Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund

Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette



Download Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette




Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette Sena Jeter Naslund ebook
Language: English
Page: 561
Format: pdf
ISBN: 0060825391, 9780060825393
Publisher: William Morrow

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The opening sentence of Naslund's fictional memoir of Marie Antoinette ("Like everyone, I am born naked") sets a hypnotically intimate tone that never wavers as the much-maligned Austrian princess recounts her life from baptism in the Rhine and rebirth as French citizen to appointment with the guillotine. In Naslund's (Ahab's Wife) sympathetic portrayal, 14-year-old "Toinette" arrives in France a pretty-mannered naïf determined to please the king, the court and, most importantly, her husband, the Dauphin. The novel provides a wealth of detail as Toinette savors the food, architecture, music and gardens of Versailles; indulges in hair and clothing rituals; gets acquainted with her indifferent partner and her scheming new relations; and experiences motherhood and loss. Her story unfolds like classical tragedy—the outcome known, the account riveting—as famous incidents are reinterpreted (the affair of the necklace, the flight to Varennes), culminating in a heartbreaking description of the bloody head of the Princess de Lamballe held aloft on a pike for the deposed queen to see. With vivid detail and exquisite narrative technique, Naslund exemplifies the best of historical fiction, finding the woman beneath the pose, a queen facing history as it rises up against her. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From

Sena Jeter Naslund (Ahab's Wife, 1999) relies on the abundant romance and intrigue of 18th-century France to buoy the weaker moments of her narrative. Her Marie Antoinette is self-absorbed, coddled, and fluttery, a woman who seems to care more about friends and flowers than about the growing discontentment in her adopted country. Reviewers are divided on whether this depiction of the queen renders her an unsuitable narrator. Marie's perspective is a valuable reminder of her lifelong vulnerability and struggle to fit in, but her inability to see very far outside her head means the reader may occasionally miss out on valuable cultural context ? or simply lose interest.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

MORE EBOOKS:







Tags: Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette ebook pdf epub djvu mobi rar
Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette pdf epub djvu free download
Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette free ebook pdf epub
Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette read online free book
Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette cheap ebook for kindle and nook
Sena Jeter Naslund ebooks and audio books
Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette download pdf epub rar rapidshare mediafire fileserve 4shared torrent depositfiles scribd