The Sunday Times No. 1 Bestseller

'A tour de force' – The Observer

Bringing sixteenth-century France vividly to life, Kate Mosse’s historical epic The Burning Chambers is a gripping story of love, betrayal, war and conspiracy.

Carcassonne, 1562. On the eve of the wars that will tear France apart, nineteen-year-old Minou Joubert receives an anonymous letter at her father’s bookshop. Sealed with a distinctive family crest, it contains just five words: SHE KNOWS THAT YOU LIVE.

But before Minou can decipher the mysterious message, a chance encounter with a young Huguenot, Piet Reydon, profoundly reshapes her destiny. For Piet has a mission of his own, and he will need Minou’s help if he is to get out of La Cité alive . . .

A thrilling historical adventure and a heartbreaking boy-meets-girl love story, The Burning Chambers is the first volume in Kate Mosse’s No. 1 international bestselling Joubert Family Chronicles. Continue the story with The City of Tears.

Praise for The Joubert Family Chronicles:

'Historical fiction to devour' – Anthony Horowitz, bestselling author of Close to Death, on The Burning Chambers

'An utterly absorbing epic' – Lucy Foley, bestselling author of The Paris Apartment, on The City of Tears

'Meticulously researched and stunningly written' – Santa Montefiore, bestselling author of Wait for Me, on The Ghost Ship

Mosse’s fans will relish this tale of secrets, love and treachery * The Times *
Another of Mosse’s immersive dramas, which takes you to the heart of the past -- Grazia Book of the Week
Mosse’s narrative lyricism, beautifully drawn female characters and deft journey from the past to the present day are a cut above * Scotland on Sunday *
Rich with historical detail, as you’d expect from Mosse, but it’s Minou, the fiery heroine, who makes this a must-read -- Good Housekeeping Book of the Month
An irresistible read * Prima *
Impressively bold and ambitious, it features betrayals, broken friendship, family secrets and the horrors of fanaticism. Fans will love it * Daily Mail *
Transporting readers to sixteenth-century Languedoc where, against a backdrop of simmering sectarian tensions, nineteen-year-old Minou receives a mysterious message at her father’s bookshop. Gripping, complex and intensely atmospheric * The Mail on Sunday *
The Burning Chambers is a tour de force, a compelling adventure that views the past with insight, compassion and humour, and reminds us of the variety of women’s voices so often forgotten in the official accounts * The Observer *
Mosse is a master storyteller, balancing thrilling suspense with complex characters and a thoughtful exploration of a fascinating time in history. Her heroine Minou is a pleasure to root for: clever, loving, down-to-earth and courageous! -- Madeline Miller, author of The Song of Achilles and Circe
This is historical fiction to devour. Nobody does it like Kate Mosse -- Anthony Horowitz
First-rate cloak-and-dagger excitement – who knew the religious wars between Catholics and Huguenots in sixteenth-century France could be so riveting to modern audiences? Kate Mosse captures the details of life in the Languedoc region of France, famed for its beauty but hiding many secrets, in this masterful novel -- Margaret George, New York Times bestselling author of The Confessions of Young Nero
Mosse does what good popular historical novelists do best – make the past enticingly otherworldly, while also claiming it as our own * Independent *
A powerful storyteller with an abundant imagination * The Daily Telegraph *
Oh, what a glorious novel. A masterly tour of history; a rapturous romance; and – best of all – a breathless thriller, alive with treachery, with danger, with atmosphere, with beauty. This book will transport you. Kate Mosse is that rarest of writers: a storyteller who breathes fresh life into vanished worlds -- A. J. Finn, author of The Woman in the Window

Kate Mosse CBE FRSL is an award-winning novelist, playwright, essayist and non-fiction writer. The author of eleven novels and short-story collections, her books have been translated into thirty-eight languages and published in more than forty countries. Fiction includes the multimillion-selling Languedoc Trilogy, The Joubert Family Chronicles (the number one bestselling The Burning Chambers, The City of Tears, The Ghost Ship and The Map of Bones), and number one bestselling Gothic fiction. Her highly acclaimed non-fiction includes An Extra Pair of Hands and Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries: How Women (Also) Built the World. The Founder Director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, she is the founder of the global #WomanInHistory campaign. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Kate is a Visiting Professor of Contemporary Fiction and Creative Writing at the University of Chichester, President of the Festival of Chichester, an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Authors and a Trustee of the British Library.