Splinter

Inspired by the "I Claudius" novels of Robert Graves, this unique but historically accurate epic explores the sequence of six kings who attempt to rule the ungovernable realm that is France, while Elizabeth I is on the throne of England.It tells a fascinating story through the eyes of ordinary people, and breaks with the clichés of portraying Catherine de Medici and the Guise family as crudely scheming villains (a version of history invented by their ultimately victorious opponents).When King Henry II dies jousting, Martin, a young musician in the household of the duke of Guise, is sucked into events. His encounter with Sabine, daughter of a Protestant - she explains the heretics to him - changes his life. Within months he is playing his lute while the new King Francis is singing (badly) to his wife, Mary Queen of Scots.Martin's close friend, Ponto, explodes fireworks, blows trumpets with gusto, then goes off to France's American colony, coming back with an intriguing tale to tell and a new purpose in life. As everyone else's lives fall apart in Paris during the Massacre of St Bartholomew, Martin finds unexpected love and happiness on a day of appalling sadness.Along the way we learn about (in no particular order) mazes, Huguenots, troubadours, Twelfth Night Cake, snuff, a whale full of wine, an out-of-control Turkish ambassador, Catherine de Medici's talented dwarfs . . . and Andromedus Fourbottom. And we meet a dowager duchess who's never been on television.