The Second Empress: A Novel of Napoleon's Court by, Michelle
Moran
Synopsis From Goodreads: 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.
My Review:
Before I started this one I knew nothing about Marie Louise
or honestly that much about Napoleon (I thought he was still married to
Josephine when he was exiled), I recently started reading more about French
history including Michelle Moran’s last book Madame Tussaud and the confessions
of Catherine de Medici plus one about the Hapsburgs (The Last Queen) by, CW
Gortner. So I am slowly learning more about these two timelines & royalty.
As with any Historical Fiction an author is going to take some liberties and I
for one don’t mind this at all, I want to read a historical fiction that will
make me want to research the facts for myself and this one did that.
I felt sorry for Marie as I’ve said before, these poor
princesses just can’t catch a break, trotted off to marry an ogre who just
wants you as birthing mare, but as Marie said the sooner she got pregnant the
less she had to deal with Napoleon. I was glad Marie’s life turned out for the
best; I think the best thing that ever happened to her was when Napoleon was overthrown
and exiled.
I was a bit freaked out and disgusted with Napoleon’s sister
Pauline she had a very unhealthy relationship with her brother and she seemed
to be a nymphomaniac and was a very selfish, just not a nice person at all. But
her story was fascinating as she flounced from man to man, and used old women
as footstools but one has to wonder how many men she gave the clap to??
And Paul let us not forget poor put-upon chamberlain Paul,
his love for Pauline was all he could think of even as she took lover after
lover but I also loved his ending *no spoilers* all I could think was it’s
about time!
I really like the authenticity added by the actual letters
written by Napoleon & Josephine that showed they still cared very much for
each other right to the end. Napoleon was a piece of work, talk about an
egomaniac but you have to give it to him he came from the bottom of the barrel
and made to Emperor so I suppose he had a right to be proud of himself but he
took it way over the line with how he talked to people and what he thought was
his “by right”.
I love Michelle Moran’s writing always takes you to a place
and time where you can almost smell it and this book was no exception. Can’t
wait for more books by this author!
4 ½ stars
I received this book from the Librarything Early Reviewers
Program
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