In 2006 an English writer named Kate Mosse published her book "Labyrinth." It was the first book in what became known as her Languedoc Trilogy. That work of historical fiction created a worldwide sensation. I really enjoyed the book and I tried to get an interview with her but she got so famous so fast that it was never possible for me to schedule her.
She has put out a number of books since and recently released "The Burning Chambers" which is the first book in a planned quartet of books which begin during the Protestant Reformation in France as the religious civil wars that would roil Europe for centuries were just getting underway.
This ambitious project will take her readers across the centuries and will eventually have some settings in America as French Protestants who were exiled from their homelands were seeking friendlier and less violent new lands where they could settle and live peacefully. They went all over the world. Some eventually landed in South Africa.
Kate Mosse was going to be coming to New York briefly for some publicity events and her intrepid publicist gave me a heads up months in advance to let me know we could schedule an interview with her while she was in the USA and so that is exactly what we ended up doing. It took 13 years to finally get an interview with her and it was well worth the wait.
As you listen to our conversation you'll sense her excitement about telling what she describes as a "Romeo and Juliet" story. There's definitely forbidden love in this first volume and lots of history. She writes long books and she has embarked on a monumental project with this one. I'm looking forward to plowing through the rest of this quartet of books as they appear over the coming years.
The Book Nook on WYSO is presented by the Greene County Public Library with additional support from Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, Wright Memorial Public Library, and Microsun Lamps.
