The Emperor's Conspiracy by Michelle Diener

Synopsis

From nineteenth-century London’s elegant ballrooms to its darkest slums, a spirited young woman and a nobleman investigating for the Crown unmask a plot by Napoleon to bleed England of its gold.

Chance led to Charlotte Raven’s transformation from chimney sweep to wealthy, educated noblewoman, but she still walks a delicate tightrope between two worlds, unable to turn her back on the ruthless crime lord who was once her childhood protector.

When Lord Edward Durnham is tapped to solve the mystery of England’s rapidly disappearing gold, his search leads him to the stews of London, and Charlotte becomes his intriguing guide to the city’s dark, forbidding underworld. But as her involvement brings Charlotte to the attention of men who have no qualms about who they hurt, and as Edward forges a grudging alliance with the dangerous ghosts of Charlotte’s former life, she faces a choice: to continue living in limbo, or to close the door on the past and risk her heart and her happiness on an unpredictable future.

When Michelle Diener contacted me to offer a review copy of this book, I was interested, but mainly because Michelle lives in Australia  and therefore I could count this book for several challenges. And then I noticed that Amy from Historical Fiction Virtual Tours was running a tour for the book. I volunteered because then not only would I intend to read it, I would actually read it and in a timely fashion! The thing is though, by the time I finished the book, I was happy to have read the book, not because of challenges or impetus to read, but because in the end this was a really good read!

The book opens with a scene that is quite unusual. A London lady finds herself with a chimney sweep stuck up her chimney because the sweep had grown too large, and the sweep is abandoned by her master because if the sweeps can't work, then he can't afford to feed them.

Fast forward a number of years, and we are introduced to Charlotte Raven. She is a young lady who is mostly at ease in the glamorous world of the ton but equally at home in the rougher parts of London. She is something of an oddity in the ton, because she is ward to a well respected lady who took her into her home and introduced her into the rarefied ways of the ton. She is also unusual in the stews because she is one of the lucky ones, one of the people who climbed out of a life of poverty. Charlotte is acutely aware of her own good fortune and does her best to help others get a start on a better life if they are prepared to make the necessary changes.

There are two main male characters in the book, both representing the two different parts of Charlotte's life. On one hand, Charlotte's childhood protector and love, Luke, is now running a crime ring. He rules the streets of his area which are filled with hardship and deprivation and more. On the other, Lord Edward Durnham. He is aloof, rarely seen in society but has a complicated secret life. When the two worlds collide, thanks predominantly to Charlotte's own actions, she is the one who has the power to control their fates. And yet, it is her own fate which may be the most difficult to decide given that she doesn't really fit in her new world but she certainly doesn't fit in the old world either.

Central to the drama between the characters is a plot which seems highly improbable, until you realise that it was taken straight from the pages of the history books! This plot is what gives the book it's title. I must confess that for the first parts of the book I was wondering precisely where the title fitted in, but it all became clear in due course. The only clue I am going to give you is that the book is set during the Napoleonic wars.

The thing about this book is that it doesn't really fit neatly into any sub-genre. There are times when you might think that what you are reading is building up to a historical romance story... but it's not only that. You may think that you are reading a historical mystery, and you are, but not in the sense that the heroine decides that she wants to be an amateur sleuth and sets out to solve a crime. Rather Charlotte is trying to find, or keep, her place -trying to keep one foot in both her past world and her present world.

I may have mentioned once or ten times now that I am currently reading Les Miserables. Whilst I am enjoying that book, it is a book that I am having to work hard at reading. By contrast, this book was a completed breeze to read and I closed the book already wondering if we were going to see more of these characters. As I look back with the added distance of a couple of days, there are probably a couple of plot holes, and there probably could have been a bit more in the way of character development, but in terms of the actually reading experience I had, it was perfect for me at the time. Just what I needed.

This was the first time I have read this author, and I will definitely be looking for more from her in the future, especially if there is a follow up book to this one.

Rating 4/5

Thanks to the author for providing a copy of the book along with a gorgeous bookmark. This did not influence my review.

Tour Details

Tour schedule
Michelle's website
Michelle on Facebook
Michelle on Twitter
Twitter Hashtag: #EmperorsConspiracyVirtualTour

The Seduction of The Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig

"Pride and Prejudice lives on," (USA Today) "a fun and zany time warp," (New York Daily News) "history textbook meets Bridget Jones" (Marie Claire): Readers and reviewers alike praise Lauren Willig's bestselling Pink Carnation series for its passion, adventure, and tantalizing stories of flower-named spies during the Napoleonic wars.

Lauren Willig continues the exciting Pink Carnation series with her fourth novel, The Seduction of the Crimson Rose, featuring Lord Vaughn, the delightfully devilish spy from The Masque of the Black Tulip, and Mary Alsworthy, the raven-haired beauty whose sister accidentally stole her suitor in The Deception of the Emerald Ring. Determined to secure another London season without assistance from her new brother-in-law, Mary accepts a secret assignment from Lord Vaughn on behalf of the Pink Carnation: to infiltrate the ranks of the dreaded French spy, the Black Tulip, before he and his master can stage their planned invasion of England. Every spy has a weakness, and for the Black Tulip that weakness is black-haired women—his "petals" of the Tulip. A natural at the art of seduction, Mary easily catches the attention of the French spy, but Lord Vaughn never anticipates that his own heart will be caught as well. Fighting their growing attraction, impediments from their past, and, of course, the French, Mary and Vaughn find themselves lost in the shadows of a treacherous garden of lies.

As our modern-day heroine, Eloise Kelly, digs deeper into England's Napoleonic-era espionage, she becomes even more entwined with Colin Selwick, the descendant of her spy subjects.

I have been reading this series now for a couple of years, and for the first two books, after I closed the book I was very much interested in knowing when the next book came out. After I read the last book, I was still interested, but I was aware that the third book in the series hadn't quite lived up to the first two. Unfortunately, neither did this book, the fourth in the series.

I still love the idea that Willig started off with. Two time lines, one where a grad student (Eloise) is trying to pick her way through the historical record to find out exactly who the leader of the Pink Carnation spy ring was, and what happened to the group. As Eloise finds more letters and information, then we travel back in time to see the events as they unfold.

In this book, the heroine is Miss Mary Alsworthy, who in one of the previous books was jilted quite by accident in favour of her sister. Mary is seen as something of an ice princess by the ton, and she keeps any unsuitable men away from her using her iciness as a weapon. It is unthinkable that Mary may well have to rely on the kindness of her sister and her husband to look after her, because Mary is very much in danger of being left on the shelf. When Mary is approached by Lord Vaughan, she does not realise that it is because her looks are very much the type preferred by the infamous Black Tulip, and her task will be to infiltrate the gang.

What follows is kind of a hotch-potch. The plot takes twists and turns that seem unlikely, despite the fact that Willig acknowledges exactly that in the Author's Note, and then elaborates that it wasn't far from actual events.

By far the biggest problem for me in this book was the build up of tension between our heroine and her hero, Mary and Lord Vaughan. Now, I love reading about the aristocratic lord who is somewhat aloof, cold and haughty who thaws dramatically when he meets the love of his life. He may still be aloof to everyone, except to that inner circle of people. The problem in this case is that Vaughan is cold (and yes we do find out the reasons why) and Mary is an ice princess - there's no thawing going on here. There also wasn't enough build up of attraction between them.

In terms of the contemporary strand of the story, I understand that Eloise only gets 5 or 6 chapters per book, but it just seems to me that it is moving forward to slowly. I want to see Eloise get it on, although it seems as though the momentum is building.

I am hoping that it is just me, and that this series is not losing steam, because I really want to see it through to the end, finding out exactly what happened to the Pink Carnation and whether Eloise finally gets her man.

