Genres: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
Format: Kindle, Paperback
MARIE ANTOINETTE: THE COURAGEOUS END by Margaret Anne MacLeod
Synopsis:
Did the shameless, sex-mad Marie Antoinette deserve to be guillotined? The Parisians thought so. What would you have thought if you had been there in 1792? Whose side would you have been on? The side of 7,000 French aristocrats and the awesome Austrian and Prussian armies advancing on Paris to raze it to the ground, wreaking destruction across France as they advanced? Or the side of the starving people, fighting to protect their brand new parliament and their brand new rights to liberty, equality and brotherhood? Whose side would you have been on? Who would you have been marching with? What would you have thought of your deceitful king, Louis XVI, and his spendthrift wife Marie Antoinette, who had secretly invited these formidable German armies to march on Paris – to restore their absolute monarchy and annihilate all your new rights? Would you have stormed Marie Antoinette’s palace with the downtrodden people? Would you have guillotined her?
As the shrieking Parisians stormed their palace, the apathetic Louis waited for death, while Marie Antoinette fought valiantly for her life. She wanted to live – for the sake of her darling son, whom she burned to see on the throne of France. Not to mention her darling comte Axel de Fersen, the handsome Swedish nobleman she had fallen in love with 18 years before. Yes, 36 year old Marie Antoinette had loved the dashing Fersen for 18 years, because her hopeless, sweet, liar of a husband – was never enough for the tragic queen. Find out why in this book. The furious Parisians stormed Marie Antoinette’s palace and imprisoned her. And this once thoughtless, pleasure seeking queen transformed herself into the courageous, admirable queen she should always have been. But it was too late to save her life and her throne. If only she had changed while she still had time. If only the people had got to know the new admirable queen. Share Marie Antoinette’s agony as she dutifully remained at the side of her hopeless, sweet, liar of a husband, as the Parisians stormed her palace.
Witness the last heart-breaking meeting between Marie Antoinette and her husband – before he was led off to the guillotine. Experience her anguish on the day they wrenched her shrieking little boy (now a child-king) out of her arms – forever. Feel for her 14 year old daughter on the night the callous revolutionaries came for Marie Antoinette. No wonder the queen’s beauty had faded! No wonder her hair had begun to turn white! This book reveals Marie Antoinette as you’ve never known her. Forget the beautiful, smiling, thoughtless, pleasure seeking queen forever dancing at some glittering, magnificent ball. Meet the other Marie Antoinette – tormented throughout her harrowing imprisonment. And will this chilling but ultimately life affirming novel about the agonizing last year of Marie Antoinette’s turbulent life make you change your mind about the tragic queen?
Based on contemporary accounts, and with characters (most of whom were actual historical personages) speaking the very words they recalled in their memoirs. Includes as extras: 20 pages of snippets from Marie Antoinette’s letters to her beloved comte Axel de Fersen, the love of her life – “I love you with all my heart.” Should she have given him up? After all, the people called her a whore because of this love. And extracts from the memoir by Marie Therese, Marie Antoinette’s traumatized daughter – detailing the brutality she endured after the execution of her mother: “Her soul was separated from her body, and ascended to receive its reward in the bosom of our merciful Creator.” And of course – Marie Antoinette’s beloved son. What happened to the child? Unspeakable torment and abuse, resulting in a lonely, heart breaking death, sad beyond words – while in solitary confinement. “He looked at me with an expression which seemed to say: ‘Dispatch your victim.’” Website: www.marieantoinettethecourageousend.com for more.
Marie Antoinette: The Courageous End, written by Margaret Anne MacLeod, tells the story of the last Queen of France, Marie Antoinette, and her life during the French Revolution and her eventual gruesome demise by guillotine. Known mainly for her historical reputation as the fun-loving, exuberant, beautiful, petite, and perhaps promiscuous wife of King Louis XVI, this amazing book gives a different view of the Queen, and a detailed and well-researched insight into the life of a once powerful and revered woman. Married at age fourteen to a man who was to become king, Marie Antoinette appears to have replaced her unfulfilled marital expectations with lovers and the high life, having discovered from the outset that Louis was a weak and uninteresting spouse. But that changes as Marie finds her inner strength to protect the throne, the king, and their children, from those who had had enough of a queen who had, for years, squandered their hard-earned taxes.
Marie Antoinette: The Courageous End takes the reader into the eighteenth century world of a woman who left her wild side behind and strived to save her family and her loyal friends, servants, and protectors. True, there is a man who has won her heart and who she loved for many years, but the reader is led to understand the queen’s heart, to applaud her loyalty, and to empathize with her devastation at her lost love. History tells us of the sad end to this story, for the queen and for her family, but this book is written with such emotion and passion that the reader is left heartbroken for her. It is a story that will linger in the mind of the reader, and perhaps offer some compassion for an infamous queen who held her head high to the end.
The writing style of the author, Margaret Anne MacLeod, is very appealing, with short, punchy sentences that add to the fluidity and pace of the writing. Clearly well researched, this is a memorable and exceptionally well written account of the life of Marie Antoinette from the age of fourteen, focusing more on her struggles some years later. The descriptions of the settings, the characters, and the betrayals of the era are incredible, and the authenticity of the work is enhanced by the excerpts of some of Marie Antoinette’s love letters to Axel de Fersen, and from a memoir written by her daughter. All in all, Marie Antoinette: The Courageous End is an excellent book and highly recommended by Artisan Book Reviews. Although almost four hundred pages in length, this reader completed the book in three days, unable to leave the story until the very end.
Purchase Marie Antoinette: The Courageous End today.
