BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS
(Print: October 3, 2006; 978-0060825393; William Morrow; First Edition; 560 pages)
*Audio-CD:2006; 9780061230653; HarperCollins Publishers; duration 11:00:00 (10 discs); Abridged.
(Digital: Yes)
(Film: Not that I know of).

NOTE: (I'd been keeping an Excel list of CD's, Prints, and Cassettes as I read/listened, that I am now adding here, so that I have all of the materials I have already "read" in one place. I did not do a “Summary/Evaluation” of them at the time, so , depending on how well memory serves in each case, evaluations here will probably be especially sketchy.)

SERIES
N/A

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
How I picked it: It was a book on CD available at the Newport Beach Friends of the Library book sale. I like history, so purchased it.
What it’s about: The life of Marie Antoinette.
What I thought: I found it educational and liked that it treated her as a character I could have sympathy for.

AUTHOR:
Sena Jeter Naslund::
“"Sena Jeter Naslund (born June 28, 1942) is an American writer. She has published seven novels and two collections of short fiction. Her 1999 novel, Ahab's Wife, and her 2003 novel, Four Spirits, were each named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.[1][2] She is the Writer in Residence at University of Louisville[3] and the Program Director for the MFA in Writing at Spalding University in the same city.[4] In 2005, Governor Ernie Fletcher named Naslund Poet Laureate of Kentucky.[5][6]" __Wikipedia.

NARRATOR:
Burney, Susanna:
“Susanna Burney is an actress, known for The Ward (2010), F.E.A.R. Extraction Point (2006) and F.E.A.R. First Encounter Assault Recon (2005).” __IMDb

GENRE:
Fiction; Historical Fiction

LOCATIONS:
France

TIME FRAME
18th Century

SUBJECTS:
Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, Austria, France

DEDICATION
For my beloved daughter Flora Kathryn Naslund

SAMPLE QUOTATION:
From Chapter One ”Act One” “An Island in the Rhine River, May 1770”
“Like everyone, I am born naked,
I do not refer to my actual birth, mercifully in hidden in the silk folds of memory, but to my birth as a citizen of France-citoyenne, they would say. Having shed all my clothing, I stand in a room on an island in the middle of the Rhine River–naked. My bare feet occupy for this moment a spot considered to be neutral between beloved Austria and France. The sky blue silk of my discarded skirt wreaths my ankles, and I fancy I am standing barefooted in a puddle of pretty water.
My chest is flat as a shield, marked only by two pink rosebuds of nipples. I refuse to be afraid. In the months since I became fourteen, I’ve watched these pleasant rosebuds becoming a bit plump and pinker. Now the fingers and hands of my attendants are stretching toward my neck to remove a smooth circlet of Austrian pearls.
I try to picture the French boy, whom I have never seen, extending large hands toward me, beckoning. What is he doing this very moment, deep in the heart of France? At fifteen, a year older than myself, he must be tall and strong. There must be other words than tall and strong to think of-to describe him, to help me imagine and embody his reality.”

RATING:
4 stars.

STARTED-FINISHED
9/17/2010 - 10/29/2010 ( )

3.5 stars. I really knew nothing about Marie Antoinette. So, I'm glad I read this. People say this account paints her in a positive light, but through most of the book, I can't say I felt that way. ( )

This is a fictional account of Marie Antoinette’s life, as she moved from being a princess in Austria to the queen of France before the French Revolution overthrew the French monarchy.

I listened to the audio and it just didn’t draw me in much, so since I was often distracted, I did miss much of it. I have read only one or two other books on Marie Antoinette. I found some of the vocabulary used in the book a bit… “pretentious”? I can’t think of a good word – “high-falutin’”? (LOL!) I suppose pretentious works. That certainly didn’t help get me more interested. I am still rating it ok, as it did pick up a bit toward the end during the Revolution. I did find interesting what happened to Marie and Louis’ son and daughter after their parents were put to death. I likely did read of that previously, but I had forgotten. ( )

It's amazing how much I learned reading this book. There was very little I knew about Marie Antoinette, the French throne, the Austrian throne, and the political intrigue between the two. ( )

This extremely thorough but fictionalized account of the life of Marie Antoinette was just ok for me.
The dialogue felt dry and the pace was too slow.
Also some of the internal dialogue was just odd. The entire birth scene of Madam Royale is just ludicrous.
I've had natural childbirth. It's not at all dreamy. It's painful and hardwork.
I'd definitely read another book by this author. ( )