In the end I rated this book a 3.5/5. That in itself is a respectable grade. I guess I just wanted more, and I do definitely want more from the next book, The Temptation of the Night Jasmine, which is due out on 22 January 2009. The main thing that concerns me about the next book though is that I can't remember meeting the heroine before. If I have time I might try to reread at least the first couple of books to give myself a refresher course in all the minor characters.

Set the Seas on Fire by Chris Roberson

1808. While Europe burns and the Napoleonic Wars set the world aflame, the HMS Fortitude patrols the sea lanes of the South Pacific, harrying enemies of the British Crown. The Fortitude's captain sets his sights on a Spanish galleon weighted down with a fortune in gold and spices, but Lieutenant Hieronymus Bonaventure thinks the prize not worth the risk. The ship is smashed by storms and driven far into unknown seas, the galleon and her treasure lost in the tempest. Bonaventure and the rest of the Fortitude's crew find themselves aground on an island in uncharted waters. Beneath the island's beauty lurks a darker secret: an ancient evil buried at the living heart of a volcano.

Since reading books like the Josephine B. Trilogy by Sandra Gulland and the Temeraire Series by Naomi Novik, I have been very fond of books that cover the Napolenic Wars. I had an interest in it in school as well, but I had too many interests to cover everything in university. Being out of university is giving me the chance to cover everything I wanted to and never had the chance to before. So, Chris Roberson's book was my next chance at a good Napoleonic book. It really reminded me of The Lost World, an old movie I used to watch all the time. It was based on a book, but I liked it because it was cheesy. This book was not cheesy, but it did not have a lot of fantasy or sci-fi elements until the end.

My biggest problem with the book is the unsatisfactory ending. The book spent a lot of time on an island fixing the crews broken ship. It was a native island where they had to learn to interact with another culture that was very different than the one that they were used to. I think that Revolution SF says it best on the front of the book when they say 'Horatio Hornblower meets H.P. Lovecraft'. I can see this entirely. It was not necessarily a challenging read, and the book plodded along in some places, but overall it was interesting. I wish it had been more about the Napoleon war than in piracy and time spent on an island, though. I like a few wartime battles. I like how the era is getting a lot of literature about it the last few years, though. It makes for interesting reading.

The main character of this novel is Bonaventure. The story is almost entirely told from his point of view. We see his childhood where he learns to be a swordsman from one of the best. The present story weaves back and forth between the present and this time in his childhood. He likes adventure, which is made clear throughout this novel. His life also is shown on the island where he battles career, love, and his captains obsession with another ship. The most I can say about this book is that I wish more happened in it. Like I said above, most of the book takes place on an island, and then the big ending, I think, is a bit rushed. I do think this book is set up well to have a sequel, though. It could be the next Horatio Hornblower series. Whether or not that is the plan, I actually do not know!

All I can say is that if you like Horatio Hornblower, H.P. Lovecraft, science fiction, or the Napoleonic Wars; this is a book that you might want to take a look at! It also has a gorgeous cover!

The Last Great Dance on Earth by Sandra Gulland

The Last Great Dance on Earth is the triumphant final volume of Sandra Gulland's beloved trilogy based on the life of Josephine Bonaparte. When the novel opens, Josephine and Napoleon have been married for four tumultuous years. Napoleon is Josephine's great love, and she his. But their passionate union is troubled from within, as Josephine is unable to produce an heir, and from without, as England makes war against France and Napoleon's Corsican clan makes war against his wife. Through Josephine's heartfelt diary entries, we witness the personal betrayals and political intrigues that will finally drive them apart, culminating in Josephine's greatest tragedy: her divorce from Napoleon and his exile to Elba. The Last Great Dance on Earth is historical fiction on a grand scale and the stirring conclusion to an unforgettable love story.

Kailana says:


From other people that have read this trilogy, they say that this book is their least favourite of the three. I find myself wondering if that is because of a decrease in writing style, or because this is the book where everything falls apart. It really is a depressing novel, one bad thing seems to happen after another, but that is not Gulland's fault, that is histories fault. It is not like she can suddenly change history in book three to make for a happier story.

