THE HIDDEN DIARY OF MARIE ANTOINETTE

Author: Carolly Erickson ISBN: 0312337086 9/2005 HISTORICAL Publisher: ST. MARTIN'S PRESS
Time Period: 1769 - 1793

Imagine that, on the night before she is to die under the blade of the guillotine, Marie Antoinette leaves behind in her prison cell a diary telling the story of her life—from her privileged childhood as Austrian Archduchess to her years as glamorous mistress of Versailles to the heartbreak of imprisonment and humiliation during the French Revolution. Carolly Erickson takes the reader deep into the psyche of France’s doomed queen: her love affair with handsome Swedish diplomat Count Axel Fersen, who risked his life to save her; her fears on the terrifying night the Parisian mob broke into her palace bedroom intent on murdering her and her family; her harrowing attempted flight from France in disguise; her recapture and the grim months of harsh captivity; her agony when her beloved husband was guillotined and her young son was torn from her arms, never to be seen again. Erickson brilliantly captures the queen’s voice, her hopes, her dreads, and her suffering. We follow, mesmerized, as she reveals every detail of her remarkable, eventful life—from her teenage years when she began keeping a diary to her final days when she awaited her own bloody appointment with the guillotine.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

One of the best things about THE HIDDEN DIARY OF MARIE ANTOINETTE is its insight into perhaps one of the most maligned and misquoted women of the 18th century. Carolly Erickson runs readers through a gambit of emotions for the ill-fated queen—from sympathy and sadness over the loss of her children, to joy over finding the love of her life; from anger at her situation, married to a kind but indifferent man who's qualifications to be king are questionable, at best, and who would much rather become a botanist; to impatience and frustration over the queen's misguided attitude as she grants an audience to starving and angry peasants, dressed in all her silken splendor, adorned in jewels (paste, but the peasants didn't know that), as they stand dirty and hungry before her.

Even though the diary and its entries are fictional, Erickson bases much of its content on true events and facts she's gleaned through her own painstaking research, focusing on the woman behind the man who was totally ill-suited to become a king. Lovers of history and those wishing to view the events of 18th century France—events that felled a monarchy and shook the world—from a royal participant's perspective, will find THE HIDDEN DIARY OF MARIE ANTOINETTE a fascinating read and must-have for their collections.

Nancy Davis