Marie Antoinette Information

Grade 7-10– This serviceable biography, Marie Antoinette: And The Decline Of French Monarchy, covers the famous French queen’s life from birth to execution. There are numerous engravings and fine-art reproductions, minus David’s famous drawing of Marie Antoinette on her way to the guillotine.There are no maps of Europe and of Paris and its environs or genealogical charts of the Austrian and French royal families. The writing is pedestrian and often awkward; a number of unfamiliar terms aren’t defined. There are some errors, typos, and a number of unexplained or confusing references–such as how many children Maria Theresa had and why there was so much contention among French royals. Not outstanding in any way.–Ann W. Moore, Schenectady County Public Library, NY

Gr. 9-12. YAs who associate Marie Antoinette with frivolous excess may be surprised by the positive portrayal in this biography. Divided at age 14 from her Austrian homeland and forced to marry the “awkward, lumbering” heir to the French throne, the young dauphine faced indisputably tough circumstances. Unfortunately, the authors present the queen as the innocent target of a restive public’s ire without consistently offering supporting evidence.

Though the more sympathetic view is widely accepted by modern historians (many of whose own analyses are listed in the concluding bibliography), neglecting to support one’s conclusions and acknowledge surmise where it occurs does a disservice to young readers. Despite imperfections, though, this entry in the new European Queens series provides an engaging point of entry into the history of the French Revolution. Moreover, for YA appeal, it’s hard to beat a historical figure whose story features a controversial diamond necklace, public speculation about the royals’ troubled sex life, and, of course, a tragic, bloody conclusion. Jennifer Mattson

Marie Antoinette: A Film by David Grubin (2006)

This is the story of a callous monarch, swept to her death in the torrent of the French Revolution. It is also the tale of a fragile young woman struggling to find herself during one of the most turbulent moments in human history. Filmed in France and Austria, with rare access to Versailles, Le Petit Trianon, and the Austro-Hungarian palaces of her youth, Marie Antoinette will tell the intensely human story of the often misunderstood monarch who was beheaded during the turbulence and horror of the French revolution.

“Evocative photography and a wealth of detail make the book a visual treat.”—Interior Design

Marie Antoinette, whose marriage at fifteen made her queen of France before she was twenty, died under the blade of the guillotine in 1793. She has been romanticized as the martyred queen, admired as the personification of eighteenth-century French royal style, and vilified as the Austrian whose frivolous extravagance and foreign sympathies fired the French Revolution.

This book turns aside from the official portraits and great historical events to rediscover the private places and objects that reflect Marie Antoinette’s personality and reveal her more directly to our modern gaze. Beautifully photographed by François Halard, the rooms and buildings she inhabited are shown here in fascinating detail, from the distinctive fabrics and furnishings to the queen’s favorite objects—an amber curiosity, a Chinese lacquer gift from her mother, a porcelain bowl. 123 illustrations, 108 in color.

About the Author
Marie-France Boyer is a freelance journalist and the Paris Editor of The World of Interiors magazine. François Halard contributes to many magazines, including The World of Interiors, Décoration Internationale, Vogue, and House & Garden.

Historian Erickson (Bloody Mary; To the Scaffold; etc.) makes her first foray into fiction with this invented journal kept by the notorious queen who was sent to the guillotine during the French Revolution in 1793. Recounting her childhood as Austrian Archduchess Maria Antonia, her marriage to feckless Frenchman Louis XVI and her naïve pangs of conscience about hungry peasants clamoring at the gates of Versailles, Erickson delivers a spirited blend of fiction and fact. While Marie Antoinette’s love affair with Swedish nobleman Axel Fersen is well-documented, other characters pivotal to Erickson’s plot are pure fabrication: swarthy servant Eric, his jealous wife, Amelie, and the queen’s confessor, Father Kuthibert. These inventions add color to the story of the ruler inaccurately linked to the phrase “Let them eat cake!” The novel’s narrative engagingly reflects Marie Antoinette’s progression from privileged adolescent to royal mother of four (though only one daughter and son survived into adulthood), and Erickson’s descriptions of pomp and circumstance lend flavor and flair. While France’s most infamous queen was clearly more sybarite than saint, Erickson’s lively account reveals a woman whose bravery and resilience seem as noteworthy as the bloody details of her demise. (Sept.)
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From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–Best known for her highly readable biographies of European nobility, Erickson tries her hand at historical fiction. She approaches the life of one of France’s most notorious queens from a first-person perspective, which allows her cleverly to blend fact and fiction. The diary spans 24 years, from Marie’s childhood in Vienna to the eve of her execution. She is married to Crown Prince Louis at age 14 to form a political alliance. Her husband is shy and reclusive, given to escaping to the woods to catalog plants, and has little interest in women, including his wife. Even after he becomes Louis XVI, his eccentricities keep him cut off from the world. Marie Antoinette, meanwhile, hides her loneliness in extravagant parties and frivolous expenditures. No wonder that as the years progress both sovereigns are more and more out of touch with the populace. Erickson’s picture of the queen is much different from the uncaring, Let them eat cake persona that is popularly evoked. There is no attempt to hide her tragic flaws, but her generosity, good intentions, and deep love for her children humanize her and make her more of a three-dimensional character. The use of the diary is, at times, contrived and awkward: in an attempt to provide background information, the queen’s writing is inconsistent in places. However, this is an excellent piece of historical fiction, and a valuable companion to more accurate biographies.–Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Library System, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.