France in the 16th century - the religious war between Catholics and Huguenots is raging. The Christians of both parties are happily slaughtering each other: after all, it is so hard to put up with the other's faith. Still in the small world of Mespech Castle in Périgord, the young Pierre de Siorac senses the rift that runs through the country. His father, the baron, is a follower of the Reformed religion and forces the children and the servants to convert as well. The mother remains a papist, a never-ending source of conflict. And yet, for Pierre, the castle is the place where he feels safe. Here he learns to fence, to ride, to love and to develop the talents that he will one day - in the following volumes of the novel series - lend to the good King Henri Quatre.
"Fortune de France" - Destiny of France - is an entertaining and also precisely researched historical novel, "... and if I gathered the historical background information on my own, it was not out of Huguenot parsimony, but because it gave me great pleasure and I did not want to miss any of the many amusing, colourful, horrible or piquant details of which the memoirs of the period are overflowing." (Robert Merle)
