This book covers the intertwined lives of three Renaissance royal women, Catherine de Medici, Elisabeth of Valois, and Mary Stuart, as they navigate being sovereigns, regents, and queen mothers in a time when women's power was restricted. This was my first time reading about this era and these women and I felt that Leah Redmond Chang wrote a very clear and compelling narrative, which made me really enjoy this book, and I felt like I really got to know them. Especially the women as mother, Catherine and her daughter Elisabeth's relationship was incredibly tender and relatable. And it was sad that Mary never got to be with her son.
Thank you Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the ARC, this is a book I would be more than happy to buy and add to my growing library of books about women in power.

Excellently written history of 3 royal women and the time they lived through. Author Leah Redmond Chang does a fabulous job portraying the intertwined political and personal lives of Catherine de Medici, her daughter Elisabeth (wife to Philip II of Spain), and Mary Queen of Scots. Of the three, Catherine and Mary were the more fascinating to read about. It was like seeing the two sides of one coin, because while both are queens, they ruled in opposite ways -- Catherine used her head, Mary used her heart.

Redmond has an engaging style and it is clearly evident that she has a passion for the topic. The book is engrossing and informative without being boring (at least not to me lol), and highly recommended reading for all history buffs.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, and the author for this advanced copy, which I voluntarily read and reviewed.

I absolutely love seeing books about women in history, and was very happy to receive Young Queens as an ARC. I was especially eager to read Young Queens because rather than a subject about one famous public figure of the time, Young Queens tells the story of three interconnected women who had-and who left a great deal of influence during the 1500s. I have done quite a bit of reading about Mary, Queen of Scots, but more about her tumultuous time in Scotland and exile in England, not when she was raised in France with the dowager queen, Catherine de Medici.
Young Queens is well researched, and a very interesting read. Catherine de Medici is often vilified, thought to be a a witch or at best involved with witchcraft, even up to today. Young Queens portrays her as a young widow, trying to keep her adopted country stable for her progeny, which she thought was God's will and her responsibility. She reveled in the power it brought, but so did men and they are not viewed in history in the same way as she. Along with tumultuous relationships with her children, Leah Redmond Chang describes her relationship and influence with two other young queens-- Mary, Queen of Scots, and Marie's daughter, Elisabeth of Valois, Mary was raised in the French Court, and ultimately this french influence made reigning as a strong Catholic in Protestant Scotland, especially as a woman, even more difficult. Marie de Medici and Henri II's 14 year old daughter, Elisabeth of Valois, was used as a peace offering to Spain and in the terms of a peace treaty. While apparently happy to be married to the much older King of Spain, Elisabeth miscarried or gave birth almost every year in her marriage, and died at 23 while suffering another miscarriage. I had never heard of Elisabeth of Valois and enjoyed reading about this lesser-known woman.
Leah Redmond Chang's telling of these three women's lives, sacrifices and strengths during a tumultuous time in history, a time rife with misogyny, is really interesting, well researched and well written. Audiobook fans would also like this as an audiobook, that is going to be my second read mode of this fascinating look at these three young queens' lives!

A great history book is one that avoids the easy tropes and cliches of its character. When you start Leah Redmond Chang's Young Queens, the prologue seems to set up a book about 3 women who would do marvelous things in an imperfect world. I must admit, I was initially worried the narrative would paper over the shortcomings of its subjects and not dive too deeply into their flaws and what made the humans with immense power. I now apologize for jumping to my wildly inaccurate prediction.

Chang tells the story of Catherine de' Medici, her daughter Elisabeth de Valois, and Mary Queen of Scots who was also related because of course they were all related back then. It should be noted that Chang spends the vast majority of the book on the three queens on their younger years. Mary's long imprisonment is barely touched upon and Catherine's actions around the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre are almost footnotes. However, I found this to be one of the strength's of the book. Chang is able to spend more time on what most books skip over in the lives of these queens. Along the way, Chang does not shy from praising and criticizing each woman. Catherine alone could easily be a pure sociopath or master politician depending on how you want to slant her. Chang also touches upon how being women affected their lives and their choices, but I also felt Chang just as clearly showed that their religion and other choices could have just as strong an effect on them. More than anything, Chang shows that they were people with power and they had to wield it in a way to keep that power, otherwise it didn't matter who they were.

