraordinaire saga romantico-historique.
November 11, 2016
I really enjoyed the first part of this book, when Catherine was still young and lived in Paris. She was described as an adventurous girl with a strong character, which I loved. Also I found the uncommon setting -France during the hundred Years war- really interesting. While reading this first part I thought I was reading a well written historic novel and I’m a fan of those.
My problem with this book was, that it got worse and worse. Catherine grows to be the prettiest girl you could ever imagine. OF COURSE. That was so disappointing, I was really excited when I read, that as a child she wasn’t particularly good looking. I just hoped, that she wouldn’t be the typical beauty, loved by everyone. I hoped, she would grow a strong, independent woman, who gets known for what she does and not for how she looks. (Of course I didn’t know at that time, that the French title of one of these books was “Belle Catherine” otherwise I would’ve guessed that part..)
Sadly, this is only a melodramatic romance. In the end it was definitely an OK book, it was just a bit lengthy and ultra-cheesy in the middle.
BUT If you already read this, and weren’t toooo disappointed, I can only suggest reading the second book, I promise, it gets (a tad) better!
My problem with this book was, that it got worse and worse. Catherine grows to be the prettiest girl you could ever imagine. OF COURSE. That was so disappointing, I was really excited when I read, that as a child she wasn’t particularly good looking. I just hoped, that she wouldn’t be the typical beauty, loved by everyone. I hoped, she would grow a strong, independent woman, who gets known for what she does and not for how she looks. (Of course I didn’t know at that time, that the French title of one of these books was “Belle Catherine” otherwise I would’ve guessed that part..)
Sadly, this is only a melodramatic romance. In the end it was definitely an OK book, it was just a bit lengthy and ultra-cheesy in the middle.
BUT If you already read this, and weren’t toooo disappointed, I can only suggest reading the second book, I promise, it gets (a tad) better!
December 24, 2013
اين كتابو يه سالي كه رفته بودم نمايشگاه، وقتي با بابام تو آخرين دور گشتنم تو ناشران عمومي بودم پيداش كردم، چقدر هم خوشحالم ازين اتفاق
بدون شك از عاشقانهترين كتابهايي هس كه خوندم
تو متن كتاب از حوادث تاريخي مثل مرگ ژاندارك و شورش قصابهاي پاريسي هم استفاده شده، كه به نظر من تاريخ رو كنار يه روايت عاشقانه جذابتر و ملموستر كرده
هرچند با وجود علاقهي زيادي كه بهش دارم، جاهايي هم بود كه از اتفاقات رنج ميبردم، مخصوصن تو صد صفحهي اول كه خيال ميكردم همه چيز چه زود تموم شد... كه البته نشده بود
بدون شك از عاشقانهترين كتابهايي هس كه خوندم
تو متن كتاب از حوادث تاريخي مثل مرگ ژاندارك و شورش قصابهاي پاريسي هم استفاده شده، كه به نظر من تاريخ رو كنار يه روايت عاشقانه جذابتر و ملموستر كرده
هرچند با وجود علاقهي زيادي كه بهش دارم، جاهايي هم بود كه از اتفاقات رنج ميبردم، مخصوصن تو صد صفحهي اول كه خيال ميكردم همه چيز چه زود تموم شد... كه البته نشده بود
October 14, 2016
4,5 ❤️
October 30, 2017
I read it in English.
I think that this was one of the very first historical fiction series that I read, in the mid-70s. They've been out of print in English, hard to find, or not in ebook form for quite a while, but I stumbled across this yesterday. Now I'm very much hoping that the others become available at some point as well.
I've got quibbles with it- it's definitely pre-feminist. And while I do like a good romance, I'm still not so convinced that the "I take one look at you and am willing to sacrifice everything in my life just to be with you" is love...I think that perhaps that might be infatuation :-)
But she does a wonderful job of conveying the historical setting, I liked how even though Catherine was "desperately in love" with someone she "could never have" she still had a healthy sexual appetite, and while the "diverse" characters are fairly stereotypical, it's still one of the first "grown up books" that I read that had diverse characters.
Loads of fun to revisit- I hope that I can get my hands on the others at some point.
I think that this was one of the very first historical fiction series that I read, in the mid-70s. They've been out of print in English, hard to find, or not in ebook form for quite a while, but I stumbled across this yesterday. Now I'm very much hoping that the others become available at some point as well.
I've got quibbles with it- it's definitely pre-feminist. And while I do like a good romance, I'm still not so convinced that the "I take one look at you and am willing to sacrifice everything in my life just to be with you" is love...I think that perhaps that might be infatuation :-)
But she does a wonderful job of conveying the historical setting, I liked how even though Catherine was "desperately in love" with someone she "could never have" she still had a healthy sexual appetite, and while the "diverse" characters are fairly stereotypical, it's still one of the first "grown up books" that I read that had diverse characters.
Loads of fun to revisit- I hope that I can get my hands on the others at some point.
