The Serpent Queen
Catherine de Medici, an orphaned teenager from the provinces who was married into the French court in the 16th century, was expected to bring a large dowry and have many children. Instead, she found that her husband was in love with another woman, that her dowry had gone unpaid, and that she was unable to conceive. Nonetheless, thanks to her wits and fortitude alone, she keeps her marriage alive and rules France for half a century.