When the book opens, Josephine and Napoleon have been married for four years. Josephine is a few years older than her husband, and as I mentioned in the post for the previous book, unable to have children. This is not her fault, it is just the way things are, but it becomes very important in this book. It is strange to see the two of them now. Josephine was unsure if she even wanted to marry Napoleon in the beginning, but yet here they are and she seems quite happy to be with him. She knew him before he was anything, and she loves him even if he has nothing.

There are good moments in this book, though, I might add. The book starts out on a happy note, but Napoleon begins to have affairs with other women that play a more central role in this novel than they did in others. He loves his wife, there is no question there, but it seems that men just had to be unfaithful from time to time back in those days. We will not get into today's culture. Josephine really battles with the whole idea of turning a blind eye to what her husband is doing, but she tries. It is hard when someone you love is cheating on you, and while other women of the time seem easily to turn the other cheek, Josephine worries. I think for her it is more that she is worried he will divorce her than anything else.

It is not hard to tell through the course of this trilogy that Josephine and Napoleon loved each other, I just wish that things could have been different. Napoleon finally has what he set out to have, the life that he has been planning and working for, and his family is pushing him from all sides to divorce Josephine. You can tell that it really is the last thing that he wants to do, that he honestly loves her, but sometimes the good of the country has to come over the good of your heart. It really is a shame that things could not have gone another way, but in this time, men were more interested in having an heir (someone had to carry on the family name), and less about the love of a good woman. It is clear that with or without an heir, Josephine was better for him, but you can decide that on your own should you choose to read this book.

I found this book sad, I will give people that. I really felt for Josephine near the end. Even when you are reading something that you know the outcome, it still is sad to see it all come crashing down. Not to mention, I was sad to see this trilogy end.

4.5/5

Marg says:

The third and final book in the excellent Josephine B trilogy starts approximately four years after the marriage of Napoleon and Josephine. The couple are at first happily married, but there is always pressure on the two of them, both externally and internally! It is Napoleon's greatest wish to have a child, and Josephine is forced to endure many different 'cures' to try to become pregnant, but it is likely that her period of incarceration during the Revolution has caused the early onset of menopause for her.

It was quite interesting to me to read this trilogy, because most of the books that I read have France as the enemy, so it is easy to forget how much Napoleon actually achieved, and to not really appreciate how popular he really was in France during his reign, particularly the early years. The fact that he was able to achieve as much as he did as well as deal with his grasping and petty, jealous family is quite amazing. The appointment of the Bonapartes onto the thrones of the countries that Napoleon conquered was very thorough, even if the jockeying for the most tasty of these morsels (thrones) was at times farcical!

I did find it quite ironic that the Revolution overthrew the Bourbon kings, and yet, in effect, Napoleon introduced a very similar court, albeit calling himself Emperor, but the rigid rules, formality and excesses were all there, as was the need to have a structure in place to determine who would be Emperor next...to have an heir.

There is less to be cheerful about in this book than there were in the previous books, and Josephine's diary reflects this as she begins to understand her fate. Josephine struggled with the implication of being created Empress, and struggled with the numerous affairs that Napoleon had and was expected to turn a blind eye too, although on one occasion she was the one who had to end one of the relationships on Napoleon's behalf. She also had to constantly be on guard against the whole Bonaparte clan who had been against her since the very early days of her marriage.

History shows that Napoleon divorced Josephine because she could not provide him an heir, and yet, Napoleon seemed to still care very much for her, which in a way makes this love story even more poignant.

Gulland has written an excellent trilogy about a fascinating woman, living in a volatile and tumultuous time.

Rating 4/5

The three books in this trilogy are listed below. Click on the links to go to our reviews of the other books in the trilogy.

The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.
Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe
The Last Great Dance on Earth

Spotlight On: Temeraire series by Naomi Novik

WANTED

Daring young adventurer to take on a challenging role, fighting old Boney. Must be willing to take risks, wish to visit exotic locales, show exceptional leadership, and be willing to be scorned by society. Females welcome......Navy types need not apply.