August 16, 2023
Gaman að finna þessa bókaseríu á kindlinum mínum en þegar ég var 16 ára þá horfði ég á alla sjónvarpseríuna um Catherine á frönsku og var sem dáleidd af þessari fögru konu. Ég get ekki sagt að ég sé fyrir ástarsögur og það er smá "cringy" að lesa um hvað Catherine er rosalega falleg að allir karlmenn horfa á eftir henni með losta í augum en konur með afbrýðsemi. Þetta er vel skrifuð og skemmtileg bókasería um fagra konu á 15 öld og hennar ástir og örlög.
July 28, 2017
I am impressed. really, never ever read romance stories, this was my fisrt. i am so glad i ve gotten this book in my hands!!
March 17, 2021
Читала російської; а хотілося б колись прочитати мовою ориніналу:)
November 5, 2021
Good old-fashioned historical romance.
May 19, 2023
Catherine is a young woman in 15th century France in love with one man but forced into a relationship with another. This was recommended to me by a friend but it wasn't really my thing.
August 25, 2023
Très belle écriture, personages intéressantes, l'histoire basée sur le faits historiques. Je trouve quand même certains éventements peu crédibles.
September 1, 2025
14 year old me thought that making bad decisions as a full time hobby in 15th-century France was peak romance
May 6, 2018
une saga écrite pour faire contrepoids à celle de Angélique, les 7 tomes de "Catherine" mettent en scène une jeune femme dans la tourmente des la guerre de cent ans. Belle, fougueuse, amoureuse, Catherine côtoie de nombreux personnages clés de cette période tragique de l'Histoire : Philippe le Bel, Jeanne d'Arc, Gilles de Rais, ... Mais elle abandonne tout pour retrouver son grand amour. Elle affronte de très nombreux dangers (le propre d'une saga), dont elle se relève à chaque fois. Une histoire très bien écrite, de quoi passer de longues heures de lecture (près de 1200 pages pour les 3 premiers tomes), mais j'avoue que le côté "jeune demoiselle en détresse qui se jette systématiquement dans la gueule du loup" est quelque fois exaspérant
May 7, 2016
Catherine on tarina elämää suuremmasta rakkaudesta. Päähenkilö Catherine on kaunotar, jota kaikki miehet himoitsevat, mutta hän rakastaa ainoastaan ritari Arnauldia - jonka Catherine on tavannut vain kerran, eikä ole edes varma vastarakkaudesta. Vaikka kirjassa olisi kaikki mahdolliset ainekset oikein turhauttavaan juonikuvioon, Juliette Benzoni kirjoittaa mukaansatempaavalla tavalla.
Kirja lähtee vaudikkaasti liikkeelle, ja aluksi kaikki nimet ja paikat menivät mielessäni sekaisin. Pian pääsin kärryille ja aloin nauttia lukemisesta. Catherine on täynnä voimakkaita tunteita, draamaa, läheltä piti -tilanteita ja historiallisia yksityiskohtia. Ihanaa!
Kirja lähtee vaudikkaasti liikkeelle, ja aluksi kaikki nimet ja paikat menivät mielessäni sekaisin. Pian pääsin kärryille ja aloin nauttia lukemisesta. Catherine on täynnä voimakkaita tunteita, draamaa, läheltä piti -tilanteita ja historiallisia yksityiskohtia. Ihanaa!
April 14, 2013
Kirjan historiallinen puoli on runsasta ja pullollaan toimivia elementtejä. Jude Deveraux suorastaan kalpenee Benzonin rinnalla, jonka taustatyö ja saavutus historiallisella sekä romanttisella osalla tässä kirjasarjassa on taidokasta! Ympäristön, maneerien ja pukujen kuvailu luo myöhäiskeskiajan Ranskan lukijalle ihastuttavalla varmuudella ja Catherinen seikkailut hovin kierossa maailmassa ja rakkauden okaisella rintamalla on yksinkertaisesti vastustamatonta luettavaa! Tätä ei kannata missata!
Lue koko arvio:
http://lemasquerouge.blogspot.fi/2013...
Lue koko arvio:
http://lemasquerouge.blogspot.fi/2013...
July 21, 2020
This is the book that got me into reading. I couldn’t put it down. I had the one-bound German Edition, very thick and rusty looking and I started and entered into a different world and couldn’t put it down.
As I’m reading it again ca. 25 years later i can’t put it down just the same. It is one of the best books written in my opinion. All I can say is: wow......
As I’m reading it again ca. 25 years later i can’t put it down just the same. It is one of the best books written in my opinion. All I can say is: wow......
April 10, 2016
Tak na toto sa pamätám, jeden z prvých historicko-romantických príbehov, ktoré som čítala a jedna z mála sérií, preložených v časoch post-socialistických. Ako séria to bola Krásna Katarína, Ale bolo to dobré :-).
April 16, 2016
I read this series as a teenager and was thoroughly captivated by the story and the characters. As it was over 40 years ago, I cannot really remember much beyond how desperate I was to read the next one!
December 7, 2013
boring, unfinished
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews