Juliette Benzoni La Dame de Montsalvy

First published in France by Editions de Trévise 1979
French version 345 pages, chapters 14

NEVER translated into English and many other languages!!

31 October 2009

On my first visit to Juliette Benzoni, I finally learned the reason why the "seventh book" of the Catherine series, was so far never translated into English! As I was told by Juliette herself, there was only one book planed in the beginning. "Catherine" started as a "serialized novel" and was published in the daily newspaper in Paris. After eight days, the story had already such an enormous success, that the author was asked to continue with her writing! Foreign publishers stood in line to get their rights to publish the story of the beautiful, violet eyed girl, with the golden hair.

Her French publisher had very good business relationships with the English publishers and did everything in his power that Juliette Benzoni's "Catherine" would continuously be translated.

Years later, after the publication of "Catherine and a Time for Love" which had ended with an epilogue - Juliette was again asked to sit down and let the readers know more of the life of Catherine. Happily she agreed to do this and she wrote two more books.

In 1973 "A Snare for Catherine" was published...but time had changed...
The company of "Editions Trévise" who had so far published all her "Catherine" books was sold. This is also the explanation why it took SIX years, until the seventh book "La Dame de Montsalvy" came into the book market!! Under the new management, was nobody who "concentrated" on the continuation of publishing Catherine in diverse foreign countries. Unfortunately to say, one of those countries was Great Britain! I can only do some guesswork here, and suppose that, something similar had happened in Great Britain by William Heineman Ltd. !!

However, how is it possible that the last book, of a world famous, fantastic selling book series, was never published in the English speaking countries like Great Britain, the USA to mention only a few of them? Millions of English readers, cheated of the joy to know how the series of Catherine and Arnaud ended?

I have received many letters since I have launched the "Catherine de Montsalvy" fan site! Fans of the books, writing me aghast, that they had always believed that our hero "Arnaud" had died at "Châteauvillain" at the hands of that villain "Le Damoiseau" - leaving our heroine a widow!
I have written a couple of times to "William Heineman Ltd. in England - but never received an answer so far! But dear English speaking fans…we shall never give up hope, shall we?

Mistral, webmistress 31 October 2009

translated into some languages

for international book covers - see our special sites

Chapter Synopses - Chapter by Chapter

Routes of Catherine *under way*

Film Adaption in 1968 Catherine, Il suffit d'un amour
Director Bernard Borderie
Music by Michel Magne

Television-Serie in 1986 Catherine, Il suffit d'un amour
Co-Production Antenne 2 - SFP
Director Marion Sarraut
Adaption Juliette Benzoni & Jean Chatenet
Music by Robert Viger

Ballad of Catherine 1965
Text: Juliette Benzoni
Singer: Bernard Stéphane

In the final book of the series...Catherine must not only face fear, murder and the horror of war...but also a treacherous trap, which separates her from her beloved husband Arnaud de Montsalvy. She must abandom him, gravely wounded, in the camp of Damoiseau de Commercy. She finds refuge in the château of her friend the Comtesse Ermengarde de Châteauvillain. The château is under siege by the cut-throat Damoiseau de Commercy, Robert de Saarebrück.

During her long hours of helplessness, she reflects on the tide of events - undoubtedly the cruellest she has so far lived to see. The attackers suddenly disappear, leaving behind scenes of fire and blood. Catherine begins a new life, following the difficult road ahead with hopes of victory and joy. She desperately wants to return home to Montsalvy. She yearns to see her adorable children, from whom she had no news in months, and to be reunited with Arnaud, whom she still loves in spite of everything that has happened when they last met.

But her journey is to be long and difficult. King René d'Anjou has been imprisoned by Duke Philippe of Burgundy. On her way to Dijon to save King René (and delivering the letter she carries from Queen Yolande, his mother) she falls into a fierce ambush, laid by the devilish Robert de Saarebrück. He takes his revenge on Catherine by violating her, and leaves her in the brutal clutches of his soldies who also take their pleasure on her.To escape from her despair, Catherine, escorted by her faithful page Béranger and her squire Gauthier de Chazay, makes a detour to unexpected horizons - to Lorraine, Luxembourg and Flanders. On the way she meets Duke Philippe of Burgundy, who is still in love with Catherine.

After a difficult time of healing, she is impatient to be on her way home, to her children her vassals in the mountains of Auvergne...

but what will await her there?

...introducing the main characters in book 7...

