Set during the latter part of Marie Antoinette's reign as queen, this film is about a young noblewoman, played by Hilary Swank, who's parents were murdered when she was a child on the order of the king and, as a result, her family name and title were stolen from her. She never forgets, nor forgives this, so many years later as an adult, she tries to set things right by talking to the queen. She is turned away however, so she comes up with a grand scheme: to steal a grand necklace using the help of her lover. The plan? Through forged letters that are supposed to be from the queen, she convinces the powerful Cardinal de Rohan (Jonathan Pryce), who is currently not in favor with her, that she is one of Marie's closest confidantes and if he happens to buy this necklace for the queen, he will definitely be back in favor with her. He does, and this happens to be one of the sparks that helps lead to the revolution that engulfs the country. Will the scheming couple prosper? Or will they be caught and have their very lives on the line? Believe it or not, this is a true story! Another plus? Christopher Walken as Count Cagliostro. Great costumes, a good plot, and for the most part, good acting make me give The Affair of the Necklace 4 out of 5 stars.
This debut novel takes place in London, 1836 and introduces us to Elizabeth "Liza" Hastings, a well to do teenage girl who after the death of her parents receives the opportunity of a lifetime: to be a lady in waiting to Princess Victoria. However, life in Kensington Palace is nothing like Liza thought it would be...there's barely any servants, the palace is in shambles, and she ends up getting caught up in a household drama. Then, with the help of Inside Boy (who lives inside a large trunk inside one of the palaces many rooms), a newspaper printer named William Fulton, and even the princess herself, Liza tries to uncover a hidden a dirty secret dealing with the loathsome Sir John Conroy and a disgraced former lady in waiting to Victoria. Though this is a young adult novel, it's a well written one, and I enjoyed another look into Victoria's life as a princess. I give Prisoners in the Palace 3 out of 5 stars.
In this interesting non-fiction read, Picard not only shows us around London from 1740-70, she also tells us what life was like for people during that time: from clothing and the gin craze, to marriage and education, and everything in between. There's four sections: The Place, The Poor, The Middling Sort, and The Rich which covers the city and each level of its inhabitants, while the appendix fills us in on Cost of Living, Currency and Prices. Definitely not a book to miss if you're like me and like a bit of background on the novels you're reading, or if you are like Picard and "enjoy the practicalities of ordinary life," or both. A book that is a great addition to any 18th century bookshelf. I give Dr. Johnson's London 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.
Born Rose Tascher on the island of Martinique on June 23, 1763, the future Empress of France was a widow with two children when she met an aspiring and ambitious general named Napoleon who married her in 1796 and changed her name to Josephine. She was also six years older than him. According to legend, as a girl she was told in a prophecy that she would "cross the great water" and become queen. Whether or not her marriage was this coming true is debatable. Though the two loved each other, his family did not, and tensions between them and the couple, Napoleon's many military campaigns, and Josephine's inability to bear an heir all contributed to their divorce in 1809. On May 29, 1814, Josephine died after catching a chill while out for a walk a few weeks earlier. A fascinating life to be sure. Here's a rundown of the novels on her I have on her:
The bestselling author of The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette and The Last Wife of Henry VIII returns with an enchanting novel about one of the most seductive women in history: Josephine Bonaparte, first wife of Napoleon. Born on the Caribbean island of Martinique, Josephine had an exotic Creole appeal that would ultimately propel her to reign over an empire as wife of the most powerful man in the world. But her life is a story of ambition and danger, of luck and a ferocious will to survive. Married young to an arrogant French aristocrat who died during the Terror, Josephine also narrowly missed losing her head to the guillotine. But her extraordinary charm, sensuality, and natural cunning helped her become mistress to some of the most powerful politicians in post-Revolutionary France. Soon she had married the much younger General Bonaparte, whose armies garnered France an empire that ran from Europe to Africa and the New World and who crowned himself and his wife Emperor and Empress of France. He dominated on the battlefield and she presided over the worlds of fashion and glamor. But Josephine's heart belonged to another man--the mysterious, compelling stranger who had won her as a girl in Martinique.
