"A Poignant and Charming Love Story"

 My Queen, My Love received an overall positive review from Kirkus Reviews. To quote:

Henriette-Marie, the youngest child of King Henri IV of France and his queen, Marie de Médicis, is just 15 when she marries King Charles I of England in 1625—just a month after he assumes the English throne following the death of King James. It’s taken a year of political negotiations with various royals and the Vatican to get a papal dispensation for a union between the Catholic princess and the Anglican king; however, as a Catholic, she’ll never have a coronation...With naïve romantic idealism and a conviction that she’ll eventually convert her husband and offer protection to persecuted Catholics, she sets sail for her new home across the English Channel. Vidal’s expansive tale...offers palace intrigue, international conflict, and personal turmoil. But at its heart, it’s a poignant and often charming love story. The author’s extensive research has resulted in pages that brim with vivid descriptions of all things royal, including wardrobe minutiae, architecture, interior palace décor, and an abundance of servants—some who are devoutly loyal, others decidedly less so. The warmongering Duke of Buckingham, an influential favorite of the king, serves ably as the novel’s villain, as he poses threats to the kingdom as a whole and to the royal marriage in particular. However, the narrative pace slows considerably each time Vidal dwells on the young queen’s repetitious religious devotionals, complete with liturgical passages. It’s also quite challenging to keep track of the names, nicknames, and changing titles of the numerous secondary characters. Nonetheless, a final surprise should leave many readers smiling. A royal tale enlivened by imaginative drama but burdened with excessive religiosity."

The last sentence made me smile since to most people today just about anyone from seventeenth-century France or England would be considered excessively religious and their lives burdened with "excessive religiosity." Henriette would certainly be deemed so, since she was genuinely and markedly devout even among religious people. Her strong faith did not stop her from being fun-loving and affectionate, or from enjoying life. In fact, I would say her love of God imbued everything she did and everything she was, adding to her charm of person, although her enemies liked to portray her as a nagging virago. The review's mention of  the narrative pace being slowed by "repetitious religious devotionals, complete with liturgical passages" made me think, though. "Repetitious" is what religious observance is. We say many of the same prayers every day, go to Mass daily or at least every Sunday, celebrate Christmas every December 25, year in and year out. Similarly, many of us manage households; we have to plan meals, do laundry, vacuum, fetch the mail, feed the cat, drive children to activities, day in and day out. Faith, like life, is played out one monotonous day at a time, as we inch towards eternity. In fact, when it is monotonous we should rejoice in our blessings, that we are not in the middle of a war, or a pandemic, as we now are. The daily, weekly, monthly and yearly rhythm of the Christian life is what builds the foundations of souls, of families, of communities, and of nations. For people with an active spiritual life, the good habits which we call virtues may seem to outsiders to come easily, appearing boring and repetitive. However, habits of prayers and good works are often achieved after great struggles with self, replacing the vices that eat away at our energies and joys. Anyway, I wanted the readers to have a glimpse of Henriette's spiritual life and religious practices which played a huge role in her life and shaped her worldview. As a Daughter of France she was also a Daughter of the Church and a Catholic Queen. It was more than an identity; it was a mission. Her faith defined her in a way that modern, secular people can never fully grasp.

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