The new novel by a contemporary French writer, published in the author’s homeland in 2007, is uniquely stylized as a medieval chronicle. J.-A. Fetjen, as if on purpose, avoids any assessment of events. However, it is precisely with this author’s approach, “without anger and partiality,” that the described realities of the distant past make a much stronger impression. The atmosphere of the era is conveyed by the writer very vividly and organically, and the events are interspersed with the memories of the main character, who, before her death, writes something like a confession. “The Tears of Brunhild” is the second novel in the “Purple Queens” duology. It recreates the terrible and exciting era of the Middle Ages with its murders, passions, conspiracies and ruthless warriors. Essentially, this is a book about Fredegonda and Brunhild, the charming and at the same time terrifying rulers who gave birth to France.