The Queen's Fortune
A Novel A Novel of Desiree, Napoleon, and the Dynasty That Outlasted the Empire
(Sprache: Englisch)
A sweeping novel about the extraordinary woman who captured Napoleon s heart, created a dynasty, and changed the course of history from the New York Times bestselling author of The Traitor's Wife, The Accidental Empress, and Sisi
I absolutely loved...
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A sweeping novel about the extraordinary woman who captured Napoleon s heart, created a dynasty, and changed the course of history from the New York Times bestselling author of The Traitor's Wife, The Accidental Empress, and SisiI absolutely loved The Queen s Fortune, the fascinating, little-known story of Desiree Clary the woman Napoleon left for Josephine who ultimately triumphed and became queen of Sweden. Martha Hall Kelly, New York Times bestselling author of Lilac Girls
As the French revolution ravages the country, Desiree Clary is faced with the life-altering truth that the world she has known and loved is gone and it s fallen on her to save her family from the guillotine.
A chance encounter with Napoleon Bonaparte, the ambitious and charismatic young military prodigy, provides her answer. When her beloved sister Julie marries his brother Joseph, Desiree and Napoleon s futures become irrevocably linked. Quickly entering into their own passionate, dizzying courtship that leads to a secret engagement, they vow to meet in the capital once his career has been secured. But her newly laid plans with Napoleon turn to sudden heartbreak, thanks to the rising star of Parisian society, Josephine de Beauharnais. Once again, Desiree s life is turned on its head.
Swept to the glittering halls of the French capital, Desiree is plunged into the inner circle of the new ruling class, becoming further entangled with Napoleon, his family, and the new Empress. But her fortunes shift once again when she meets Napoleon's confidant and star general, the indomitable Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. As the two men in Desiree s life become political rivals and military foes, the question that arises is: must she choose between the love of her new husband and the love of her nation and its Emperor?
From the lavish estates of the French Riviera to the raucous streets of Paris and Stockholm, Desiree finds herself at the epicenter of the rise and fall of an
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empire, navigating a constellation of political giants and dangerous, shifting alliances. Emerging from an impressionable girl into a fierce young woman, she discovers that to survive in this world she must learn to rely upon her instincts and her heart.
Allison Pataki s meticulously researched and brilliantly imagined novel sweeps readers into the unbelievable life of a woman almost lost to history a woman who, despite the swells of a stunning life and a tumultuous time, not only adapts and survives but, ultimately, reigns at the helm of a dynasty that outlasts an empire.
Allison Pataki s meticulously researched and brilliantly imagined novel sweeps readers into the unbelievable life of a woman almost lost to history a woman who, despite the swells of a stunning life and a tumultuous time, not only adapts and survives but, ultimately, reigns at the helm of a dynasty that outlasts an empire.
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Lese-Probe zu „The Queen's Fortune “
Chapter 1The Convent of Notre Dame, Southern France
Summer 1789
Something was very wrong. I could see it that morning in their pinched faces, the way the nuns flew up the corridor, their heels clipping angrily against the cold, ancient stones of the abbey. Whispers skittering to and fro, hesitant and erratic, like the fragile flicker of the candlelight that just barely illuminated their hurried steps.
My stomach growled and I pressed my fist into my gut, willing my thoughts away from the hunger. We haven t had a harvest this poor in decades, the nuns kept telling us all summer long. Equal parts resignation and censure, as if we d somehow brought it on ourselves. God is testing our faith. God s test lasted for weeks, then months. Months that, to a hungry girl of eleven years, stretched out with the vastness of eternity. We must pray for the poor souls who are suffering. We pray for the poor, for the hungry, the nuns told us each night at vespers, and then again at the morning lauds. The hungry? I wanted to rail back at them. Am I not starving? But I knew better, of course, than to answer the Sisters with anything more than a doleful nod, eyes lowered piously to the floor. I didn t need my backside to ache along with my empty belly.
In the convent, the only place where we got enough food was the sick ward; it was something we all knew as fact. When my sister, Julie, fell sick last winter, laid up on a pristine cot, tucked in between crisp, white sheets, I d practically skipped through the halls to the nursing ward. I d forced myself on her, pressing my lips to hers. Like a stag in rutting season, she d gasped, her eyes wide with shocked and offended modesty as she chided me with one of Maman s well-worn scowls.
It had worked I d gotten myself gloriously sick, far sicker than Julie even. It had been two weeks of gluttonous eating, weeks of luxuriating in my warm cot, dozing even as I heard the bells chime for matins and the other girls, exhausted,
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stomachs empty and groaning for bread, shuffling down the dark halls to the freezing chapel for the predawn services. I d stretched that illness for days, even after my throat had healed and my lungs had cleared. Not only had I lied, but I had lied in order to commit the dual sins of gluttony and sloth. I d relished every minute of it.
But that morning, the morning when I was certain I was in trouble, it was not because I had feigned sickness. It was not because I had lied to get more food or sleep. No, that morning I had sinned far worse. Thou shalt not steal. I knew the commandment, and yet, I d stolen. Perhaps not stolen hidden. Sister Marie-Benedictine had been struggling across the yard during our morning recess when her wheelbarrow had toppled over, her dazzling supply of plump melons rolling across the small patch of parched, yellow grass. She d enlisted us to help retrieve her bounty, but I d stepped in front of one and kicked it quickly into a bush and out of sight. I d just been so famished, and that melon had appeared so ripe and juicy and so near. I d felt a momentary pang of guilt, for Sister Marie-Benedictine was one of the kind ones, but my hunger pangs had quickly quashed that lesser discomfort. After Sister left, limping her cart across the remainder of the yard toward the kitchen, I d enlisted Julie to help me move the melon farther from sight, tucking it away in the back of the yard. Our own treasure.
