- I love historical fiction and this has a beautiful cover!
I recommend:
- Madame Tussaude by Michelle Moran
Summary from GoodReads:
Raised alongside her numerous brothers and sisters by the formidable empress of Austria, ten-year-old Maria Antonia knew that her idyllic existence would one day be sacrificed to her mother’s political ambitions. What she never anticipated was that the day in question would come so soon.
Before she can journey from sunlit picnics with her sisters in Vienna to the glitter, glamour, and gossip of Versailles, Antonia must changeeverything about herself in order to be accepted as dauphine of France and the wife of the awkward teenage boy who will one day be Louis XVI. Yet nothing can prepare her for the ingenuity and influence it will take to become queen.
My Review:
Since reading Michelle Moran’s Madame Tussaud, I’ve had a bit of a fascination with France and the revolution. Michelle touches on Marie Antoinette, but I needed something with more substance and, frankly, I’m tired of watching movies about it.
So I decided to give Becoming Marie Antoinette a shot. Juliet Grey goes back in time and details what Marie’s life might have been like before her marriage to Louis XVI and her removal to Versailles. While the story was interesting, it did seem a bit far-fetched and juvenile – almost like I was reading a book written in such a way to be accessible to young teenagers – aside from the subject matter, of course. I was disappointed. After reading historical fiction by masters such as Sharon Kay Penman and Michelle Moran, I wanted something with meat to it, but instead got a very fluffy read that seemed more concerned about inspiring happy, fuzzy feelings then actually giving me something to think about.
I was disappointed by this one. I don’t think it was terribly written, or that the book shouldn’t be read, I just was expecting more from it.
Becoming Marie Antoinette is the first of a planned trilogy, but I think I’m going to bow out of the series now and let those who enjoyed Juliet Grey’s writing style review her later books.
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Ah thats a shame as the author certainly had enough fasinating material to work with.
I reader Antonia Frazers biography on her earlier this year so I think any fiction account may well seem far too light for me after that
I love Michelle Moran’s historical fiction. I have Becoming Marie Antoinette for review too but haven’t had a chance to review it. I am hoping that I will enjoy it too even if it isn’t on par with Moran’s books. Maybe it will be more similar to Carolyn Meyer’s The Bad Queen, a YA novel about Marie Antoinette.
I enjoyed this one but I will agree that it’s definitely more fluffy than Moran’s writing. I’m a huge fan of Moran’s books and I did try my best not to compare the two but it was tough. I think I’ll pick up the second one to see how it progresses though.