Catherine de Montsalvy
Béranger de Roquemaurel
Gauthier de Chazay
Ermengarde de Châteuvillain
Brother Landy (Landry Pigasse)
Robert de Saarebrück
The Limper (Le Boiteux)
Abbess Agnès (Loyse her sister)
Mathieu Gautherin
Amandine la Verne
Jacques de Roussay
King René d'Anjou
Symonne Morel
Dame Berthe

Philippe of Burgundy
Duchess Isabelle (his wife)
Jean Van Eyck
The false Jeanne d'Arc
Duchess Elisabeth de Görlitz
Jean de Saint-Rémy
Maître Cornélis
Carlotta, the Florentine
Petrus Christus
Maurice de Varssenare
Louis Van de Walle
Gertrude Van de Walle
Abbess Béatrice
Abbot de Rayneval

Arnaud de Montsalvy
Abbot Bernard
Sara
Michel & Isabelle their children
Josse Rallard
Marie Rallard
Gauberte Cairou
Saturnin
Mathilde de Roquemaurel
Renaud de Roquemaurel
Amaury de Roquemaurel
Brother Anthime
Azalaïs
Fatima, a young slave girl

"You are neither stupid nor mentally disabled, but you have sufferd already too much! Anxiety
and clear thoughts have never been a good mix. Well then, give us your trust mylady! You know
very well, we would go to hell, to bring back Seigneur Arnaud your husband, and at the same time
a bit of happiness!"
Gauthier de Chazay to Catherine de Montsalvy Chapter One

"I am the lady of Montsalvy and I have come to see my uncle Mathieu - conduct me to him!
The reverend mother abbess, whom you aloud yourself to throw out of the house is my own
sister. But I would like you to know that you will have much more difficulty to get rid of me!"
Catherine de Montsalvy to Amandine La Verne Chapter Two

"Shall I contiue, Sire? It seems to me, you have ordered me to undress...exactly as if I was a
whore, brought to you for your pleasure!"
Catherine de Montsalvy to King René d'Anjou Chapter Four

"Arnaud! Arnaud, I am coming back...don't go away...wait for me...my love..wait for me..
I want to come back..home..."
Catherine de Montsalvy, talking in her sleep Chapter Five

"My God, how stupid I am, but of course we know each other! You are much too beautiful to be
forgotten Madame! Is it not so, that we met at King Charles Court the first time?
The false Jeanne d'Arc to Catherine de Montsalvy Chapter Six

"You have cried...and only a short while ago! When I met you, you never cried! However, Seigneur
Arnaud had not yet given you the immense honour then, to take you for his wife!"
Jean Van Eyck to Catherine de Montsalvy Chapter Seven

"Allow me Monseigneur to interupt you! In a second Your Highness will treat me like a spy!"
Catherine de Montsalvy to Duke Philippe of Burgundy Chapter Eight

"I have had that honour, since I saw him twice fighting: once at Azincourt and another time
at Arras in a duel. A rude fighter - a great warrior...and the most abominable character I
have ever known!"
Jean de Saint-Rémy to Gauthier de Chazay - talking about Arnaud de Montsalvy Chapter Eleven

"It looks as if you are having guests Messire, but you will have to find another logis for her, than
the rooms of our lady. They are not available!"
Sara to Arnaud de Montsalvy Chapter Thirteen

"I would go so far to say that he loves her too much, that this love poisons his life because it forces
him not only to think about himself, his life as a man of war, or great heroic actions. His Catherine
he carries in himself in the depth of his soul - like a crossbowbold which cannot be taken out. Never will
he be able to pull it out - and he knows that.
Josse Rallard to Gauthier de Chazay Chapter Thirteen

"It's not about you, Arnaud de Montsalvy, and I have already said it! It's about two women..
particucalry one...whom you have not given one reason to sacrifice her life for you! Do come here
Dame Catherine! Do come here, my child..my poor child!
Abbot Bernard to Arnaud de Montsalvy Chapter Fourteen

"I beg you, answer me! In the name of the living God, tell me the truth, your truth! Do you still
me? Has there remained some of the previous love, from the past?
Catherine to Arnaud her husband Chapter Fourteen

"My sweet...my incomparable! Do I still love you? But I have adored you my whole life, and I will
never stop loving you...never! As long as there remains a thought, a breath within me. I will go on
loving you.
Arnaud to Catherine his wife Chapter Fourteen

"Why do you say our cruel history? Me, I found it beautiful. And why do you speak in bygone times?
Are we already so old? Are you so sure that it is finished?...
Catherine to Arnaud - Eight days later,
watching the flames of their living rooms of the château

"I hope so! It must be so! Although you may have sometimes some regrets or longing for the long roads
or distances. It must be so, because happy people have no history, and now I want only to be happy with
you and our children. I want to be only happy!"
Arnaud to his beloved wife Catherine

As we found out long ago, the last of the Catherine books, "La Dame de Montsalvy" was never translated into English and certain other languages. I have tried to the best of my ability, to give you a summarisation of the events, which take place in this last book of the Catherine series. I am no English professor - I did this solely in the hope to please all those readers who were never able to know until today, how the story between Catherine and Arnaud ended. I hope with everyone else, that one day a good publisher will bring the books back into the market and this time complete and also not abridged as were all of the books! I have compared them with the French original editions, after I was once asked a question by my own sister - who read them in German -and I could not answer it :-) because I did not remember any of the dialogue she talked about! However - as a side-note, I used the German translation of "Catherine und der Weg ins Glück" for this summary. Fortunately the German publisher Blanvalet-Verlag, stayed true to the French original edition of "La Dame de Montsalvy"