In this first of three books inspired by the life of Josephine Bonaparte, Sandra Gulland has created a novel of immense and magical proportions. We meet Josephine in the exotic and lush Martinico, where an old island woman predicts that one day she will be queen. The journey from the remote village of her birth to the height of European elegance is long, but Josephine's fortune proves to be true. By way of fictionalized diary entries, we traverse her early years as she marries her one true love, bears his children, and is left betrayed, widowed, and penniless. It is Josephine's extraordinary charm, cunning, and will to survive that catapults her to the heart of society, where she meets Napoleon, whose destiny will prove to be irrevocably intertwined with hers.
Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe is the much-awaited sequel to Sandra Gulland's highly acclaimed first novel, The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.
Beginning in Paris in 1796, the saga continues as Josephine awakens to her new life as Mrs. Napoleon Bonaparte. Through her intimate diary entries and Napoleon's impassioned love letters, an astonishing portrait of an incredible woman emerges. Gulland transports us into the ballrooms and bedrooms of exquisite palaces and onto the blood-soaked fields of Napoleon's campaigns. As Napoleon marches to power, we witness, through Josephine, the political intrigues and personal betrayals -- both sexual and psychological -- that result in death, ruin, and victory for those closest to her.
The Last Great Dance on Earth is the triumphant final volume of Sandra Gulland's beloved trilogy based on the life of Josephine Bonaparte. When the novel opens, Josephine and Napoleon have been married for four tumultuous years. Napoleon is Josephine's great love, and she his. But their passionate union is troubled from within, as Josephine is unable to produce an heir, and from without, as England makes war against France and Napoleon's Corsican clan makes war against his wife. Through Josephine's heartfelt diary entries, we witness the personal betrayals and political intrigues that will finally drive them apart, culminating in Josephine's greatest tragedy: her divorce from Napoleon and his exile to Elba. The Last Great Dance on Earth is historical fiction on a grand scale and the stirring conclusion to an unforgettable love story.
This one is on her daughter:
Paris, 1798. Hortense de Beauharnais is engrossed in her studies at a boarding school for aristocratic girls, most of whom have suffered tragic losses during the tumultuous days of the French Revolution. She loves to play and compose music, read and paint, and daydream about Christophe, her brother's dashing fellow officer. But Hortense is not an ordinary girl. Her beautiful, charming mother, Josephine, has married Napoleon Bonaparte, soon to become the most powerful man in France, but viewed by Hortense at the outset as a coarse, unworthy successor to her elegant father, who was guillotined during the Terror.
Where will Hortense's future lie? it may not be in her power to decide.
Inspired by Hortense's real-life autobiography with charming glimpses of life long ago, this is the story of a girl destined by fate to play a role she didn't choose.
1779, France. On the island paradise of Martinique, two beautiful, well-bred cousins have reached marriageable age. Sixteen-year-old Rose must sail to France to marry Alexandre, the dashing Vicomte de Beauharnais. Golden-haired Aimee will finish her education at a French convent in hopes of making a worthy match.
Once in Paris, Rose’s illusions are shattered by her new husband, who casts her off when his mistress bears him a son. Yet revolution is tearing through the land, changing fortunes—and fates—in an instant, leaving Rose free to reinvent herself. Soon she is pursued by a young general, Napoleon Bonaparte, who prefers to call her by another name: Josephine.
Presumed dead after her ship is attacked by pirates, Aimee survives and is taken to the Sultan of Turkey’s harem. Among hundreds at his beck and call, Aimee’s loveliness and intelligence make her a favorite not only of the Sultan, but of his gentle, reserved nephew. Like Josephine, the newly crowned Empress of France, Aimee will ascend to a position of unimagined power. But for both cousins, passion and ambition carry their own burden.
From the war-torn streets of Paris to the bejeweled golden bars of a Turkish palace, Brandy Purdy weaves some of history’s most compelling figures into a vivid, captivating account of two remarkable women and their extraordinary destinies.
