The Burning Chambers

Carcassonne, 1562. Catholic bookseller’s daughter Minou Joubert receives an anonymous warning just as violence between Catholics and Huguenots begins to spread through France. Her meeting with Piet Reydon, a Huguenot carrying out a dangerous mission, draws her into a conflict involving inheritance, religious identity and a secret that powerful enemies intend to control.

The novel moves through Carcassonne, Toulouse and Puivert as the first French War of Religion turns local rivalries into civil war. Minou and Piet must decide whom they can trust while their families are divided by faith and political ambition. The opening volume establishes the Joubert family’s long history of exile and survival, combining a personal love story with the wider struggle over worship, sovereignty and dynastic power.