Dimensions
141 x 207 x 27mm
A novel set in Versailles in the aftermath of the storming of Bastilles in the court of Marie-Antoinette. This detailed and dramatic novel is narrated by Agathe-Sidonie Laborde, companion and lectrice to Marie-Antoinette.
It is the day of Agathe's sixty-fifth birthday, Vienna 1810, as she looks back on the most tumultuous days of her life. The action begins on 14 July 1789 and details the last hours during which Louis XVI, the close associates of the royal family and most of the Court flee from Versailles.
Told in a simple but pacy and engaging manner, the narrator recounts, in intimate detail, the last days of the queen and the various intrigues which are thrown up as the Court disintegrates. This is a fantastically commercial book which transports the reader back to 1789 and is written with great drive and narrative tension. Chantal Thomas is a specialist of the period so the novel is also based on years of historical research.