Royal Blood podcast, episode 159
Royal Blood podcast, episode 171
Josephine Bonaparte
And here's some non-fiction I've found should you read those and wish to know the real story behind the woman:
Paper dolls fans and history buffs will treasure this collection featuring one of the world's most famous and fascinating couples. Figures of Napoleon and his empress, Josephine, are accompanied by lavish costumes for their wedding, coronation, and other important occasions. 2 costumed dolls; 14 additional costumes.
Any other books you know of? Thoughts on the empress? Do post your comments below, and happy reading!
This four part BBC miniseries was based on the best selling novel by Michael Faber and follows the story of Sugar, a 19 year old prostitute in 1870s London who wants a better life and has a secret ambition to be a writer. When she meets a desperate young perfume magnate named William Rackham, her world changes, and we meet his delicate, mentaly unwell wife, their young daughter who is kept hidden from her, and his older brother who is torn between his piety and lust for a widow. I found it to be very close to the novel, and while the ending left me a bit off center, I enjoyed it. The acting wasn't too bad, neither are the costumes, and parts of it are also a little touching. I give the Crimson Petal and the White 3 out of 5 stars.
Yes, it's the queen who have her name to an era (like her predecessor Elizabeth I), and the longest reigning monarch in British history: Victoria who was born May 24, 1819. Though she was the next in line to the throne after her uncle William (who became William IV), Victoria had a very restricted childhood and was not allowed to be alone. She also was raised with very little money...hardly what you would consider "the royal life." However, the little girl who claimed "I will be good" when discovering her destiny prevailed, and became just that, as well as not only an icon of her country but of the century and an empire that stretched around the world by the time she died on January 22, 1901. Here's a rundown of books on her:
Non-Fiction
A “vivid” (Kirkus Reviews) and multilayered biography of Queen Victoria chronicling the life of the longest-reigning British monarch who ruled for sixty-four years, offering an intimate portrait of a woman who after losing her beloved husband went on to fulfill her duties as mother, grandmother, and queen of England.
It was the most influential marriage of the nineteenth century—and one of history’ s most enduring love stories. Traditional biographies tell us that Queen Victoria inherited the throne as a naïve teenager, when the British Empire was at the height of its power, and seemed doomed to find failure as a monarch and misery as a woman until she married her German cousin Albert and accepted him as her lord and master. Now renowned chronicler Gillian Gill turns this familiar story on its head, revealing a strong, feisty queen and a brilliant, fragile prince working together to build a family based on support, trust, and fidelity, qualities neither had seen much of as children. The love affair that emerges is far more captivating, complex, and relevant than that depicted in any previous account.
The epic relationship began poorly. The cousins first met as teenagers for a few brief, awkward, chaperoned weeks in 1836. At seventeen, charming rather than beautiful, Victoria already “showed signs of wanting her own way.” Albert, the boy who had been groomed for her since birth, was chubby, self-absorbed, and showed no interest in girls, let alone this princess. So when they met again in 1839 as queen and presumed prince-consort-to-be, neither had particularly high hopes. But the queen was delighted to discover a grown man, refined, accomplished, and whiskered. “Albert is beautiful!” Victoria wrote, and she proposed just three days later.
As Gill reveals, Victoria and Albert entered their marriage longing for intimate companionship, yet each was determined to be the ruler. This dynamic would continue through the years—each spouse, headstrong and impassioned, eager to lead the marriage on his or her own terms. For two decades, Victoria and Albert engaged in a very public contest for dominance. Against all odds, the marriage succeeded, but it was always a work in progress. And in the end, it was Albert’s early death that set the Queen free to create the myth of her marriage as a peaceful idyll and her husband as Galahad, pure and perfect.
As Gill shows, the marriage of Victoria and Albert was great not because it was perfect but because it was passionate and complicated. Wonderfully nuanced, surprising, often acerbic—and informed by revealing excerpts from the pair’s journals and letters—We Two is a revolutionary portrait of a queen and her prince, a fascinating modern perspective on a couple who have become a legend.
Bestselling author and historian Lucy Worsley tracks a new course through Queen Victoria's life, examining how she transformed from dancing princess to the Widow of Windsor and became one of Britain's greatest monarchs along the way. Taking twenty-four significant days from Victoria's life, from her birth, her wedding, her coronation to her husband's death, and many more in between, allows us to see Victoria up close and personal, examining how she lived hour to hour.Published to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Queen Victoria's birth, this major new biography will celebrate Queen Victoria as a woman of her time, who lived an extraordinary life.
