The Knight’s Second Chance

The year is 1531. The ball at the Duchess Diana de Poitiers's residence did not end as she had hoped. Not only was the identity of the unknown noblewoman not revealed, but she also suddenly vanished. Only the King himself, Francis I, can clarify her identity, but he hesitates to avoid causing a scandal. Secrets that were better left locked in the past are now surfacing, keeping the monarch himself awake at night. An official wedding between the Duke de Guise and the beautiful unknown would help calm the situation at court, but she, fearing for her life which is still in danger, tries to escape. She hides under the protection of the brave knight Marcel, whose behaviour, however, becomes increasingly mysterious.

This is how the novel The Knight's Second Chance begins. It is the second volume of the historical trilogy SOPHIE about a mysterious young noblewoman, and the tenth book from the author Martina Monošová.

Martina Monošová (1972, Stará Turá) is a writer. She graduated in design at the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava. In 2005, she debuted with her novel about childminders in England, Lásky o piatej (Love at Five). She wrote a loose sequel to the story from the British Isles, Anglické prebúdzania (English Awakenings), being the first to introduce the theme of au-pairing into Slovak literature. She has also written an original novel offering three perspectives on marital infidelity, Klišé (Cliché); a lighthearted novel about finding one's own path and price, Zlodeji bozkov (Kiss Thieves); a novel about the highs and lows in the private life of an otherwise successful singer, Sladké sny (Sweet Dreams) (also published in Czech); an erotic detective story, Lekcie z nenávisti (Lessons in Hate) (also published in Czech); a saga-like novel about two women set against the backdrop of major changes in Slovak society in the twenty-five years since the Velvet Revolution, Miluje-nemiluje, idem! (He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, I'm Going!); a chamber mystery-romance story about the mistress of a married man, Perly tej druhej (The Other Woman's Pearls); and the first volume of the historical trilogy SOPHIE: Ples u vojvodkyne (The Ball at the Duchess's). She lived in England in 2000 and in Belgium from 2007–2009. Today, she lives and writes in Slovenský Grob.

www.martinamonosova.sk