Marie Antoinette: The Journey
by Antonia Fraser
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Book Summary Information
Author: Antonia FraserEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2002-11-12
ISBN: 0385489498
Number of pages: 544
Publisher: Anchor
Book Reviews of Marie Antoinette: The Journey
Book Review: A Must-Read!
Summary: 5 Stars
I thoroughly enjoyed this brilliant biography which gives so much insight into the French royal family - their strengths and their weaknesses. It is truly beautifully done - Fraser humanizes her characters, gives the reader a good understanding of their world, personalities, triumphs and worries. You are taken on the journey with Marie Antoinette, experiencing all the highs and lows, all the great moments and the injustices. Fraser's wonderful writing style makes you forget the outcome of events and instead has you on the edge of your seat at times. I would say Fraser realized her goal of not letting Marie Antoinette's life story be overshadowed by how it ended - her life was about more than that. She is portrayed sympathetically and as a fairly ordinary woman: she was not exceptionally beautiful (although she had truckloads of charm, elegance and grace that made her appear beautiful), she was not exceptionally intelligent, ambitious or original in her taste etc. However, what made her exceptional in the end, was her enormous courage in the face of extraordinary, unbelievable adversity. She faced the unthinkable challenges life threw at her with an admirable strength and dignity that few others could muster. We could all merely hope to ever acquire such strength of character. This book is a must-read and one of my faveroutes (I've read it several times, it's so good!) - I couldn't recommend it more!
Summary of Marie Antoinette: The Journey
France's beleaguered queen, Marie Antoinette, wrongly accused of uttering the infamous "Let them eat cake," was the subject of ridicule and curiosity even before her death; she has since been the object of debate and speculation and the fascination so often accorded tragic figures in history. Married in mere girlhood, this essentially lighthearted, privileged, but otherwise unremarkable child was thrust into an unparalleled time and place, and was commanded by circumstance to play a significant role in history. Antonia Fraser's lavish and engaging portrait of Marie Antoinette, one of the most recognizable women in European history, excites compassion and regard for all aspects of her subject, immersing the reader not only in the coming-of-age of a graceful woman, but also in the unraveling of an era.In the past, Antonia Fraser's bestselling histories and biographies have focused on people and events in her native England, from Mary Queen of Scots to Faith and Treason: The Story of the Gunpowder Plot. Now she crosses the Channel to limn the life of France's unhappiest queen, bringing along her gift for fluent storytelling, vivid characterization, and evocative historical background. Marie Antoinette (1755-93) emerges in Fraser's sympathetic portrait as a goodhearted girl woefully undereducated and poorly prepared for the dynastic political intrigues into which she was thrust at age 14, when her mother, Empress Maria Theresa, married her off to the future Louis XVI to further Austria's interests in France. Far from being the licentious monster later depicted by the radicals who sent her to the guillotine at the height of the French Revolution, young Marie Antoinette was quite prudish, as well as thoroughly humiliated by her husband's widely known failure to have complete intercourse with her for seven long years (the gory details were reported to any number of concerned royal parties, including her mother and brother). She compensated by spending lavishly on clothes and palaces, but Fraser points out that this hardly made her unique among 18th-century royalty, and in any case the causes of the Revolution went far beyond one woman's frivolities. The moving final chapters show Marie Antoinette gaining in dignity and courage as the Revolution stripped her of everything, subjected her to horrific brutalities (a mob paraded the head of her closest female friend on a pike below her window), and eventually took her life. Fraser makes no attempt to hide the queen's shortcomings, in particular her poor political skills, but focuses on her personal warmth and noble bearing during her final ordeal. It's another fine piece of popular historical biography to add to Fraser's already impressive bibliography. --Wendy Smith
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