We open 2024 with a two-part feature on Young Queens, featuring two new books which look at young royal women in 16th century Europe. Our first interview is with Leah Redmond Chang, author of Young Queens (Bloomsbury, 2023). In this episode we talk about the three women featured in her book (Catherine de Medici, Elisabeth de Valois and Mary Queen of Scots), why it's important to look at 'young queens' and the particular challenges they faced as young women and royal brides.Guest Bio: Leah Redmond Chang is a former Associate Professor of French and Director of the French Literature Programme at George Washington University, and was most recently a Senior Research Associate at University College London. She is the author of two previous books: Into Print: The Production of Female Authorship in Early Modern France and Portraits of the Queen Mother: Polemics, Panegyrics, Letters, winner of the Josephine Roberts Award from the International Society for the Study of Early Modern Women. Find out more about Leah at her website.Keep your eyes out for Part 2 in our Young Queens feature, an interview with Nicola Tallis about her new book, Young Elizabeth, coming soon!

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