It is a great book and anyone with a love of history should have it on their "must read" list.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux.)

Mary Stuart and Catherine de Medici are very well known. Elizabeth of Valois less so. This is a joint biography of three women who were queens of France, Scotland and Spain.

The author makes many comparisons. This allows us to see how a certain situation was experienced by another of the three queens. Or we know what this queen did when another queen was experiencing a certain problem.

Thanks to this method, the author was able to give many facts from another time. I appreciated the story of Catherine de Medici's mother. There are many more of these facts in the book (the reader learns why it is advantageous for the Queen Dowager to be a foreigner).

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for a free digital review copy. This is my honest review.

The central premise of this nonfiction book is basically the relationship between three queens: Catherine de’ Medici, queen of France; Elisabeth of Valois, queen of Spain (her oldest daughter); and Mary, Queen of Scotts (her daughter-in-law).

Most of the evidence of their relationship dynamics came from letters and it was interesting to see what they had to say in their own (translated) words.

However, I felt like a lot of important events were kind of brushed over and I would have liked a little more detail or interpretation.

I think the biggest thing that threw me is where the author ended things. Mary’s entire imprisonment in England and the plot that led to her execution are only briefly gone over in the epilogue. The St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre was left to the epilogue as well. As someone who is not terribly familiar with these queens, I would have appreciated more analysis of those events.

All that being said, I still enjoyed this book. I really only knew the infamous highlights about Catherine de’ Medici and Mary, Queen of Scotts; I knew nothing about Elisabeth of Valois, so I enjoyed learning more about them and the context of their lives.

I have been fortunate to have read some amazing nonfiction through NetGalley. This is yet another title for my list. It is a well-done and thoroughly researched overview of 3 queens who were connected emotionally and politically.

I've read probably more than my fair share on Mary, Queen of Scots, but really haven't read anything more than passing bits about Catherine de Medici or Elisabeth de Valois, Queen of Spain. This is not a detailed or comprehensive look at their intertwined lives. Rather it is a treatment of their relationships--with each other and with others. It was fascinating to see how much power Catherine de Medici tried to wield throughout Europe when she was never Queen Regnant.

As well-done as this is, there were a few things that stood out to me. I felt like the entirety of the treatment was intended to be non-biased and objective. However, I came away with the feeling that the author isn't a Queen of Scots fan. The chronology was basically straight-out ward, but at times, it felt like the Queen of Spain was inserted and some things were shared out of order or context. Granted, she was likely the least powerful of the three, but she was "extra" so much of the time. It was wonderful to "see" Elisabeth stand up to her mother--because who stood up to Catherine de Medici?--and make decisions for herself.

Overall, well done and readable. This did not come across as a dry textbook, rather it was written as the important story of 3 women at a time when women were coming into their power as leaders.

Thank you to the publisher for this advanced copy to enjoy. I am reviewing this title voluntarily.

An interesting and well-written history of three queens connected by blood and marriage. There are other recent books that do this better, but this is a solid history to read, especially if you are interested in the web of French influence in early modern Europe. I only wish we learned more about Elisabeth de Valois.

I was thrilled to be able to receive an ARC for "Young Queens: Three Women and the Price of Power" by Leah Redmond Chang as women's history during the Renaissance is not a topic I normally pass up. I was also very interested in learning more about Elisabeth of Valois and Catherine de Medici.

All three women spent time at the French Court, which is one of the similarities tying them all together. At one time all three of them were family. However, their lives bring Mary and Elisabeth to different areas of Europe - Scotland, and Spain to be exact.

Although at times, it is tricky to follow the storyline of multiple figures, this one was quite manageable. I felt like Elisabeth of Valois had the least time to shine, perhaps because she died so young. However, she was the women I really enjoyed reading about the most. She was more than just Philip II's third wife, she was a daughter, and sister, and had many positive qualities. Most importantly, she was Queen of Spain and had two surviving daughters.

Her mother Catherine is a formidable woman who essentially ruled France for a long periods of time and I always enjoyed her as a historical figure. It was good to read about her, since I just read about her recently, which enforced more information I had just learned.