Or so might have read the advertisements looking for new members of the Royal Air Corps.

Captain William Laurence is a reluctant recruit to the Air Corps - he is after all a navy man through and through, captain of his own ship, and definitely on his way up! Captain Laurence and his shipmates engage with a fierce battle with a French navy ship which surprises him seeing as the enemy seems to be starved and there doesn't appear to be any treasure on board. At least, it seems that way until they find a dragon's egg, very close to hatching. Given the state of Britain's own dragon breeding program, and the value of any dragon's egg, this is a major find. When the dragon is hatched he is supposed to bond with his designated handler, a man who has "volunteered" to completely change his life and his career pate, but the dragon, who we come to know as Temeraire, has very different ideas, and bonds to an unwilling Laurence.

In the first book, which could be published under the title His Majesty's Dragon or Temeraire depending on where you live, we read the story of how Laurence and Temeraire come to be together, and how they learn all about being a member of the Air Corps together.

The second book which is called Throne of Jade, follows Laurence and Temeraire as they travel to China to find out about Temeraire's beginnings in a land where dragon's are very much part of every day life.

The third book, Black Powder War, starts in China, and is the story of the journey back to England, with various adventure's along the way, including some very dangerous times in Istanbul.

On the left is the US cover for the fourth book, Empire of Ivory, which will have some action at least set in India. Empire of Ivory is due out in September this year. (All the covers above are the US covers, whilst the ones below are the UK covers).

Naomi Novik posted on her blog last week that the fifth book in the series now has a name - it is going to be called Victory of Eagles and the book will be out in June 2008

Novik has done a fantastic job of taking known historical battles and events and then just tweaking the events by adding in the Air Corps, of which the various types of dragons are an integral part. The books are entertaining on many, many levels and well worth a read.

Interested in reading some reviews?

You can read Kailana's reviews at the following links:

His Majesty's Dragon
Throne of Jade (apparently I seemed to have skipped reviewing this book)
Black Powder War (review forth-coming)

and Marg's reviews:

Temeraire (His Majesty's Dragon)
Throne of Jade
Black Powder War

Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe by Sandra Gulland

I fear I have made a mistake

Set in Paris at the end of the eighteenth century, Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe opens as Josephine awakes to the reality of her recent marriage to 'the Corsican' Napoleon Bonaparte, now General-in-Chief of the Army of Italy. Through Josephine's diary entries and Napoleon's impassioned - and at times disturbing - love letters, an astonishing portrait of a canny and compassionate woman emerges set against one of the most tumultuous periods in European history. Written is a spare but compelling style, this beautifully crafted novel brings the amazing drama of the legendary Josephine to vibrant life.

Kailana Says:

I have to admit that I finished this book and almost immediately started book three, so I might have a hard time remembering what happens in book two and what happened in book one.

In the first book the main character was known as Rose, but now she is the beautiful wife of Napoleon. I really liked this trilogy. Josephine is a very interesting character. Some people are not fond of the diary-style of writing, but I thought it worked well for this trilogy. It feels more personal that way. You cannot help feeling bad for Josephine. She has not had a very easy life, most people in France at this time have not, but her luck does not seem to ever fully recover. As a result of her imprisonment during the Terror, she is unable to have Napoleon's child. They try all these methods, but we know that that the stress of her imprisonment likely resulted in her starting menopause at a young age. She can have children, she has two with her first husband, the timing is just wrong for her to give Napoleon any.

I thought that Napoleon is also an interesting character. You are not really sure if Josephine and Napoleon are going to hit it off at first, if you go into it with an innocent impression of what is going to happen. For those that know what happened in history, though, Gulland does a very good job sticking to the main historical facts. I cannot say that I liked Napoleon, though, he just had his good points. He loved Josephine, I never questioned that. He just tried to do what was best for France, and he had an atrocious family. At the end of the third book it tells what happened to all of them, actually.

