Anne and Louis: Passion and Politics in Early Renaissance France

Not easy, getting an annulment to marry Anne. Fortunately, the most corrupt pope in history owes Louis XII a favor.
◆ WINNER of the Publishers Weekly 2018 BookLife Prize for General Fiction

◆ FINALIST, 2022 Chanticleer International Book Awards for a Fiction Series
"A masterpiece that paints an extraordinary emotional and political vision of its times.”—Midwest Book Review
“Dramatically engrossing and historically searching.”—Kirkus Reviews
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 21, Anne is sovereign ruler of Brittany as well as Europe’s most wealthy widow. She will only accept Louis’ offer to make her Queen of France once more on one condition: he must keep his hands off Brittany.

As powerful and scheming Italians arrive at the French court from Cesare Borgia to Niccolò Machiavelli, the feudal era gives way to the dawn of the Renaissance. With old social orders upended and powerful commoners clawing their way to the top, both Anne and Louis struggle to bring their respective realms into the modern age.