Mary Queen of Scots is also interesting in her own right, but I don't always agree with her choices in life, personal or diplomatically speaking. I felt like her time in England as a prisoner was rushed, and a lot of information was not included. However, the reader could still understand how and why she was executed.

I really enjoyed the book overall, especially learning about the French and Spanish courts and Elisabeth of Valois, who has very little written about her. I think it's time someone writes a biography solely about her.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for getting me this ARC. 4.5/5. #netgalley #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #history #renissance #historylover #monarchy #royalty

A fascinating and fantastically Well researched works on the 'Young Queens'.

The book was very well written, with an easy to follow narrative - I didn't feel like I was sitting through a lecture.

I feel the book is very accessible to all, not just academics or people who are very well read on the three women in focus.

It was so refreshing to read not about one woman in her own right and not as a side note to her husbands story, but three!

I picked up this book with a decent knowledge of Mary Queen of Scots, basic knowledge of Catherine de Medici and minimal knowledge of Elisabeth de Valois; I now feel that I am certainly very well informed of each woman's childhood, life, relationships and queenahip.

If you want to know more about these marvellous women and the politics of the renaissance period, then this is the book for you.

Sadly this book took me a long time but I don't blame that on the book, but simply on my lack of free time. I am a fan of multi point of view fiction reads and can keep up with multiple storylines so a history book trailing three main characters was a breeze. While I know a good deal about Tudor 16th century, my knowledge of France was lacking, and knowledge of Spanish politics beyond rampant heresy hunts was nonexistent, it was so refreshing to read about 16th century women who were not Elizabeth Tudor. Lord knows there have been countless books about her, it's about time there was a focus on other important players of the day, This book will likely dispel any romantic illusions readers may have about Mary Stuart, while hopefully grow to understand certain aspects of Catherine de Medici's policies. And of course one cannot come with anything other than sympathy for the peacemaker queen, Elisabeth de Valois.,

'Young Queens' focuses on the lives of three of Europe's most pivotal queens of the sixteenth century: Catherine de Medici, her daughter, Elisabeth de Valois, and Catherine's daughter-in-law, Mary, Queen of Scots. Amazingly, all three women inhabited the same court at one time, and the lessons they learned would shape the two younger women on their (tragic) journeys.
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I really enjoyed the interwining of theses three lives as told by @leahredmondchang . I knew very little of Elisabeth de Valois and her life as Spain's Queen - we see her deployed to Spain as a young teenager as a mechanism for alliance building with France and symptathise with her each time she opens a letter from her mother. We watch Mary's life unravel with alarming speed. But through it all, Catherine holds steady. A beautiful portrait of three lives that shows the very human side of queenship.

It took me a few weeks to finish this, as at times the timelines were a bit confusing. But I loved the read, I loved the new approach to Mary Queen of Scots and how the author intertwined their lives in such a poetic way of writing.

This was an interesting take on familiar figures from a new point of view. Unfortunately, so many of my first impressions of historical figures were formed by historical novels read in my teens, and I always enjoy having those first impressions contradicted. This book did that in a couple of ways.

By focusing on France and the way these three women intersected there, the book avoided going over ground already covered ad nauseam by the Mary Queen of Scots industry.

From the viewpoint of the MQofS industry, Catherine de Medici was the queen mother who rejected Mary once Francis II died, and didn't care to help her. This book filled out the life story of Catherine, she was an interesting woman who tried to choose a path of religious conciliation and coexistence at a time when Catholics and Protestants were killing one another left and right.

Chang was surprisingly unsympathetic to Mary. I have never read a book featuring Mary as an important subject, that seemed to like her so little (seems to feel Casket Letters are authentic, for example). That was an unusual corrective to the standard tragic-heroine narrative. I tend to feel like John Guy's definitive take on Mary is the one for me, but this was definitely different. And she didn't re-rehearse the entire story of Mary's imprisonment in England, which I was worried she was going to do, just wrapped up with the last letters Mary wrote to the other two, and the ends of their lives. This was a good choice as this did not need to be another book about MQofS especially since Chang dislikes her so much.

