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There are currently 17 member reviews
for The Queen's Lover
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Suzanne G. (Bremerton, WA)
Like a sweet dessert
This book is brief for a historical novel, with little of the biographic and period detail one might expect.
Du Plessix Gray is a fine writer who sneaks in sideways glances at the truth of her characters. Our poor hero, Felsen, for example, is so besotted by Marie Antoinette he can't begin to comprehend why the people hate her even as he describes her unimaginable excesses, which he sees as adorable.
With lush prose, Gray presents an original view of Paris and Versailles during the Revolution. This is an enjoyable book for lovers of royalty.
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Constance C. (Manchester, New Hampshire)
The Queen/s Lover
This historical novel is based on the untold love story of Marie Antoinette and Count Axel von Fersen. Due to the excess amount of details I can only rate it as good. Some of the descriptions are very interesting. I did not care for the main character. Count Alex. But found myself sympathetic to the royal family, their reputations have not been very good thru the years. This pictures them as loving parents, and much nicer individuals. The book is beautifully written, and researched with a different vision of the French Revolution. That said, I found myself losing interest due to the excess details.
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Caroline R. (New Canaan, CT)
Interesting
This was an interesting look at the reign of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. In places it was difficult to follow and this was not helped by its "diary" format. Overall, a detailed historical account and a good read for someone with an avid interest in this area.
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Kristine L. (The Woodlands, TX)
A disappointment
I am always sad when I need to write a tough review as I assume the book was the love of the author's life. I felt as though the book was trying to do a bit too much and possibly attempted to capitalize on Marie Antoinette when really the author wished to the tell the story only of Fersen. It is true that this period of history is always exciting to read in a historical fiction context as well as non fiction so I've given the review an average rating. I suspect those seeking details about the Queen will be disappointed.
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Marti L. (Warner, NH)
The Frenzied Masses
Thank you BookBrowse for the chance to read The Queen's Lover, an arc novel.
The Queen's Lover is about Count Axel Von Fersen and his heart's desire Marie Antoinette. The book follows his life from the time he meets Marie until his death. It is told in journal entries, letters, repeated conversations and at times by his best friend, his sister Sophie. The book highlights the affair of these two very public people before and during the French Revolution. The time of the novel really follows the decades of unrest, when people were fighting for more rights for the common people. The horror of the mob and the frenzy of the masses will stay with me for sometime. Count Axel maintained a very public stance for the monarchy, which in the end may have been his undoing.
The novel is fiction, that reads like a nonfiction book. There are many sources cited and added within the story. To me, this added more realism to a story that I found at times horrific in regard to human life. I found the book a slower read than I usually like, but I was sufficiently invested in the story to complete the book.
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Virginia P. (Tallahassee, FL)
The Queen's Lover
As I read this book, I wondered what in the world I would say about it. Historical fiction, "The Queen's Lover" tells of the reign in France of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and in addition, the romantic pursuit of the Queen by her purported lover, Swedish nobleman, Count Axel von Fersen. To me, the book presentation did not make for a smooth read. The historical facts in many cases were inserted in the story and read like a page from a history book. While the author's writing skills are excellent, this method proved disconcerting to me. A better example of incorporating history with fiction is in "The Winter Palace" by Eva Stachniak. I do not think this is a good book for book clubs as there is not too much that would make for a lively discussion.
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Glenn H. (Las Vegas, NV)
Not what I expected
I really wanted to like this book and admittedly there were parts that I enjoyed, but overall this book is not what I hoped it would be. It was less about the love affair between a queen and her forbidden lover or even about a likeable forbidden lover but more about (and often depressingly so) the decline of the French aristocracy, the French Revolution and the royal lineages of western Europe. As an aside the final conclusion of the novel is written on the back which I thought was very odd. Overall just neutral on this book.
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