I really didn't know much about Josephine Bonaparte prior to picking this book up at B&N. I did watch the miniseries when I was a teenager and entertained my best friend by shrieking, "I AM THIS REVOLUTION!" over and over again, bad French accent and all. (OK. It was a really bad accent but she had tears rolling down her face from laughing. Hard. Poor Armande Assante. He meant well.)
Since that's really all I remember, I thought there would be more of a love affair aspect to their story. I was really surprised to learn that there wasn't.
Let me start at the beginning. Rose-Joseph (Josephine) moves from her beloved island of Martinique to Paris to marry her distant cousin. On her wedding day, she discovers that he has another family and is in love with another woman. He only married her to claim his inheritance. Not an auspicious beginning. Josephine has left not only her family but two infatuations. At age 15, you'd expect that.
She gives her husband an heir after he brutalizes her one night. His name is Eugene. She is a vicountess and lives as royalty does, spending money lavishly, thinking only of herself and her little family. She also has several affairs, for this is the French way. Apparently the entire aristocracy was sleeping together. She gets glimpses of Marie Antoinette and much admires her. Josephine tries to emulate her grace and elegance.
After the birth of her son, she heals and consents to sharing her husband's bed again. This time, she presents him with a daughter. But all too soon, the winds of change sweep through Paris and the King & Queen are dethroned and beheaded. There is no more monarchy! All those who claimed titles renounce them in the hopes that they will escape the Red Lady, a.k.a. the Guillotine. Being separated from her husband now, she tries to send her children to safety but he denies her. He is one of the agents of change, you see. For him to send his children out of the country would be disaster. They stay. She stays and ends up in jail along with Alexandre for having a brother-in-law who emigrated. Thankfully, she escaped the Terror although her husband did not.
Widowed, with no money or place to go, she is left to make her way as best she knows how. She invests in property, reads tarot cards for money, and works with a financier to get others to borrow money from him. For this she is paid well.
Always, there are lovers. During one of her newest lover's parties, she meets the man who will attempt to change Europe forever. Napoleon Bonaparte. He has big plans for France. And himself. He will rule and he wants Josephine at his side. As she's alone for the most part, she eventually says yes. Even though she does not love him.
Well, I won't go into a lot of details except to say that it wasn't a happy marriage for anyone. Neither of them respected their vows. What I didn't realize was how cruel he became towards her. Belittling her, flaunting his affairs in front her, attempting to hurt her children emotionally. He married her daughter to his brother in order to have the heir to his title. His brother was eventually going to suffer from syphillis. They call it the English disease. (When you read something set in England from that time, it's called the French disease or the French pox.) Yet he wouldn't relinquish his hold on her yet. He felt that Josephine was his good luck charm. He hadn't lost a battle since he'd been with her and was reluctant to let that go for all that came between them.
Needless to say, it was a very odd relationship. Eventually, they divorced and she worked to bring him defeat. It completely shattered what I thought I knew about them. There was a certain ruthlessness about her that I didn't expect. All in all, a well written book through which I learned something new.
We Moved!!!
15 years ago
