Anne and Louis Lib/E: Passion and Politics in Early Renaissance France, Part II of the Anne of Brittany Series

Anne, Duchess of Brittany, is the love of King Louis XII of France's life. Too bad he's already married. While his annulment proceedings create Europe's most sensational scandal of 1498, Anne returns to Brittany to take back control of her duchy that her late husband, Charles VIII, King of France, had wrested from her. At age twenty-one, Anne is sovereign ruler of Brittany as well as Europe's most wealthy widow. But can she maintain Brittany's independence from France if she accepts Louis's offer to make her Queen of France once more? With Italian arrivals to the French court from Cesare Borgia to Niccolò Machiavelli, Anne and Louis's story unfolds as the feudal era gives way to the dawn of the Renaissance. Their love for each other tested by conflicting duties to their respective countries, the two rulers struggle to navigate a collision course that will reshape the map of sixteenth-century Europe. Contains mature themes.

Rozsa Gaston writes playful books on serious matters, including the struggles women face to get what they want out of life. She studied European history at Yale and holds a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia. She worked for Institutional Investor and wrote for the Westchester Guardian.