Book Review: Becoming Marie Antoinette by Juliet Grey

With Becoming Marie Antoinette, author Juliet Grey provides a fascinating, riveting and well-researched account of the young woman from Austria who would become the last queen of France.

Becoming Marie Antoinette is the first book in a trilogy about Marie Antoinette. It follows Maria Antonia as she is molded and educated to become the dauphine of France all the way through to the death of King Louis XV, which lead to her and her husband Louis Auguste becoming king and queen of France.

In this richly detailed, well-researched novel, Grey shares her love of Marie Antoinette with the world. A story whose history we already know, this novel portrays a young woman who becomes her mother's puppet to advance political motives. Marie Antonia is a sympathetic character, made even more sympathetic when her husband chooses to spend more time hunting and forging than with his beautiful wife.

Admittedly, this book started off slow for me. As Marie Antoinette arrived in France and married Louis Auguste, however, the story of her challenge to fit in and be accepted and find love with a distant and self-conscious man, drew me in. From that moment, the pages turned rapidly.

It was nice to see this book end on a positive note considering the sequel will cover somber and more tumultuous years in their reign. I would definitely read the next two installments of this trilogy.


Series: Marie Antoinette (Book 1)
Paperback: 466 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books; Original edition (August 9, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345523865
ISBN-13: 978-0345523860

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Musing Mondays - May 2

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme now hosted at Jenn's new blog Books And A Beat that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

• I’m currently reading…
• Up next I think I’ll read…
• I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
• I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I can’t wait to get a copy of…
• I wish I could read ___, but…
• I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION:  Name any 5 books from your “to be read” pile (even if it’s a “virtual” pile).

Happy Monday, everyone! Trying so hard to get back into the swing of things. Way too much real estate work these days.

Here are some of the oldest books (meaning the ones I've had the longest) in my TBR pile.

When the concierge of The Alexander, a historic Atlanta apartment building, invites his fellow residents to join him for weekly screenings of Downton Abbey, four very different people find themselves connecting with the addictive drama, and—even more unexpectedly—with each other…

Filled with smart history, treacherous rivalries, lavish clothes, and sparkling jewels, Becoming Marie Antoinette will utterly captivate fiction and history lovers alike.

An epic fairy tale with surprising twists, embracing the enduring power of love and faith.

There's always something to gossip about in Savannah, Georgia, and Reagan Summerside always seems to be in the middle of it. She's busy enough running her consignment shop, the Prissy Fox, with her vivacious auntie, KiKi, but now the gossip--and the sales--are about to pick up, after a gruesome discovery...

Eighteen years after the infants Kai and Mahri DuBois were separated and taken from La Foret de Chenes for their own protection, they are called to return. Appointed as Paladins, they receive their first charges from the Elders. The twins must overcome the devastating act of treachery that tore their family apart, restore the integrity of the treasure they guard, and beat back the encroaching evil of La Famille DeMauvaise.

What are some of the books in your TBR pile?