Yellow Shelf Podcast

The War Within Me, author Tracy Ryan

Johanna Fink, Host of Yellow Shelf

Sixteenth-century Princess Jeanne d’Albret is twice royal: her uncle is King of France, her father King of Navarre. She is small, she is often ill – yet she won’t allow that to define her. 

As a child, she is carried to the altar at the French king’s command – but she and her mother have a secret plan to get their own way… Soon a new king is on the French throne. And when a second arranged marriage is forced on her, Jeanne is surprised by bliss. She can’t stop talking or thinking about Antoine, first prince of the blood; she throws her whole self into their life together, even when the battlefield parts them. Fiery and stubborn, wherever she goes, Jeanne is reminded of her famous poet-mother, protector of reformers, who could not break with the Catholic church despite her attraction to the new religious ideas. Jeanne resolves to go further – and let nothing stop her. But what will this mean for her precious marriage? As the Civil Wars break out – the Wars of Religion – and Jeanne commits to the Huguenots, will her adored husband take the same path? 

The War Within Me a fictional but based closely on the life of Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre and Huguenot leader during the French Civil Wars/Wars of Religion. Jeanne was also the mother of King Henri IV of France. Jeanne was daughter to Marguerite of Navarre from the first in my Queens of Navarre trilogy, 

The Queen's Apprenticeship, but both books can be read as standalones 

Book 1 in the Trilogy - The Queen’s Apprenticeship, Queens of Navarre. 

Book 3 in the Trilogy - due 2026 


To connect with Tracy ... 

https://transitlounge.com.au/shop/the-war-within-me/ 

https://transitlounge.com.au/shop/the-queens-apprenticeship/