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The Second Empress. Michelle Moran (2013)

by Michelle Moran(Favorite Author)

3.79 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0857388622 (ISBN13: 9780857388629)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Quercus

review 1: It's a pity that a book focusing on an historical figure so infrequent on historical fiction has to be so inaccurate. I could forgive easily all the liberties taken by Michelle Moran, had she not claimed she was being close to historical facts. Unfortunately, she is not. From the idea of Hortense being Marie Louise's mistress of the robes to Pauline's obsession with Egypt, practically all is made up. The inclusion of Napoleon's letters to Josephine is useless. The author could have included those of Marie Louise instead, but that would be in contradiction with the cartoonish villain she made of Napoleon (she wrote things like "I, weighed down with care, and loving you more devotedly than ever, am spending whole days in despair because I can't see you" when Napoleon was alr... moreeady a powerless prisoner exiled in Elba and she was well guarded in Vienna and her correspondence opened by Metternich's police).
review 2: This novel borders on being extremely normal and uncharacteristic. My first read of Moran's work and not at all impressive according to me. The good things:Quite a lot of visual imagery manages to bring the scenes alive. The character of Maria Lucia is well-developed and intriguing enough to take note. Good ambiguous depiction of Napoleon's thoughts and actions. A competent enough storyline.Things which didn't work for me:The other two narratives, Paul and Pauline, were very much alike to Maria and therefore, often the POVs got confusing and I had to recheck. Well actually all three were alike but Maria sort of stood out because of the intrigue I felt. The pace is very weird - it quickens when attention to detail is required and slows down otherwise. Pauline, as a character was too one-dimensional. All in all, I would probably not pick up another one by Moran unless a friend strongly recommends less

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