Renée of France by Simonetta Carr

Who was Renée of France? Before a complimentary copy of this book became available to me to review through Cross Focused Reviews in exchange for my honest opinion, I had not heard of her. One of the things that I like most about this book is that it provided many different opinions of her without attempting to force a definitive answer upon the reader.

Renée was a close friend of John Calvin and the two corresponded together for most of her life. She was not regarded as beautiful. Her son could not give her a Catholic funeral because she died as a Protestant without apology. Leaders from both the Protestants and the Catholics sought her out in order to influence the nobility of both France and Italy since she was a princess of one and a duchess of the other.

Her faith caused her great pain within her family. Her oldest son opposed her religious views, her oldest daughter married a fierce promoter of the Roman Catholic church, and her youngest

son even pursued a clerical career in the Church of Rome. At the end of the day, no matter what she did, none of her children shared the same faith as she.

I highly recommend Renée of France by Simonetta Carr. It is interesting, reads well, could not have been better written, and is definitely one of those books that causes you to mature in your own faith.

In reading this work, I found myself rallying behind and pulling for Renée. She stood up for what she believed in, counted the cost, and followed the Lord anyway. She was honest about her frustrations, and learning about her life inspired me. I had heard about the Protestant Reformation before, but seeing it through the life of this wonderful woman gave it new meaning and made it come alive.