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Sally Christie

Auteur de The Sisters of Versailles

11 oeuvres 376 utilisateurs 47 critiques

Séries

Œuvres de Sally Christie

The Sisters of Versailles (2015) 173 exemplaires
The Rivals of Versailles (2016) 69 exemplaires
The Enemies of Versailles (2016) 49 exemplaires
The Icarus Show (2016) 40 exemplaires
Weedy Me (Young Lions) (1989) 6 exemplaires
Sarah Scarer (Chillers) (1995) 5 exemplaires
Not just Jemima (1992) 2 exemplaires

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I think the most amazing thing about this book is that is actually based on a true story about 4 out of 5 sisters that all became mistresses to King Louis XV. It sounds incredible, but it's really true, and I had no idea about it. I have never ever heard about these sisters before I read the book. The mistress that came after them, well she is well known, but the sweet Louise, the ambitious Pauline, the happy Diane and shrewd Marie-Anne are not as known as Madame du Pompadour.

Anyway, I felt that Sally Christie really captured both the time and the characters truly well. A historical fiction is truly good when the characters and the setting come to life and it feels like you for a moment also are at Court with the sisters. You live with them, and you feel for them when something bad happens to them. There were several times that I thought “thank God that I didn't live at that time” and also sometimes like when a woman carries her dog in her bag it feels like things haven't changed that much.

I would like to say that I liked a sister or two better than the other, but I liked and disliked them all through the book. They really didn't feel like blood sisters always with all the backstabbing. For some of them, being mistresses to the king was more of a mission than real passion. The one that loved him the most (in my opinion) Louise had to watch how her sisters one by one took over as the mistresses and for most of the time I was annoyed over how placid she was, but in the end, she seems to have finally found her call. It's interesting that Hortense, the one sister that was the most beautiful never ended up as the king's mistresses, but then again she loved her husband and seemed to be the one with the happiest marriage with Diane coming second.

I must admit that the character I found most intriguing in the book was not any of the sisters or the king. It was Richelieu. Alas, his flirting with Marie-Anne let unfortunately nowhere.

It was a good book, I enjoyed reading it. Loved the letters between the sister that glossed over the truth a bit. It was nice to get a history lesson and at the same time being entertained. But I found the narrative, with shifting between sisters not always to my liking, probably because some of them were more interesting than the other and not everything that happened was that interesting, like Pauline and Diane at the convent. Not that the story dragged out or anything, I was just not always engrossed with it. But I loved the ending, the very emotional and sad ending. Just the kind I like!

I received this copy from the Atria Books through Edelweiss in return for an honest review! Thank you!
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Signalé
MaraBlaise | 23 autres critiques | Jul 23, 2022 |
THE RIVALS OF VERSAILLES is the sequel to THE SISTERS OF VERSAILLES, Sally Christie's debut novel. In this book, we get to follow Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson also known as Marquise de Pompadour or Madame de Pompadour. Young Jeanne was told as a child by a gypsy fortune-teller that she would one day become the lover of a king and be the most powerful women in the land. And she became, by scheming and some luck, the mistress of King Louis XV. But, being the mistress of the king also means she gathers a lot of enemies who would do anything to see her thrown out of the king's bed and Versailles. And, she has to be vigilant to all those younger women who would do anything to take her place.

READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION!

4.5 stars
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Signalé
MaraBlaise | 10 autres critiques | Jul 23, 2022 |
Here we are at the end, the last book in The Mistresses of Versailles trilogy that started with the Sisters of Versailles and the five Nesle sister sisters, with four of them becoming mistresses to the King before Marquise de Pompadour took over the story and the King's affection in The Rivals of Versailles. In The Enemies of Versailles is Marquise de Pompadour dead and it's Jeanne Becu later Comtesse du Barry that will be the last mistress of the King. With du Barry comes also the end as the French revolution is looming on the horizon. She may not be the one to bring down a dynasty. But, the world she will come to belong to, the court is miles away from the ordinary people. And, the people have had enough! Off with the heads!

The Enemies of Versailles is a fabulous ending to a fabulous trilogy. I have enjoyed each book, but I have to admit that The Rivals of Versailles is the book I loved the most. Why, because I came to adore Marquise de Pompadour. She was such a marvelous person and the one that perhaps was the best for the Louis XV. I found her to be both strong and smart. Jeanne, Comtesse du Barry, on the other hand, is in her own way a very nice person. I did not, however, like her as much as I liked de Pompadour. But, what I liked with Comtesse du Barry is her like of scheming, it was everyone else around her that schemed. I think she would have been just as happy with a comfortable life with someone that she loved. Now, the book also had the point of view from Adelaide, the daughter of Louis XV. And I liked the contrast between the two main characters. Adelaide is such a stuck up person, who all through her life only wants her father's love. But, every mistress he has is an enemy to her, but it's not much she can do about that.

The books can be read separately, but I recommend starting from the beginning. By starting from the first book will you meet a young Louis XV and you get to follow his life through the women that he chose as mistresses. Also, through the books, can one also follow the growing dissatisfaction among the people.

Sally Christie is a superb author and when I came to the end of this book was all I could think "I want more, I want her to continue the story, I want the story of Napoleon through the eyes of the women around him".

4.5 stars

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!
… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
MaraBlaise | 9 autres critiques | Jul 23, 2022 |
Here we are at the end, the last book in The Mistresses of Versailles trilogy that started with the Sisters of Versailles and the five Nesle sister sisters, with four of them becoming mistresses to the King before Marquise de Pompadour took over the story and the King's affection in The Rivals of Versailles. In The Enemies of Versailles is Marquise de Pompadour dead and it's Jeanne Becu later Comtesse du Barry that will be the last mistress of the King. With du Barry comes also the end as the French revolution is looming on the horizon. She may not be the one to bring down a dynasty. But, the world she will come to belong to, the court is miles away from the ordinary people. And, the people have had enough! Off with the heads!

The Enemies of Versailles is a fabulous ending to a fabulous trilogy. I have enjoyed each book, but I have to admit that The Rivals of Versailles is the book I loved the most. Why, because I came to adore Marquise de Pompadour. She was such a marvelous person and the one that perhaps was the best for the Louis XV. I found her to be both strong and smart. Jeanne, Comtesse du Barry, on the other hand, is in her own way a very nice person. I did not, however, like her as much as I liked de Pompadour. But, what I liked with Comtesse du Barry is her like of scheming, it was everyone else around her that schemed. I think she would have been just as happy with a comfortable life with someone that she loved. Now, the book also had the point of view from Adelaide, the daughter of Louis XV. And I liked the contrast between the two main characters. Adelaide is such a stuck up person, who all through her life only wants her father's love. But, every mistress he has is an enemy to her, but it's not much she can do about that.

The books can be read separately, but I recommend starting from the beginning. By starting from the first book will you meet a young Louis XV and you get to follow his life through the women that he chose as mistresses. Also, through the books, can one also follow the growing dissatisfaction among the people.

Sally Christie is a superb author and when I came to the end of this book was all I could think "I want more, I want her to continue the story, I want the story of Napoleon through the eyes of the women around him".

4.5 stars

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!
… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
MaraBlaise | 9 autres critiques | Jul 23, 2022 |

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Statistiques

Œuvres
11
Membres
376
Popularité
#64,175
Évaluation
3.8
Critiques
47
ISBN
40
Langues
2

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