Another thing I liked about the books were the footnotes. They explained things that happened in the previous book so you understood references, but they also included letters and things from historical records of Josephine and her family, plus providing references for off-hand remarks that were not explained. To someone living in Josephine's time, they likely made sense, but to people living today, unless you are very up on the time period, you might miss the reference. I have to admit that while I like history, and have taken many history courses in university, I have never had a course that covered the Napoleonic Wars in any great detail. They were mentioned, I know who they were, but even if it is a fiction book, this is the most I have ever read on Napoleon. When I graduate and reading non-fiction history books becomes fun again, this is a subject matter I would like to read more about.

I also have to briefly comment on the medical practices of the time. Normally I might have overlooked them, but I am taking a history of medicine course this year, and we just talked about medicine in about the time that this book covers, so it was interesting to see the methods I learned about in use in this novel. I mean, obviously I have seen it before, but in the past I did not have a medical history course to provide background information.


Marg says:

The events portrayed at the beginning of this book following on almost directly from the end of The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.. Napoleon and Rose (now known as Josephine) are newly married, not without opposition from her children. Napoleon is rapidly rising through the ranks, and Josephine is along for the ride. They have a very strange relationship in some ways. He is jealously devoted to Josephine and yet she has to pay her own way, and finds herself deeply in debt on several occasions. This debt is exacerbated by the fact that the Caribbean islands are now pretty much incommunicado with France due to the problems with the British. Napoleon's family has also made it very clear that they do not want Josephine as part of the family and can be quite malicious in their treatment of her.

Napoleon goes off to fight in Italy and misses Josephine so much that he sends for her, but not before her enemies (also known as Napoleon's family) have planted doubts in his mind about her faithfulness. On arrival, she is feted like royalty and she begins to understand exactly how much power and authority her husband now wields, and once reconciled to him, continues on a journey with him that will take her far from her roots as a humble planter's daughter.

Once again, Gulland manages to make the diary format work. She brings alive the excitement and the tribulations of the life of Josephine during this time when her husband's star is rising in the sphere of French politics, to the point that she is close to the point of fulfilling the prophecy that she was given as a young woman, but that, I guess, is what will be covered in the next book.

Another very entertaining read from this author! I am looking forward to the third and final book in the series!

Rating 4/5

The books in this trilogy in order are:

The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.
Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe
The Last Great Dance on Earth

The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B by Sandra Gulland

You will be unhappily wed.
You will be widowed.
You will be queen

To the fourteen year old Rose, eldest daughter of a poor plantation landlord, the fortuneteller's prophecy is both thrilling and laughable. Poorly educated and without a dowry, it seems unlikely that she will find any husband - much less a king. But history tells a different tale, for Rose not only marries into a wealthy aristocratic family, she survives the French Revolution, outlives her first husband and is one day known as Josephine Bonaparte.

In this beautifully crafted novel, Sandra Gulland pulls back the veil of history to reveal an extraordinary life. From her simple childhood on the French island of Martinique to her first heady experience in French revolutionary Paris and her unhappy marriage to the unfaithful Alexandre, Rose's destiny lives with a man determined to rule all of France, determined to make her Queen.

The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B is the first book in the incredible trilogy inspired by the life of Josephine Bonaparte.

Marg Says:

On the odd occasion that I have read books that are in diary format, particularly historical fiction, they haven't necessarily worked for me, so if I had of realised that this was the format of this book, I probably wouldn't have picked it up. This is, however, one of those books where the diary format really, really works.

We meet the legendary Josephine Bonaparte when she is Rose, a young planter's daughter who lives in Martinique. She visits a fortune teller who tells her that she will be married unhappily, she will be a widow, and she will be a queen - all very unlikely given that she is uneducated, and from a poor family. Following tragedy within her family she is however betrothed to a man she has never met before and therefore has to make the trip to France - a country in uproar.

She marries Alexandre, Vicomte de Beaurharnais, and eventually provides him with two children, but the marriage is an unhappy one, and he is unfaithful to her many times. Eventually they undertake a legal separation, but there are many custody issues, particularly around their son, Eugene.