But someone must have seen. Someone had snitched, and now Mère Supérieure knew. I was certain of it. Does it hurt? I asked my sister as we shuffled down the long, dim hallway that led to our dormitory.
What? Julie asked.
You know, I whispered.
Julie shrugged.
The bea
But that morning, the morning when I was certain I was in trouble, it was not because I had feigned sickness. It was not because I had lied to get more food or sleep. No, that morning I had sinned far worse. Thou shalt not steal. I knew the commandment, and yet, I d stolen. Perhaps not stolen hidden. Sister Marie-Benedictine had been struggling across the yard during our morning recess when her wheelbarrow had toppled over, her dazzling supply of plump melons rolling across the small patch of parched, yellow grass. She d enlisted us to help retrieve her bounty, but I d stepped in front of one and kicked it quickly into a bush and out of sight. I d just been so famished, and that melon had appeared so ripe and juicy and so near. I d felt a momentary pang of guilt, for Sister Marie-Benedictine was one of the kind ones, but my hunger pangs had quickly quashed that lesser discomfort. After Sister left, limping her cart across the remainder of the yard toward the kitchen, I d enlisted Julie to help me move the melon farther from sight, tucking it away in the back of the yard. Our own treasure.
But someone must have seen. Someone had snitched, and now Mère Supérieure knew. I was certain of it. Does it hurt? I asked my sister as we shuffled down the long, dim hallway that led to our dormitory.
What? Julie asked.
You know, I whispered.
Julie shrugged.
The bea
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Autoren-Porträt von Allison Pataki
Allison Pataki is the New York Times bestselling author of The Queen s Fortune, The Traitor s Wife, The Accidental Empress, Sisi: Empress On Her Own, Where the Light Falls, as well as the nonfiction memoir Beauty in the Broken Places and two children s books, Nelly Takes New York and Poppy Takes Paris. Her novels have been translated into more than a dozen languages. A former news writer and producer, Pataki has written for The New York Times, ABC News, HuffPost, USA Today, Fox News, and other outlets. She has appeared on Today, Fox & Friends, Good Day New York, Good Day Chicago, and MSNBC s Morning Joe. Pataki graduated cum laude from Yale University with a major in English and spent several years in journalism before switching to fiction writing. A member of the Historical Novel Society, she lives in New York with her husband and family.
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Allison Pataki
- 2021, 464 Seiten, Maße: 13 x 20,2 cm, Kartoniert (TB), Englisch
- Verlag: Ballantine Books
- ISBN-10: 0593128206
- ISBN-13: 9780593128206
- Erscheinungsdatum: 24.03.2021
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
History, romance, and the dangerous intrigue of revolution combine to make coming of age a high-stakes game in Allison Pataki s richly reimagined account of a woman seeking not only to manage her circumstances but to triumph over them and rise to the throne of a country that will become her own. This was a piece of history I knew very little about. Pataki s latest effort brings a fascinating time and place fully to life. Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were YoursIn The Queen s Fortune, Allison Pataki chronicles Desiree, the secret lover of Napoleon Bonaparte. When Napoleon chooses Josephine over her, the heartbroken Desiree finds herself entangled with Napoleon, Josephine and the new ruling class. Pataki deftly weaves a tangled web of passion, deception and intrigue, set against one of the most tumultuous periods in history, making for a heady cocktail which readers will devour. Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Girls of Paris
Allison Pataki is a masterful historical author at the top of her game. From the very first lyrical lines of The Queen s Fortune, I was wholly swept into the entrancing world of Desiree Clary Bernadotte. Painstaking research and page-turning prose placed me directly at the side of this remarkable yet lesser-known figure, journeying from innocent girlhood to seasoned royalty, a survivor of guillotine threats, palace politics, and strains of the heart. I absolutely loved this book from beginning to end. Kristina McMorris, New York Times bestselling author of Sold on a Monday and The Edge of Lost
It s not everyone who s jilted by Napoleon and winds up queen of Sweden. Allison Pataki provides an intimate portrait of a tumultuous time and of an ordinary woman who captivated two of the great men of her day and became the mother of
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a dynasty. Lauren Willig, New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Country
This impeccably researched, expertly rendered historical from Pataki gloriously re-creates the personal dramas surrounding Napoleon Bonaparte. . . . Pataki s skill in chronicling Napoleon s transformation from an idealistic young soldier to a ruthless, callous leader drives the story, and her sumptuous scenes allow the reader to easily examine the political machinations and extreme luxury of the monarchy. Readers who enjoy Elizabeth Chadwick will want to take a look. Publishers Weekly
Pataki s ability to flesh out imperial grandeur and foibles with telling detail, on full display in her Habsburg novels, is equally evident here. Kirkus Reviews
This impeccably researched, expertly rendered historical from Pataki gloriously re-creates the personal dramas surrounding Napoleon Bonaparte. . . . Pataki s skill in chronicling Napoleon s transformation from an idealistic young soldier to a ruthless, callous leader drives the story, and her sumptuous scenes allow the reader to easily examine the political machinations and extreme luxury of the monarchy. Readers who enjoy Elizabeth Chadwick will want to take a look. Publishers Weekly
Pataki s ability to flesh out imperial grandeur and foibles with telling detail, on full display in her Habsburg novels, is equally evident here. Kirkus Reviews
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