Josephine: A Life of the Empress
- Book Review,
by Carolly Erickson
Amazon.com
When she married Napoleon Bonaparte in 1796, Rose de Beauharnais was a 32-year-old widow who had narrowly escaped the French Revolution's guillotine. She was six years older than he, notorious for her lovers, and unlikely to give him children, but possessed of the social connections and skills the ambitious young general thought would help him rise in the revolutionary army. He gave "his living reverie, his dream of perfect passion" a new name, Josephine--perhaps hoping it would blot out her unsavory past. Instead, she continued to be promiscuous as well as extravagant, and the marriage soured as Napoleon ascended to first consul and then emperor of the French. Yet he divorced her only in 1810, when political events made it clear he must have an heir. This highly colored biography practically wallows in Josephine's lurid personal life, colored in by luscious descriptions of the period's clothes, food, and amusements. The author, whose many previous books mostly deal with English royalty, does not burden readers with excessive doses of French history; the focus is always on Josephine, whose psychology is discussed at length. Erickson succeeds in making her subject an attractive figure, if hardly an exemplar of moral rectitude. Her book should appeal to those who like their historical biographies titillating and not too taxing. --Wendy Smith
From Library Journal
Marie-Josephe-Rose de Tascher, better known as the Empress Josephine, first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, has not been treated kindly by most historians. Erickson presents a balanced account of the Martinique-born girl who gained notoriety for her amorous and financial intrigues in the France of the revolutionary era prior to her marriage to the rising young Corsican general. Erickson is the author of several previous books on European history, including biographies of Catherine the Great (Great Catherine, LJ 6/1/94) and Queen Victoria (Her Little Majesty, LJ 1/97). Despite Ericksons evenhanded treatment of her subject, the Josephine who emerges here remains a vain, shallow schemer. The book is clear and easy to read but offers no new information or insight. Furthermore, Ericksons occasional errors of fact cause one to question her grounding in the material. For example, she states that 300,000 people were executed during the Reign of Terror, whereas the actual figure was somewhere closer to 25,000. Not recommended.Thomas J. Schaeper, St. Bonaventure Univ., Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From AudioFile
Davina Porter narrates this story of the transformation of young Rose, daughter of an established but impoverished family in Martinique, into Josephine, the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. Porter seems to savor the French place and people's names that are richly sprinkled throughout. She presents Josephine in sympathetic tones, first as a young innocent badly neglected and mistreated by her first husband, who has little regard for this gauche and provincial wife. Porter's presentation reflects the maturing of Rose through divorce, imprisonment during the French Revolution, and remarkable recovery to position and wealth. Porter never falters in maintaining a sense of engagement and interest in her story, particularly in her primary character. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
From Kirkus Reviews
An intimate, richly detailed, and candid portrait of the dramatic life and times of Napoleons wife, Empress Josephine. Erickson (Bonnie Prince Charlie, 1989, etc.), with well-received books on the Tudor monarchs and Queen Victoria, has herself become the queen of royals biographers. But queenship isnt always foreordained. The aristocratic (yet not high-born) Josephine Tasher de la Pagerie, for example, made her way to the top of Parisian society despite being born to a failed plantation owner in the colony of Martinique. Her biographer shows how this rough and sultry island background well served Josephine, molding her into a durable survivor. For all her power, grace, and charm, the empress emerges, too, as someone to pity. This woman who used men once wrote in a letter, ``I will behave like the victim I am.'' And while a reader might sympathize with Josephines circumstancese.g., her barrenness and her struggles with her aristocratic heritage amid revolutionErickson also unveils damning dismissals of the woman by some of those within and outside the Bonaparte clan who considered her venal, calculating,'' and worse. Perhaps Josephines flirtation with the swarthy, moody general of the republic was for her but a career move, with adultery an essential social institution that she could not ever give up, not even as an empress. Ericksons writing, sometimes dominated by details of the eras fashion and lavish imperial finery, is strongest when depicting the murderous frenzy of revolutionary times. The authors academic background in history helps to give weight and depth to her portrayal of a tumultuous period. The many notes and works cited attest to Ericksons exhaustive research. Moreover, her scholarly insights combine superbly with a mastery of period manners more often found in the best historical fiction. (8 pages b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
"[Erikson's] scholarly insights combine superbly with a mastery of period manners more often found in the best historical fiction." --Kirkus Reviews on Josephine
"Carolly Erikson tells [this story] with all the flair it deserves...Exquisite writing." --Houston Chronicle on Josephine
"Carolly Erikson i a most admirable biographer, and this book is highly enjoyable as well as being reliable and acute; indeed, it is popular historical biography at its best." --Christopher Hibbert, London Times, on Mistress Anne
"A book of considerable literary disctinction." --Washington Post Book World on Bloody Mary
"A masterpiece of narrative, a story so absorbing that it is as hard to put down as a fine novel." --Edmund M. White, Los Angeles Times Book Review on The First Elizabeth
"Erikson's fluid, captivating portrait reads like a first-rate historical novel."
