The Crown and the Chaos: A Tale of Intrigue with Author Catherine Butterfield

Online For Authors Podcast

My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Catherine Butterfield, author of the book, The Serpent and the Rose. Catherine was born in Manhattan but raised primarily in Minnesota and Massachusetts. (The Three M's) She was a skinny kid with miserable allergies and spent most of her youth indoors reading books. Her two biggest influences at that point were J.D. Salinger and Anne Frank.

As an actress, she spent her early career acting regionally and then started writing for the stage. Her first break as a playwright came with the Manhattan Theatre Club production of JOINED AT THE HEAD, which she wrote and starred in, leading to other productions of her plays in the city and the beginnings of her TV career. Though relocated to Los Angeles, she never stopped writing plays; so far ten of them have been produced and published.

During the pandemic she and husband RON WEST created over 60 short films for a series entitled LIFE DURING LOCKDOWN, which can be seen under her name on Youtube. Recently, she has written her first novel, "The Serpent and the Rose," about the French queen Marguerite de Valois and her lifelong battle with her mother, Catherine de Medici.

She lives in Santa Monica with Ron West and their cat, Pandita. Her daughter is the actress Audrey Corsa.

In my book review, I stated that Marguerite began life as a French princess, became the Queen of Navarre through marriage, and chose to remove herself from that marriage as her husband became King of France.

We follow Marguerite's life through journal entries, allowing us to see her dysfunctional family and the craziness of court life from her point of view. I loved that this was written in first person and in present tense - an unusual POV for a historical fiction novel - because I became quite attached to Marguerite and her quick wit and dry sense of humor.

I typically do not care for books written about this period of time because I get slogged down in the details of a history I can't keep straight and names that mean nothing to me. However, Butterfield did an amazing job keeping readers engaged with salient facts, a quick tempo, and dashes of humor. I loved this book and highly recommend it to anyone who loves historical fiction and a good laugh.

You can follow Author Catherine Butterfield:

Website: www.catherinebutterfield.com

FB: @catherine.butterfield.129

IG: @catherine.butterfield

LinkedIn: @Catherine Butterfield

YouTube: @catherinebutterfield6347

Teri M Brown, Author and Podcast Host: https://www.terimbrown.com

FB: @TeriMBrownAuthor

IG: @terimbrown_author

X: @terimbrown1

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