Farewell, My Queen - Hardcover

Chantal Thomas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0297645501 ISBN 13: 9780297645504

Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004

Synopsis

Detailed and dramatic novel narrated by Agathe-Sidonie Laborde, companion and lectrice of Marie-Antoinette. It is the day of Agathe's sixty-fifth birthday, Vienna 1810, as she looks back on the most tumultous days of her life. The action begins on 14 juillet 1789 and details the last hours during which Louis XVI, the intimates of the royal family and most of the Court flee from Versailles. Told in a simple but pacy and engaging manner, the narrator recounts intimate 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.

About this title

About the Author:

Chantal Thomas, a specialist in 18th century literature, is Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France. She is the author of THE WICKED QUEEN: THE ORIGINS OF THE MYTH OF MARIE ANTOINETTE and COPING WITH FREEDOM: REFLECTIONS ON EPHEMERAL HAPPINESS. FAREWELL, MY QUEEN is her first novel.

Review:

'...charming...Chantal Thomas recreates the ravishing spectacle of Versailles, as seen through the eyes of naive Agathe-Sidonie Laborde, companion and lectrice to the enigmatic Marie-Antoinette...full of wonderful descriptions.' -- Janina Pogorzelski LADY MAGAZINE (23.12.03) 'A well written slice of history...Cast in evocative, observant prose, it generates in the reader a real sense of being a fly on the wall, eavesdropping on the affairs of the great and the not so good.' -- Helen Falconer GUARDIAN (10.1.04) 'All the intimate details of the last days are recounted with remarkable observation, and the reader feels that he or she is actually part of what is happening...the novel is obviously based on meticulous research. This is history in its most readable form.' -- Tim Manderson PUBLISHING NEWS (10.10.03) 'Chantal Thomas makes a smooth transition from historian to fiction writer, using her knowledge of the era to enhance her already evocative turn of phrase. Versaille in all its opulence and debauchery is deftly brought to life and the poetry of these lyrical passages in not lost in their translation from the original French...an impressive debut.' -- Lucy Evans INK (1.1.04) 'a fascinating picture of life at Versailles.' -- David Coward TLS (16.1.04) 'Marie-Antoinette s the subject of hundreds of biographies and movels, but perhaps none of them brings the reader quite so close to her as Farewell, My Queen...The author's imaginative fluency and her close acquantance with every detail are astonishing; her writing is delicate, aerial, precise.' -- Hilary Mantel NEW STATESMAN (19.1.04) 'Thomas...has researched her subject deeply. She conveys impeccably the spirit of the time...the book offers fascinating insights into three days that changed forever the social structure of France.' -- Clare Colvin INDEPENDENT (27.1.04) 'It's a racy, pacy story with a cast of rogues and villains and a wardrobe to make you swoon.' MAIL ON SUNDAY (25.1.04) 'This is a charming and entertaining read about the end of an era.' GOOD BOOK GUIDE 'Thomas knows her Versailles; she gives a vivid picture of the glorious ship that was the ancien regime, of the ebb and flow of hope and fear as it began to founder, and of that elusive moment when power vanishes, never to return.' -- Joanna Hines LITERARY REVIEW (May 2004)

About this edition

• Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0297645501
• ISBN 13: 9780297645504
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256