Litsy

Farewell, My Queen: A Novel | Chantal Thomas

pick

Talk about regime change. Marie-Antoinette‘s reader describes the last days at Versailles in July 1789. Beautiful depictions of the grounds, confusion of “should we stay or should we go.” Avoids her time in the Conciergerie, final parade through Paris. Atmospheric if incomplete.

172 “Je connaissais l‘ambition des courtisans, je n‘avais pas songé à l‘ambition du peuple…”
234 “Comment cesser d‘un jour a l‘autre de se croire les maîtres du monde?”

10 likes

Gleefulreader

Versailles: A Novel | Kathryn Davis

so-so

I really wanted to enjoy this more than I did. It is the story of Marie-Antoinette as told through her own voice in a rambling, interior voice. I liked that it attempted to give her some substance but found that it never really found its place. The author has an extensive afterward where she attempts to explain her intent, and I couldn‘t help but think if it required that many pages to explain to the reader, it didn‘t really work.

14 likes

Sophronisba

Versailles: A Biography of a Palace | Tony Spawforth

so-so

Comprehensive but oddly-paced -- Spawforth is apparently a lateral thinker and there's not really a clear chronology even though it's billed as a biography. Lots of great anecdotes, though.

13 likes

Judybskt

Versailles: A Biography of a Palace | Tony Spawforth

Love this library in the Palace of Versailles.

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Beautiful ❤️ 3y

19 likes1 comment

AnneCecilie

Solkongen: historien om Ludvig 14 | Herman Lindqvist

pick

A biography about Louis 14th -the Sun King

I loved getting all the details about the court life and life at Versailles after the court was moved their.

I must admit that I‘m less interested in the wars and there were a lot of wars in this period.

A Christmas present from my parents in 2011 (off my wish list, off course), so I‘m glad I finally got it read

#DoubleSpin in July @TheAromaofBooks
6th book for #JubilantJuly @Andrew65

AnneCecilie #foodandlit #France @Texreader @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks 3y

Texreader Fantastic! My daughter would love that book. This time period in France is her focus for studying history at the university 3y

AnneCecilie @Texreader It‘s definitely an interesting time period. I just love Versailles and likes to read about how the court life there worked. 3y

Andrew65 They did like a good war! Well done 👏👏👏 3y

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3y

55 likes1 stack add5 comments

ahoffkosik

The Royal Diaries: Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles, Austria-France, 1769 | Kathryn Lasky

You might think you know a lot about Marie Antoinette. You probably learned in high school history class about how she turned out to be a pretty terrible queen — you know, “let them eat cake” and all that. 🍰 But Marie Antoinette lived a whole lot of life before any of that happened, and in the fourth installment of the beloved Royal Diaries series, we get a chance to explore it. My guest and I discuss on this week‘s ep! Link to listen in bio! 👑

9 likes

SaraBeth_RN

Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow: A Novel of Marie Antoinette | Juliet Grey

Just finished!
#1 of 2021

2 likes

writerlibrarian

Angelique: The Road to Versailles | Anne Golon, Sergeanne Golon

Angelique. It's a book saga, it's a series of awful, awful misogynistic French films all written by men. When Anne found out about the scripts she was appalled. The book covers on French are very different. From the paperback editions I read as a teen to the one we now have on the shelves at my library, with only Anne's name on the cover. I did made sure to buy the new editions for the library. Alas, not all the titles were reedited.

LeahBergen

TrishB I read these in my teens too 😁 loved them. 5y

LeahBergen I love seeing the old covers for these! Thank you. 😘 5y

26 likes2 comments

LeahBergen

Angelique: The Road to Versailles | Anne Golon, Sergeanne Golon

Day 6 of #20Series20Days.

I started collecting this French historical series about the 17th-century vixen, Angelique, many years ago. There are 13 books in total but only the first 10 have ever been translated into English.