All of this takes place against a background of revolution, and eventually Josephine has to try and walk the fine line between being a revolutionary (necessary if one wants to keep one's head intact), but still being loyal and doing all she can to save her aristocratic friends. As Alexandre becomes more and more important in government, Rose finds herself under more and more scrutiny because she is still his wife, and when the tide turns against Alexandre they both find themselves in Carmes prison. Even during such a worrying time as that, Alexandre and Rose still find ways to torment each other, until finally Alexandre's name is on the list - which means that he is on his way to meet Madame Guillotine. Rose's name is also called, but she is deemed too sick to be killed, and luckily, through her influential friends, she is released, thus narrowly avoiding the same fate as her husband.

Once out of prison, life in post revolutionary Paris begins, and Rose, now a widow, becomes the mistress of several men. Whilst never rich, she does have influence, and does seem to fraternise with many men who form part of the new government. It is through these men that she meets Napoleon. At first, she is unimpressed, but as he pursues her, she eventually begins to see some advantages to being linked with this man.

This book is the first book in a trilogy, and focuses mainly on Rose's life prior to meeting Napoleon. He only appears in the last few chapters of the book, presumably as a kind of teaser for the next book in the series. And if that was the intention then it definitely works, because I have already requested the next book in the series.

Gulland is very successful at giving some idea of what life must have been like for people in France during this turbulent time - never knowing whether or not your neighbour that you have known for years might be the one person who will turn you in for disloyalty, not knowing if each time you see your friends may be the last time you see them, struggling to provide food and education to your children.

Through it all Rose manages to maintain her dignity, humour and grace. Overall, this was a very entertaining read, about a very interesting woman who lived in very turbulent times, and is still remembered today.

Kailana Says:

I have had this book since March of last year. I bought it when it first came out as a 3-in-1 book, and it is has been on my to be read pile since. I have no idea why, but I was on my way out the door the other night to work, and while I had a book picked out to read, I came back downstairs and selected this one off my shelf. It was really random and a spur of the moment thought, but I am glad that I read it!

I have a strong liking for historical fiction novels, so when I heard about this trilogy I knew I had to eventually buy it. Other than Naomi Novik's historical fantasy series about the Napoleonic wars, this is the first time that I can remember reading a book about this particular period in time. It was not an intentional thing, but for whatever reason, this is the first time I got around to reading about this time period.

I really liked this book. Let me point out that I am totally clueless. I was reading the book, and the main character in the novel is named Rose. It never even came to mind that it should be Josephine. I really wonder about myself sometimes, as it was clear that she was going to be the main character in all three books. It was not until she met Napoleon that her name became Josephine. I am still kicking myself for being so totally unobservant!

It is amazing what Josephine becomes in this novel. She begins the book living with her family, having never even been to France before, but one of her aunts sends a letter looking for one of her nieces to marry a young man that her aunt knows, Alexandre. For a large period of the novel, he is an important person in France's history. This naive young girl comes to France, and winds up married to a very important man. Too bad that he is not a very nice husband, and treats her more like a friend than anything else. He does give her two wonderful children, that present themselves and their personalities several times during the course of the book. It is hard to believe that the woman that marries Alexandre becomes Empress of France, because she can be quite naive. She is brave, but she holds onto romantic notions that make you wonder how she ever gets ahead. She grows up, though.

During the course of just this first book you see her go from this naive little girl to this very important woman in France. She may not have a lot of money, but she is very brave and puts her fellow man ahead of herself more times than I can count. She does not seem to care what happens to herself, she is more interested in helping others. She makes wonderful connections in doing so, though, that help her out in the end. I have to say, I know who Napoleon is, of course, but he was never given a lot of study in the history courses that I took. As far as I can tell, Sandra Gulland put a lot of time into making this diary-format book as close to accurate as possible. I learned a lot, and plan to track down a non-fiction book in the future to get a clearer idea of the validity of this historical fiction novel.

Overall, a very enjoyable start to a trilogy.

The books in this trilogy in order are:

The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B
Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe
The Last Great Dance on Earth