The Casket Cypher

About the Book

In the year 1536, Valéry Lefèvre d’Etaples is left an orphan after her uncle dies. Queen Marguerite of Navarre, her patroness, finds the young woman a position as librarian to Baron Paul de Renard whose valuable collection of manuscripts and printed books needs to be inventoried and organized. When Valéry arrives at the chateau, however, the baron is angry for he had expected a man, and instead was sent what he called ‘a slip of a girl, barely out of the nursery,’ and one he does not guarantee he will keep. Valéry resolves to prove to him her worth, but soon finds that her very life is in danger. The book, set in France against the backdrop of the French renaissance, the reformation, and the impact of the early printing press, weaves together a story filled with the tensions of the times, along with mystery and romance.

About the Author

As a seminary student, the author became interested in a period of time known as the French Renaissance, writing her master’s thesis on the great humanist scholar, Jacques Lefèvre d”Etaples. Some years later, Becky decided to use the information she had gathered to write a fictitious story and have some fun in the process. After numerous trips to France with her French husband to do further research, the end result was The Casket Cypher. Becky lives with her husband in Colorado, and has four grown children, six grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.