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Louis XIV to French Revolution - suggestions?

annis
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Post by annis » Wed February 10th, 2010, 8:12 pm

I'll toss in this one as well- what I'd call an 18th century romantic adventure, set around La Fayette's involvement in the American War of Independence; Cheryl Sawyer's "Rebel"

Feuchtwanger's more serious novel "Proud Destiny" also has a connection with the American War of Independence

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Miss Moppet
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Post by Miss Moppet » Wed February 10th, 2010, 10:49 pm

annis wrote:I'm sure I saw mention somewhere (Tanzanite?) of a forthcoming novel about Napoleon's rather scandalous sister, Pauline, as well.
Oh, I hope so! I'd love to read a Pauline novel.
annis wrote:Fanny Deschamp's novel set in the Louis XV period is available in English translation as "The King's Garden" (I have a copy)
Yes I first read it in translation - and remember not liking it as much as I expected from the setting, but that was about 20 years ago and after such a long lapse books often seem quite different! I remember it was a library copy with a pretty green colour. I had to sneak it home because my mother took against it for some reason.
annis wrote:A novel featuring Louis XIV"s garden which I also enjoyed (in English translation ) is "Gardener to the King", by Frédéric Richaud.
Yes, I knew there was something like this but I couldn't remember the author or title - thanks!
Misfit wrote:There's also D du M's The Glass Blowers. About her forebears (am I spelling that right?) in France and the focus is on the countryside and not the royalty. You see how the family came to England along with the origins of the Du Maurier name.
I've read that, just once years and years ago. It was in the uniform set of DduM my mother got from a book club or something. A re-read is overdue but I'd forgotten about it - thanks!
Ludmilla wrote:The Ivory Mischief by Arthur Meeker (about two aristocratic sisters in 17thC France)
I'd never heard of this one - just found a review. Sounds good!

annis
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Post by annis » Wed February 10th, 2010, 11:12 pm

There is an old novel about Pauline B by Edgar Maass, published I think in the late 1940s. It's called "Imperial Venus", and was used as the basis for a later movie starring Gina Lollobrigida as Pauline.

Edit- Just have to add this wonderful article from Catherine Delors' blog- Minister of Police Joseph Fouché's comments about Pauline. Clearly he wasn't a fan!
http://blog.catherinedelors.com/2009/05 ... parte.aspx
Last edited by annis on Thu February 11th, 2010, 2:06 am, edited 4 times in total.

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Miss Moppet
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Post by Miss Moppet » Wed February 10th, 2010, 11:49 pm

[quote=""annis""]
Edit- Just have to add this wonderful article from Catherine Delors' blog- Minister of Police Joseph Fouché's comments about Pauline. Clearly he wasn't a fan!
http://blog.catherinedelors.com/2009/05 ... parte.aspx[/quote]

Haha, that is scurrilous!! He may have had a score to pay off, wonder if Pauline ever turned him down!

annis
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Post by annis » Thu February 11th, 2010, 2:08 am

There is a distinct flavour of sour grapes in his remarks, so who knows? :)

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Catherine Delors
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Post by Catherine Delors » Thu February 11th, 2010, 9:52 pm

Hi guys, just popping in! Yes, Pauline would make a great novel, with one caveat: waaay too much material.

As for Fouche, he was driven by sour grapes all right, but his animosity was directed at Napoleon, not Pauline. And he was far too cautious a man to get involved with someone as unreliable and potentially dangerous as she. She was also rumored to have caught a social disease (he would know, he was Minister of Police) so I don't think he would have been tempted. And I think she was a bit vulgar for his taste. Even Josephine was borderline for him. He was a defrocked monk, after all, and liked honest women. I will have to check whether his Memoirs have been translated into English. They are a riot to read.

Fouche slipped in very easily into the part of the villain in my second novel, For the King. At first I thought the assassins were going to be the bad guys, but no, he just stole the show, unbidden. Sorry, no Pauline in there, though. Next time, maybe... ;)

annis
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Post by annis » Sun February 14th, 2010, 3:35 am

I was intrigued by the mention of Arthur Meeker, as I'd never heard of him before. It turns out that he also wrote another novel called "The Silver Plume" 1952), described as a tale of plots and counter-plots in 17th century France, revolving around a young boy who discovers that he is really the Duc de Rohan.

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Amanda
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Post by Amanda » Sun February 14th, 2010, 9:48 am

To Dance with Kings by Rosalind Laker??? I haven't read it yet but IIRC it is in that time period.

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Catherine Delors
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Post by Catherine Delors » Sun February 14th, 2010, 10:08 am

Yessss! Fouche's Memoirs online, and free:

http://www.archive.org/details/memoirso ... f015701mbp

I haven't checked the quality of the translation.

The Wikipedia entry on Fouche takes the position that they are apocryphal. That point has been hotly debated since their publication, but the latest scholarship is that they are authentic. One certainly "hears" Fouche's voice. They have been recently republished in France.

Enjoy!

annis
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Post by annis » Sun February 14th, 2010, 5:53 pm

Thanks, Catherine :) Has anyone read Stefan Zweig's biography of Fouche? it's come up here and there and wondered if it was worth tracking down.

I seem to remember that "To Dance With Kings" covers several generations during the period Miss M is interested in, but it's many years since I've read any of Laker's books. I've seen mention of an author called Joan Sanders who apparently wrote some HF back in the '60s and '70s, but can't see much around. There is a listing on eBay for one called "The Marquis" (1963) --'France, Louis XIV' is all the detail it provides.

Edit: A bit more about the Joan Sanders books from The Amazon forum where I spotted them
--"Baneful Sorceries" (about the Affaire des Poisons), "La Petite" (Louise de la Valliere) and "The Marquis" (about Madame de Montespan's husband).
Last edited by annis on Sun February 14th, 2010, 7:18 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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