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Djevojka Koja Je Postala Marija Antoaneta (2012)

by Juliet Grey(Favorite Author)

3.78 of 5 Votes: 1

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Znanje, Zagreb

series

Marie Antoinette

review 1: Juliet Grey’s debut novel, Becoming Marie Antoinette, is well-written and detailed, providing readers with a glimpse into the dauphine’s formative years and early days at Versailles. While the content of this novel is not particularly ground-breaking, I still enjoyed this book.The style with which this book is written is very informative and detail-oriented, which I personally enjoyed, because that’s how I like my novels—with lots of material. The pace and plot, as a result, are by necessity slow and dragging. I didn’t mind, because in this kind of historical fiction, one hardly expects driving action sequences.As I said, Grey’s writing is servicable, and effective. At times, though, things veered a little toward the purple prose end of the spectrum, which is s... moreomething I really didn’t like. For example, in a single paragraph, Marie Antoinette informs readers that: “I was the embodiement of loveliness and fecundity” and “the illusion of womanly pulchritude”. I will admit that section made me laugh, not in a good way, as did the scene where Madame du Barry’s breasts are described as “pulchritudinous”.So, Becoming Marie Antoinette is well-written, but might be a little over the top in spots.I think, also, that when one reads books about controversial historical figures, there is the silent expectation that the author will bring something new to the table, something that will adjust the reader’s view of such a well-known personage. I, sadly, did not get that from this book.My own previous exposure to Marie Antointte is very limited. I’ve read Kathryn Lasky’s Marie Antoinette novel, which is geared towards children, and I’ve seen the Sofia Coppola directed film. In Becoming Marie Antoinette, Juliet Grey delivered no information that I had not already learned (and we can all agree that neither the children’s novel nor the film are exemplary sources), nor did I gain new insight on Marie Antoinette the human being.Essentially, Becoming Marie Antoinette was a good novel that I found interesting but was not particularly impressed with, as it rehashed everything I already knew.
review 2: Closer to 3.75 stars. Enjoyable and quick read. The story takes places before Marie Antoinette becomes the Queen of France. We start off with the tail end of her childhood in Austria to the first four years of her marriage to the future King of France. By the time the novel ends, she is just 18 years old. The author does a good and believable job of portraying both Marie Antoinette and her husband as being just a couple of teenagers in over the head with the expectations from everyone around to act as if they are seasoned grown ups. They're not and both are mere pawns by the grown ups around them pretending to act in their best interests. You fill sorry for them because both have been born and raised into royal families with unrealistically high expectations that no matter how hard either of them try, can never fulfill. It's hard to know who has it the roughest: Antoinette or the future Louis XVI. Antoinette's mother, the Empress of Austria, is constantly sending her letters telling her what she's doing wrong and how she must always look out for Austrian interests yet she is supposed to be fully French and essentially forget Austria is her homeland. Her mother treats her as well as her other children, as mere political pawns not worthy of having maternal love bestowed upon. She's also a foreign princess, one many did not want in France in the first place, and is shocked by the squalor that permeates Versailles.All of this on the shoulders of a 14 year old girl married to an incredibly awkward 15 year old boy whom is supposed to be the future king. He doesn't want it and spends most of his days either hunting, eating, or working in his smithy making locks, boxes, and other items. He's shy, not handsome especially when compared to his younger brothers, and is as uncomfortable with court life as his wife is. But he can escape and does so the role of charmer falls to Antoinette.I'd be interested in reading the next book and the only reason why I didn't give this book 4 stars is because all of the French thrown into it was incredibly distracting. Once Antoinette gets to the French court, all the reader needs to be told is that from here on out, the only language Antoinette is permitted to speak is French. I don't need things spoken in French then translated into English for the reader. Throws me off because if you think about it, no one speaks that way. The author has a lot of detail which normally can come off as show offish but in this case, it makes complete sense because the stuff she goes into concrete detail into are things a character like Antoinette would genuinely be aware of. It also shows the reader the ridcuoulousness of French court life. To believe this was how some people actually lived, that this was their normal world, is amazing. less

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Reviews (see all)

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Becoming Marie Antoinette is the first installment of the Marie Antoinette trilogy by Juliet Gray. This is a fun and educational read.I previously knew very little about Marie Antoinette, only that she was the queen of France who was beheaded during the French Revolution and that she once said, of the starving masses, "Let them eat cake!" Now, I feel sympathetic toward her, having the weight of the world placed upon her young shoulders beginning at the tender age of 10, when it was first suggested that she should marry Louis XVI and cement the treaty between Austria and France. She was constantly reprimanded by her ambitious mother, who withheld the simplest demonstrations of affection or comfort, then at 14 sent to Versailles without the slightest hope of ever seeing her beloved Austria or family ever again.Once married and living in the palace at Versailles, I admire the way our heroine strove diligently to follow the often ridiculous French etiquette and to live above reproach. It was also fun to read about the crazy behavior of the upper echelon and to hear about the unusual circumstances of Marie Antoinette's marriage with a husband so shy that he could barely touch her for years and how she learned to love him, offering patience and understanding, for all his shortcomings.And, just for the record, Marie Antoinette never did say, "Let them eat cake!"This novel ends as Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI ascend the throne of France, and I am eagerly anticipating the next two books to learn how the rest of her story unfolds.

kath

Torinne

A light and quick fun read.

Shaun

Tres charmante.

pandabear77

Great book.

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