Review: Kate Mosse comes to Bury St Edmunds for 20th anniversary show for her bestselling mystery novel Labyrinth

It was Kate Mosse’s love of Carcassonne, in southern France’s Languedoc area, that spawned her internationally-bestselling novel Labyrinth.

And her unabated passion for this city and region swathed in history filled the Apex’s auditorium, in Bury St Edmunds, to the brim on Mother’s Day evening.

Mosse was performing a one-women show in celebration of Labyrinth’s 20th anniversary.

For anyone who doesn’t know the book, it is a Grail legend story that slips between the 13th and 21st centuries, featuring two strong female protagonists and set predominantly in Carcassonne and the surrounding area.

In her show Mosse guided us through the history of the Languedoc region - including the persecution of the Cathars – which far from being dull, absolutely captivated me. So much so that I kept forgetting to take notes.

As has been said before by reviewers, she wears her learning so lightly. She told us that research for her is ‘like architecture’.

Mosse has a gift for storytelling, both in the written and spoken forms. Just as in her books, she brought the history of the region to life, for long-established fans and those new to her work.

She didn’t just talk at us – there was music, footage and props on the stage.

What I particularly enjoyed in her show was how she cleverly wove in her story of how Labyrinth came about.

As she described her pivotal climb to Montségur castle in 1996 and the ‘whispers in the landscape’ – characters waiting for her to tell their story – I felt I was there.

Climbing Montségur in the Pyrenees was an inspirational moment for Mosse and she started writing thoughts, fragments, sentences.

She said it took her 10 years to write Labyrinth– and it was the book that changed her life.

Twenty years on, her novel is just as relevant and is attracting new readers all the time.

She told the audience that she’s learnt ‘history is a pendulum’ and it ‘really matters’.

“We cannot be bystanders,” she said. “It’s up to you to speak out if things are unjust or unfair.”

And her brave female characters certainly did.