Fiction
When King William dies, his teenage niece Victoria becomes queen. In spite of her youth and lack of experience, the eighteen-year-old surprises her detractors by taking the reins with poise and grace, vowing to always put the welfare of her realm first. Yet from the moment she meets her cousin, the handsome, fair-haired Albert, she becomes obsessed by love. Homesick for Germany, Albert wishes the petite, birdlike creature would choose someone else. But when Victoria asks him to share her life, he has no choice but to say yes. Evelyn Anthony’s novel captures Victoria’s passion for Albert, along with the contradictions in her personality and monstrous ego that almost destroyed her marriage. Although she bore Albert nine children, Victoria lacked maternal instinct. In many ways she mirrored the callous indifference of the era: Child labor and grueling fourteen-hour workdays were commonplace in Victorian England. Spanning the first twenty-one years of her reign, Victoria and Albert is a love story and a revealing portrait of a marriage.
Early one morning, less than a month after her eighteenth birthday, Alexandrina Victoria is roused from bed with the news that her uncle William IV has died and she is now Queen of England. The men who run the country have doubts about whether this sheltered young woman, who stands less than five feet tall, can rule the greatest nation in the world. Despite her age, however, the young queen is no puppet. She has very definite ideas about the kind of queen she wants to be, and the first thing is to choose her name. “I do not like the name Alexandrina,” she proclaims. “From now on I wish to be known only by my second name, Victoria.” Next, people say she must choose a husband. Everyone keeps telling her she’s destined to marry her first cousin, Prince Albert, but Victoria found him dull and priggish when they met three years ago. She is quite happy being queen with the help of her prime minister, Lord Melbourne, who may be old enough to be her father but is the first person to take her seriously. On June 19th, 1837, she was a teenager. On June 20th, 1837, she was a queen. Daisy Goodwin’s impeccably researched and vividly imagined new book brings readers Queen Victoria as they have never seen her before.
Queen Victoria most certainly left a legacy—under her rule as the longest reigning female monarch in history, the British Empire was greatly expanded and significant industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military changes occurred within the United Kingdom. To be a young woman in a time when few other females held positions of power was to lead in a remarkable age—and because Queen Victoria kept personal journals, this historical novel from award-winning author Carolyn Meyer shares authentic emotional insight along with accurate information, weaving a true story of intrigue and romance.
The young Princess Victoria, strictly confined within the boundaries of Kensington Palace, is being moulded for her awesome future as Queen of England. Surrounded by her dolls and closely guarded by her domineering mother and faithful governess, she slowly becomes aware of the bitter conflicts that surround her. The jealous and scheming Duke of Cumberland is a constant threat to her rightful accession...her mother's sinister friend, Sir John Conroy, makes her uneasy...and the bickering between her mother and the king seems neverending. Growing up is proving difficult for the princess. She longs for her eighteenth birthday when at last she will be free to rule the nation as she pleases and to re-acquaint herself with the gallant Prince Albert.
On the morning of 20th June, 1837, an eighteen-year-old girl is called from her bed to be told that she is Queen of England. The Victorian age has begun. The young queen's first few years are beset with court scandal and malicious gossip: there is the unsavoury Flora Hastings affair, a source of extreme embarrassment to the queen; the eternal conflict between Victoria and her mother; and, the young queen's hatred of Sir John Conroy, her mother's close friend. Then there is the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne - 'Lord M' - worldly cynic and constant companion to the queen, himself a veteran of many a latter-day scandal. He proves to be her guiding light - until the dashing Prince Albert appears and she falls hopelessly in love.
From the time they were in their cradles, Victoria and Albert were destined for each other. However, the passive Albert is well aware that marriage to a quick-tempered, demonstrative young woman like Victoria could result in unnecessary scenes and stormy court feuds. And he is right. The young Queen, as well has having to endure her constant pregnancies, is in perpetual revolt against any encroachment on her position - and Albert is doing just that. Despite attempts on her life and crises like the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny, her family - Albert and their nine children - is her prime concern. The Victorian age is truly under way - but the real power behind the throne was the queen's husband.
