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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.
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.
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.
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
…more 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. (less)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
…more 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. (less)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.
Therese X. (Calera, AL)
Queen's Lover revealed as lackluster swain
The Palace of Versailles in 1774 is the first meeting place of the tall, elegant Swede, Count Axel von Fersen and the saucy yet childlike Marie Antoinette, wife of King Louis XV of France. Mutual attraction soon blossomed into a lifelong love affair, according to von Fersen's extensive memoir written toward the end of his life and published posthumously by his adoring sister, Sophie. With a phenomenal memory, the Count records his upbringing in Sweden, then his many visits to France as the adoring swain of Marie Antoinette. A temporary absence in 1778 to fight with the American Revolution separated the two
…more lovers, and The Count records the facts in his usual linear manner. Revolution would figure ironically in his own life. America, then France and most horribly on his return to Sweden. His carefully written adventures and amorous devotion to the Queen should have made for an exciting historical novel, yet from the beginning the memoir reads like an ongoing history lesson with occasional details of intimacy interspersed. Even the imagined dialogue disappointed, often having a modern flavor with one anachronistic remark that pushes the reader right out of the time period. The one animated description was the revelation that the glorious outside splendor of Versailles was belied by the smells and vermin that permeated life on the inside. Unpleasant but vividly presented. Yet, what could have been a vibrant historical novel by this prominent and well-known writer is often a tedious retelling rather than showing, due partially perhaps to the staid memoir itself. Despite admirable research, the book itself falls short of an engaging historical romance novel. (less)I have to start this review by saying that I am an avid reader not a writer. This is my first review for Book Browse.
Although written as historical fiction The Queen's Lover by Francine Du Plessix Gray reads like a rather dull history text book. Every so often gratuitous sexual descriptions are added to the narrative in a failed attempt to add life to the story.
French is continually used but with no English translation. Frustration and boredom are not a good combination.
The story is about the love affair between Swedish aristocrat Axel Von Fersen and Marie Antoinette.The affair begins in friendship and devotion
…more to the future King and Queen.
I always finish any book that I start to read but was sorely tempted to stop this one soon after Marie Antoinette meets the guillotine. (less)
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