National bestselling author Michelle Moran returns to Paris, this time under the rule of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte as he casts aside his beautiful wife to marry a Hapsburg princess he hopes will bear him a royal heir
After the bloody French Revolution, Emperor Napoleon’s power is absolute. When Marie-Louise, the eighteen year old daughter of the King of Austria, is told that the Emperor has demanded her hand in marriage, her father presents her with a terrible choice: marry the cruel, capricious Napoleon, leaving the man she loves and her home forever, or say no, and plunge her country into war.
Marie-Louise knows what she must do, and she travels to France, determined to be a good wife despite Napoleon’s reputation. But lavish parties greet her in Paris, and at the extravagant French court, she finds many rivals for her husband’s affection, including Napoleon’s first wife, Joséphine, and his sister Pauline, the only woman as ambitious as the emperor himself. Beloved by some and infamous to many, Pauline is fiercely loyal to her brother. She is also convinced that Napoleon is destined to become the modern Pharaoh of Egypt. Indeed, her greatest hope is to rule alongside him as his queen—a brother-sister marriage just as the ancient Egyptian royals practiced. Determined to see this dream come to pass, Pauline embarks on a campaign to undermine the new empress and convince Napoleon to divorce Marie-Louise.
As Pauline’s insightful Haitian servant, Paul, watches these two women clash, he is torn between his love for Pauline and his sympathy for Marie-Louise. But there are greater concerns than Pauline’s jealousy plaguing the court of France. While Napoleon becomes increasingly desperate for an heir, the empire’s peace looks increasingly unstable. When war once again sweeps the continent and bloodshed threatens Marie-Louise’s family in Austria, the second Empress is forced to make choices that will determine her place in history—and change the course of her life.
Based on primary resources from the time, The Second Empress takes readers back to Napoleon’s empire, where royals and servants alike live at the whim of one man, and two women vie to change their destinies.
Book Review:
Napoleon Bonaparte gained fame for rising from the dregs of poverty to conquer most of Europe in the late 18th to early 19th century.
Napoleon Bonaparte
To do so, in addition to fighting many successful campaigns, he married family members to prominent members of his family to European nobility. Napoleon loved and married Josephine, but after several years of not being able to have children with her, he dissolves his marriage to her, allowing her to keep the title of Empress.
Josephine
This made him free to marry Marie-Louise of Austria. This novel focuses on this second marriage and the final days of his empires as his power diminishes and he loses his grip on the empire he controlled.
Marie Louise
The novel is written in the points of view of Marie-Louise, Pauline Bonaparte Borghese, and Paul - Pauline's Haitian servant.
Pauline Bonaparte Borghese
At the heart of the story is the animosity between Marie-Louise and her husband's sister, Pauline, adding interest and conflict. Paul is a charismatic character who loves and is loyal to his mistress. Throughout, he provides readers with a "sensible" view as the conflicts abounds.
To write a novel in this era is a definite challenge. There are numerous characters, political machinations, and nobles from various countries. After having read the novel about Pauline's life by her descendent, Prince Lorenzo Borghese, I'm not certain Pauline was depicted accurately in Michelle Moran's novel. I didn't find it believable that she would desire to marry her own brother, Napoleon, in order to rule the world. There are a few other small details of historical inaccuracy those familiar with the era may identify. However, this is historical fiction and for those more interested in reading a good story rather dwelling in historical fact, the book is an entertaining and compelling read. Michelle Moran's interpretation of the characters provides a different slant and the conflicts between them makes for an interesting read.
2 comments:
Thanks for a wonderful review.
Thanks for your review.
So far, I always thought Moran was strong at her historical background research. I highlight this in my reviews of her books.
And then, a blogger added these comments!
Sounds like you would agree with what they say.
If you have a mn, would you mind telling me what you think:
I copy and past here the 2 long comments posted on my review:
http://wordsandpeace.com/2012/08/06/i-love-france-28-2012-39-review-the-second-empress/
I think Gulland’s trilogy on Josephine Bonaparte is a good novel on Napoleon and his court, and his portrayal is more complex – at the same time exasperating and fascinating – and accurate than Moran’s incredibly biased one.
‘The Second Empress’ is an entertaining book but very inaccurate also. I was bothered with the changes the author makes to actual, well known facts and her rather ambiguous reference to ‘primary sources’ – Marie Louise never wrote her memoirs – on the final historical note. After, or before reading it a little research will help the reader to difference fact from fiction.
For example Marie Louise never was called Maria-Lucia, she wasn’t Neipperg’s lover before her marriage, Hortense never was her Mistress of Robes or the closest friend Marie Louise had in Paris – the only woman she was close to was her lady of honor, the Duchess of Montebello. Neither she – Hortense – was part of Marie Louise’s household.
Napoleon’s son didn’t have a tutor in the first years of his life so I don’t know where did this ‘Monsieur Laurent’ comes from. He had a governess, Madame de Montesquiou – the child nicknamed her ‘Maman Quiou’ -, who adored the poor boy, by the way never known as Franz before his arrival in Vienna. In his grandfather’s court, the ‘Eaglet’ was stripped of his name, his heritage, his language and the people he had known from his birth. The boy and his governess were separated in Vienna after Napoleon’s defeat, to the child – and hers – immense chagrin. Napoleon II lived the rest of his short life as a prisoner in Vienna, virtually abandoned by his mother.
Also, there’s nothing – apart from English and Monarchist propaganda, or apocryphal anecdotes – to suggest that Pauline and Napoleon could have been lovers.
She was baptized as Maria Ludovica Leopoldina Franciska Therese Josepha Lucia, so yes, there was a ‘Lucia’ somewhere. But she never used that name; in her family she was known as Luisl and in her correspondence she used to sign as ‘Louise’. Napoleon also called her Louise. After learning of his death, she wrote to a friend that she never had loved him, but also – rough translation, the original is in French – ‘I can’t forget he is the father of my son and that, far from having mistreated me, as everybody thinks, he always showed me the utmost respect, the only thing you can desire on a political marriage’. Source: Correspondance de Marie Louise, 1799-1847; lettres intimes et inédites à la comtesse de Colloredo et à Mlle de Poutet, depuis 1810 comtesse de Crenneville (1887). Historians have been very harsh – too perhaps, because she was young and manipulatable – on Marie Louise for her bevahior in the years after Napoleon’s defeat.
Ironically enough, it was her son and nor she who suffered the fate of being deprived of his name. His story is very sad; yes, his grandfather loved him and there’s no doubt about that. But he loved his Empire more than his grandson and knew very well that Napoleon’s heir was a ‘problem’, hence he always kept him as hostage. He seldom saw his mother, who rarely went to Vienna.
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