A looong book. I generally like Fraser’s biographies because she is so scrupulous about the truth versus rumor and she doesn’t necessarily white-wash the people. This one got a little too long and involved for me though I think history buffs would enjoy it as a lot of history is gone over by the author. (much,much better than the film except for being able to see clothing and such) Donada Peters does a marvelous job as a reader as usual.

posted Feb 22, 2007 at 7:31AM

Antonia Fraser’s well-researched work details the known facts in the life of Marie Antoinette – from her grand childhood as the daughter of an empress, to her marriage to Louis XVI and her life as France’s queen, to her tragic and ultimate downfall with the start of the French Revolution.

Although I would recommend it to history fans, the book took me longer to complete than a book of this size normally would, partly because there was simply so much information to digest. I was also occasionally bored with the more political details. However, I find it amazing that we do know so much about Marie Antoinette and these events that occurred more than 200 years ago.

Compared with Abundance, a work of historical fiction published in 2006 by Sena Jeter Naslund which complements this one fairly well, Fraser’s Marie Antoinette is a more sympathetic character. In a rather stark contrast to popular opinion, both of her contemporaries and her reputation persisting through history, she is painted very nearly as an innocent victim of circumstance. I suspect the truth lies somewhere in between.

posted May 31, 2007 at 4:22PM

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