And all I really knew of Elisabeth de Valois was that she was supposed to marry a man her age, but he was too much of a lunatic so she ended up marrying his father and then died young. She was more interesting than that, by far, and following her life and role in the Spanish court was new information for me. Philip II is also presented in a more sympathetic light than I was accustomed to from books about Mary I and Elizabeth I. (Also, the opera Don Carlos and its legend of frustrated young love has absolutely no basis in fact...)

Sometimes the chronology became a little mixed up, as Chang would circle back to events that happened earlier and had already been discussed - for example, discussing Elisabeth's illnesses while pregnant, she suddenly said, "She had recovered in time to attend the meeting at" the border which had been detailed in a previous chapter. I'm not sure some of these chronological choices were the best possible, but it wasn't so confusing that you didn't know what was happening when.

All in all, a well written book presenting a view of 16th century Europe I had not seen before, highlighting individuals I had not known well. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read an advance copy of this book.

Fascinating portraits of three remarkable young women during the early years of their lives as Queen consorts and their places within the circles of power in France and Spain. Meticulously well researched and full of fascinating details, this terrific book offers us a very compelling look at Catherine of Medici, Elizabeth of Valois and Mary Stuart as they tried to navigate the treacherous waters of 16th century politics and the very demanding rules of court "etiquette" at the beginning of their respective queenship. I particularly enjoyed the magnificent portrait of Elizabeth of Valois. A full fledged biography of Philip of Spain's second wife is unfortunately long overdue... A highly recommended read for anyone interested in the European Renaissance.

Many thanks to FSG & Netgalley for this terrific ARC.

3.75/5

This book follows the life of three queens using their family connection as a starting point and a way to string together the narrative. We meet Catherine de' Medici, Elisabeth de Valois and Mary Queen of Scots, the three of them queens with interesting and tumultuous lives. The author does their best to present the historical facts through the situations these women found themselves in and showcase their limited power in a man's world.

I quite liked this book, I think it was a good way to explore women's lives in politics during this time in history. I didn't know much about any of them, so this worked very well as an introduction to these historical figures. I do think that if you already know a lot about this period and these queens you might not find it interesting since it balances all of them as well as it can, never giving one too much prominence. This book can get a little tricky to read at times, with the jumps between queens and situations, and I do feel like some aspects could have been examinated further.

A wonderful nonfiction retelling of the story of Catherine de Medici and Mary Stuart. It is great to see a nonfiction author tell the story of Elisabeth de Valois, who has been ignored by modern biographers

Thank you NetGalley, Leah Redmond Chang, and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Young Queens.

This fascinating book intertwines the lives of Catherine de' Medici, Elisabeth de Valois, and Mary, Queen of Scots. I have read books that mention Elisabeth and Mary, but none in great detail. This is the first time I have read about Catherine. I feel like this book goes into great depth about these three women.

It is a nonfiction book, so some people might find it a bit hard to get through. I, however, felt there was a lot of character brought into the book, which made it seem more like an entertaining lecture. I look forward to adding this one to my library.

I really enjoyed what I read from this, it had a great history element going on. Leah Redmond Chang has a great writing style and I could see the passion going on in this book. I was never bored when reading this and glad I got to read this.

The Young Queens is a History book that looks at three powerful and distinct personalities whose lives were intertwined; Catherine de Medici, Elisabeth and Mary Stuart. The three were connected through familial ties, with Catherine being Elisabeth’s mother and Mary’s mother-in-law (though her marriage to Catherines son was quite short lived) and lived in a time of unprecedented feminine power across Europe.

I really enjoyed the way this was written, it was full of rich detailed information, but presented in an engaging manner, not at all boring. It is important to keep in mind, that it is a Historical text and if readers are not used to reading lengthy non-fiction books such as this, they potentially could find it a little dry.

The book is separated into different parts and chapters which broke things up well and gave the reader a good sense of chronology. Additionally, the extensive footnotes throughout show how well researched this text was, this is also shown in the extensive bibliography at the end.

If you enjoy watching or reading historical fiction books or TV shows that feature this historical period and are keen to learn more, or, you just like reading about some of the fascinating women who held power at the time, then this is the book for you. Thank you to NetGalley, and the publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux, for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review, these thoughts are all my own.