--Booklist on Great Catherine
Review
"[Erikson's] scholarly insights combine superbly with a mastery of period manners more often found in the best historical fiction." --Kirkus Reviews on Josephine
"Carolly Erikson tells [this story] with all the flair it deserves...Exquisite writing." --Houston Chronicle on Josephine
"Carolly Erikson i a most admirable biographer, and this book is highly enjoyable as well as being reliable and acute; indeed, it is popular historical biography at its best." --Christopher Hibbert, London Times, on Mistress Anne
"A book of considerable literary disctinction." --Washington Post Book World on Bloody Mary
"A masterpiece of narrative, a story so absorbing that it is as hard to put down as a fine novel." --Edmund M. White, Los Angeles Times Book Review on The First Elizabeth
"Erikson's fluid, captivating portrait reads like a first-rate historical novel."
--Booklist on Great Catherine
Book Description
In 1804, when Josephine Bonaparte knelt before her husband, Napoleon, to receive the imperial diadem, few in the vast crowd of onlookers were aware of the dark secrets hidden behind the imperial façade. To her subjects, she appeared to vet hew most favored woman in France: alluring, wealthy, and with the devoted love of a remarkable husband who was the conqueror of Europe. In actuality, Josephine's life was far darker, for her celebrated allure was fading, her wealth was compromised by massive debt, and her marriage was corroded by infidelity and abuse.
Josephine's life story was as turbulent as the age—an era of revolution and social upheaval, of the guillotine, and of frenzied hedonism. With telling psychological depth and compelling literary grace, Carolly Erickson brings the complex, charming, ever-resilient Josephine to life in this memorable portrait, one that carries the reader along every twist and turn of the empress's often thorny path, from the sensual richness of her childhood in the tropics to her final lonely days at Malmaison.
From the Publisher
Praise for the works of Carolly Erickson "[She is] one of the most accomplished and successful historical biographers writing in English." --London Times Literary Supplement on Mistress Anne "She sets the background with skill and confidence, and the woman she portrays against it is a solid and convincing figure." --New York Times Book Review on Mistress Anne "Carolly Erickson is a most admirable biographer; and this book is highly enjoyable as well as being reliable and acute, indeed, it is popular historical biography at its best." --Christopher Hibbert, London Times, on Mistress Anne "A book of considerable literary distinction." --Washington Post Book World on Bloody Mary "This is a masterful performance in biography against all the portraits in film, fiction, and popular history." --Los Angeles Times on Bloody Mary "Erickson has brought sophistication and richness in a large biography that may become the counterpart to Francis Hackett's standard HenryVIII." --Kirkus Reviews on Great Harry "Erickson does an extraordinary job in dramatizing [the] period...the spirit of the age." --Los Angeles Times on Great Harry "I have never enjoyed a historical biography more." --Elizabeth Longford on The First Elizabeth "A masterpiece of narrative, a story so absorbing that it is as hard to put down as a fine novel." --Edmund M. White, Los Angeles Times Book Review, on The First Elizabeth "Erickson's fluid, captivating portrait reads like a first-rate historical novel." --Booklist on Great Catherine
About the Author
Carolly Erickson received her Ph.D. in medieval history from Columbia University. She is the author of Great Harry, Alexandra, and Bloody Mary, among others. She lives in Hawaii.
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