Albert is dead and the queen is preparing to spend the rest of her life in mourning. Yet the last years of her reign are to be momentous years. Palmerston, then Gladstone and Disraeli, govern her empire through the high noon of its heyday. The court at Windsor, Balmoral, Osborne or Buckingham Palace is perpetually shocked by the Prince of Wales, forever in pursuit of horses, women and scandal, the heady harbinger of Edwardian years to come.
At birth, Princess Victoria was fourth in line for the throne of England, the often-overlooked daughter of a prince who died shortly after her birth. She and her mother lived in genteel poverty for most of her childhood, exiled from court because of her mother’s dislike of her uncles, George IV and William IV. A strong, willful child, Victoria was determined not to be stifled by her powerful uncles or her unpopular, controlling mother. Then one morning, at the age of eighteen, Princess Victoria awoke to the news of her uncle William’s death. The almost-forgotten princess was now Queen of England. Even better, she was finally free of her mother’s iron hand and her uncles’ manipulations. Her first act as queen was to demand that she be given a room—and a bed—of her own. Victoria’s marriage to her German cousin, Prince Albert, was a blissfully happy one that produced nine children. Albert was her constant companion and one of her most trusted advisors. Victoria’s grief after Prince Albert’s untimely death was so shattering that for the rest of her life—nearly forty years—she dressed only in black. She survived several assassination attempts, and during her reign England’s empire expanded around the globe until it touched every continent in the world. Derided as a mere “girl queen” at her coronation, by the end of her sixty-four-year reign, Victoria embodied the glory of the British Empire. In this novel, written as a “memoir” by Victoria herself, she emerges as truthful, sentimental, and essentially human—both a lovable woman and a great queen.
Hardcover
Paperback
Miss V. Conroy is good at keeping secrets. She likes to sit as quiet as a mouse, neat and discreet. But when her father sends her to Kensington Palace to become the companion to Princess Victoria, Miss V soon finds that she can no longer remain in the shadows. Her father is Sir John Conroy, confidant and financial advisor to Victoria’s mother, and he has devised a strict set of rules for the young princess that he calls the Kensington System. It governs Princess Victoria's behavior and keeps her locked away from the world. Sir John says it's for the princess's safety, but Victoria herself is convinced that it's to keep her lonely and unhappy. Torn between loyalty to her father and her growing friendship with the willful and passionate princess, Miss V has a decision to make: continue in silence or speak out. In an engaging, immersive tale, Lucy Worsley spins one of England’s best-known periods into a fresh and surprising story that will delight both young readers of historical fiction and fans of the television show featuring Victoria.
Small list, but all are good and highly suggested reading. If you're as interested in Her Majesty as I am, I'd start here and then read anymore you come across...and I know there's many more out there, most likely in the non-fiction department, but either way, you can't go wrong. So happy reading, and Rule Brittania!
Being that I'm still overdosing on the Halloween spirit (come to think of it, am I ever not in the Halloween spirit?), I thought I'd review one of my faves, Sleepy Hollow. As I mentioned before, I'm a big Tim Burton fan, and this one fits both creepy as well as the 1700s. While it's based off the story by Washington Irving, it's been changed a bit, and in a good way in my opinion. For those that may not have seen it, the story follows a police constable named Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) who travels to the small town of Sleepy Hollow to investigate some strange murders in which all the victim's heads have been cut off. Local legend says this is due to a dead Hessian soldier the townspeople call the Headless Horseman because he died by someone decapitating him, and to get his revenge, he comes back and takes the head of his victims, supposedly until he finds his own. While there, he falls for the daughter of a farmer named Katrina Van Tassel (Christina Ricci), who he discovers is tied to the Horseman. I won't give away anymore, but I will say the end twist is quite good. I think this is one of Burton's good ones, and no fan of his should pass it up. I also think its one of those movies that's the perfect mix of scary and something you can share with the kids. I give Sleepy Hollow 4 out of 5 stars.
