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Title: Marie Antoinette : The Last Queen of France by Evelyne Lever, Catherine Temerson ISBN: 0-312-28333-4 Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin Pub. Date: 24 September, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95

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Average Customer Rating: 3.53 (15 reviews)

Rating: 4
Summary: The Widow Capet in biography
Comment: Partway through this well-written biography of Marie Antoinette, you realize that you'd rather be reading the biography of her powerful mother, Maria-Theresa, Empress of Austria. The book opens with an excellent mini-bio of Marie Antoinette's politically-savvy mother, who succeeded her father as empress of the eastern empire and who, in addition to making 16 or so children, spent a good deal of her time marrying them off to political advantage, whether or not the match was one that would bring personal happiness to her children. Indeed, some of the princes and kings were duds.

Marie Antoinette was not in herself a terribly interesting person. Her life reads like the life of any celebrity, surrounded by lovers, sycophants who enjoyed a fabulous lifestyle. Marie ensconced herself at The Trianon, dispensing with court dress and court manners to live a luxurious and peaceful life. Sadly, the ferment of the French Revolution swirled around this somewhat simple queen, and she paid a price that must have, in the end, surprised her. The story of their belated attempt to escape France, and the indifference of other crowned heads of Europe (relatives) to their plight is pathetic.

This biography is dry at times--perhaps due to the fact that it's the surrounding history, persons and events that make Marie Antoinette interesting, not the queen in herself.

Rating: 4
Summary: Well Written...Slightly Dry/Repetitive at Some Points
Comment: Madame Lever has a good sense of style and confidence when it comes to her writing of Marie Antoinette's biography. I have not looked into the actual accuracy of the dates and events that occurred, but instead read the book to acquire some background knowledge about the Queen. However, I'd be interested to know why the family tree shows the son of a duke being two years older than his father. :)

The book reads like a soap opera, without too much emphasis on the political background of Marie Antoinette and Louis the Sixteenth, and more emphasis on the dirty little details of their private lives. However, there seemed to be too much repetition involved in discussing the Queen's affair with Swedish count Axel Fersen, and in these points, the book could become dry and only worth skimming. I also found myself confused at the switching of names between Princess Marie Therese and Madame Royale from chapter to chapter, when they were in fact the same person.

The ending was beautiful, sophisticated, and simple. I appreciated the epilogue, because I found myself interested in what happened to the (few) survivors of the French Revolution. The cover was well done also, and is a beautiful work overall. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in a biography about scandalous royalty. :)

Rating: 3
Summary: Author of Book is so-so writer.
Comment: While the book itself isn't bad, in fact it's informative, the problem is that it's somewhat informative, it's missing a few details, and it seems that the author of the book should've done more research for the book on the life of this tragic Queen. I recommend reading the book on the life of Marie Antoinette written by Antonia Fraser. She doesn't skimp on the details!