Farewell, my Queen - Couverture souple

Thomas, Chantal

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 075382017X ISBN 13 : 9780753820179

Editeur : Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 2004

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

It was once the job of Madame Agathe-Sidonie Laborde to read books aloud to Marie-Antoinette. Now exiled in Vienna, she looks back twenty-one years to the legendary opulence of Versailles and meticulously reconstructs July 14, 15, and 16 of 1789.
When Agathe-Sidonie is summoned to the Queen's side on the morning of the 14th, Versailles is a miniature universe, sparkling with every outward appearance of happiness and power, peopled with nobles of minutely calibrated rank, and run according to a hundred-year-old ritual called the Perfect Day. But with the shocking news that someone has woken the King in the night, order begins to disintegrate and word of the fall of the Bastille seeps into court. Soon Versailles's beauty is nothing more than a shell encasing rising panic and chaos. Agathe-Sidonie watches as the Queen's attempts to flee are aborted; her most intimate friend betrays her; and the King, appearing to sleepwalk through this crisis, never alters his routine of visiting the Apollo Salon several times a day to consult a giant crystal thermometer.
From the tiniest garret to the Hall of Mirrors, where Marie-Antoinette stands alone and terrified in the dark, Chantal Thomas shows us a world on the edge of oblivion and an intimate portrait of the woman who, like "fire in motion," was its center.

Revue de presse :

"Elegant, powerful ... No ordinary historical novel. It's a bravura glimpse into a time past and a dreamlike life that seemed to have nowhere to go but into oblivion." -The Washington Post Book World

“Delightful ... Vivid and elegant ... [A] rich tableau vivant ... In these pages the ill-fated queen is allowed to be human.” –The New York Times Book Review

“Illuminating ... Intimate ... The charm of its language, Thomas’ thorough research, and her compassion for her subject not only imbue the novel with remarkable authenticity but also render it a memorable billet-doux to a bygone France.” –Orlando Sentinel

“A fascinating portrayal ... Gorgeous details.” –The Christian Science Monitor

"Graceful, exquisitely detailed . . . the delights of this rendition lie in the details. . . . Like the tiny enamel painting of Marie Antoinette's bright blue eye that inspires Laborde's reminiscences, this is a cunning, gem-like miniature." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Compelling . . . Thomas's formidable skills as a researcher gives the book authenticity, and her keen eye for human behavior makes it sing." --Booklist (starred review)

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )
• Date d'édition: 2004
• ISBN 10: 075382017X
• ISBN 13: 9780753820179
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 256