1722, l’infante espagnole est envoyée en France pour épouser le futur Louis XV, alors que la fille du Régent part pour Madrid épouser le futur roi d’Espagne. Un roman au cœur des enfances royales, des éducations au pouvoir et à la soumission aux règles, des innocences bridées et des amitiés intéressées. Un récit historique et romancé intensément documenté, riche en citations et qui pourtant émeut devant ces destins sacrifiés pour des raisons politiques. ( )

The author’s careful attention to detail and the amount of research she did is very evident right off the bat. The lush descriptions of Georgian court life and the extravagant world of the nobility comes to vivid reality. I could almost hear the rustle of silk and clink of jewels in real life.

I really enjoyed the subject matter explored in the book. Not only the lives of royals in the Georgian era, always a fascinating subject of historical fiction lovers. The way that royal children were utilized as commodities to obtain peace and power was also an enthralling subject. The author does a great job of making the reader feel for these youngsters as they’re thrust into a world they’re not prepared for and roles that seem daunting.

Yet, I think this book has a severe identity crisis that kills the work overall. At times this book would read as a historical fiction and at others it would read as a non-fiction. Alternately, the reader would get into the character’s heads and explore their motivations. And then the next paragraph we would be given dates, facts, and figures interspersed with snatches of primary material. More than once I was thrown from the narrative as we flip flopped from book style to book style so that by the end, I just really wanted the book to be over with.

So while there is some interesting material explored within and in vibrant, life-like detail, this book ultimately fails for me as its flipping between book styles. I actually finished the book in disgust, wishing it would make up its mind on fiction or non-fiction. So maybe read if you’re really hard up for reading material, but I wouldn’t go out of your way to find this one.

Note: Book received for free from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

This one was a quick read, if nothing else. I had not been familiar with the figures of Louise Elisabeth of Orleans or Mariana Victoria of Spain previously, so it was interesting to learn about their parallel experiences as extremely young brides in the French and Spanish royal courts. Interesting, but I would have liked to have more exploration of the issues of childhood and neglect (as the forward hinted at). ( )

DNF'ing. In a year when I'm hoping to get 25 books read, I can't waste time on ones that bore me. I'm pretending I might pick this one up again but I really ought to just call a spade a spade a move on.

My biggest problem is the narrative style is oddly choppy and reminds me a bit of Hilary Mantel. It doesn't land for me; I don't know if it works better in French but as it is translated, it just feels distant and disjointed. I don't feel anything for our child brides, the princesses being exchanged between Spain and France, and despite the promise made in the Foreward -- an exploration of the emotional abuse caused by flinging children into strange households -- the novel felt super clinical. ( )