Aren‘t the covers fabulous? 😂😂 The Bantam paperback covers from the 1970s are even racier. 😂

#Top20Series

Andrew65

MsMelissa I have the first book in pb and the style is similar, although a little more Harlequinesque 😂 I really must read it, especially since you like it. 5y

LeahBergen @Book_Fiend_Melissa They‘re very old-fashioned but I think it just adds to their charm. 😆 5y

Ruthiella Excellent covers! Pure pulp. ❤️ 5y

See All 32 Comments

MsMelissa I just had a look at my copy of the first book. It‘s Bantom circa the ‘70s, but it isn‘t the cover I thought I had. It‘s just a picture of a blond woman who isn‘t even that scantily clad. I‘m a little disappointed 😂 5y

Andrew65 Looks like a good choice. 5y

AlaMich Never heard of these, but they look like they‘re a hoot! 5y

writerlibrarian The story behind these is really something Anne Golon fought for most of her life to get her copyright that her editor took away from her. She wrote the books. They made movies and the actor who played Joffrey somehow got the rights from Hachette. She finally got her rights back in the late 2000s and published new editions at the age of 95. (edited) 5y

writerlibrarian If you read french you can check out this article https://www.lepoint.fr/livres/anne-golon-l-auteur-de-la-serie-angelique-est-dece... 5y

CarolynM They look fabulous. Thanks for the backstory @writerlibrarian 5y

JamieArc Oooh. I‘m intrigued! 5y

emilyhaldi Will you never run out of amazing covers to share?! 🤩 5y

erzascarletbookgasm Very cool! Loving your top series you‘re sharing! 😘 5y

quietjenn These look amazing! 5y

LeahBergen @Ruthiella Aren‘t they? 😆 5y

LeahBergen @Book_Fiend_Melissa Drat. Well, look at some of the others further along in the series. I think Angelique and the Sultan gets pretty S&M-ey looking. 😆 5y

LeahBergen @Andrew65 You might like them. 😄 5y

LeahBergen @AlaMich They are. 😆 5y

LeahBergen @writerlibrarian Yes! And wasn‘t there a thing about the name? Serge was her husband but didn‘t really have anything to do with the writing of the books ... and yet the early ones were published with the amalgamation of their names (Sergeanne)? They were later (correctly) published under Anne‘s name. So fascinating. Have you read any of them? I was hoping one of my French-speaking friends would chime in! 😘 5y

LeahBergen @CarolynM Yes, the publishing story for these is pretty fascinating! And a little more👆🏻 5y

LeahBergen @JamieArc They are some good old-fashioned historical fiction. 😊 5y

LeahBergen @emilyhaldi Ha! These are pretty good, aren‘t they? 😆 5y

LeahBergen @erzascarletbookgasm Aww, thank you! 😘😘 5y

LeahBergen @quietjenn They are really quite good! And actually have quite a large fandom. 😆 5y

batsy The covers are fab! I appreciate the context; thanks @writerlibrarian 💜 5y

writerlibrarian @LeahBergen Serge was a Russian journalist, he did a lot of the research for the books. Since it was the 1950s France was and still is is very much a man's world in the literary publishing world, hence both the names on the books, like the Claudine series Colette wrote but her husband Willy got his name on. Some titles in French are almost impossible to find. I have a cache of them to replace copies at the library. 5y

writerlibrarian @LeahBergen I read them when I was 15, 16 years old. In French there are no almost purple prose. They are good, somewhat dramatic historical novels. My favorite parts of the series is the timeline is the road to Versailles see I'm not a Joffrey fan but a Philippe fan. 5y

writerlibrarian Here's a link to articles about the whole Angelique world. https://www.worldofangelique.com/all-posts/ 5y

andrew61 Wow love those covers. 5y

LeahBergen @writerlibrarian It made me think of Colette, too! And I preferred the earlier books in the series, as well. Thanks so much for all the extra information. Are they still being frequently read at your library? 5y

LeahBergen @batsy @andrew61 They‘re quite something, aren‘t they? 😆 5y

Cathythoughts Oh stop ! These are brilliant ❤️ 5y

LeahBergen @Cathythoughts I‘m partial to the Sultan cover. 😆😆 5y

69 likes3 stack adds32 comments

toofondofbooks

Before Versailles: Before the History You Know...a Novel of Louis XIV | Karleen Koen

pick

Set during the early years of Louis XIV's reign. I enjoyed this historical fiction but liked Koen's trilogy about Charles Stuart better.

23 likes1 stack add

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