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amerika282's review
5.0
Absolutely amazing. A bit dense, but I actually looked forward to my baby waking in the night towards the end of this book so I could read what would happen next to Charlotte in Naples while I nursed!
glennrj's review
4.0
I found this to be a very interesting read on Maria Theresa of Austria and several of her highly influential children, including Marie Antoinette. Lots of humanizing information about them, not merely dry historical detail. If done properly this could the basis for a good "prestigious" limited TV series! I am holding back on giving 5 stars because I've seen some reviews questioning some of the book's accuracy especially about whether Marie Antoinette had an affair with and children by Count Fersen of Sweden, but it does seem obvious there was an affair of some kind, unless the author has totally fabricated letters between the 2 (or they were forged). Also the author speculates that Louis XVI was autistic, but it is not totally clear that he was and very hard to diagnose 250 years later, although he seems at least to have been very socially anxious and emotionally withdrawn.
magnetarmadda's review
medium-paced
2.0
There was so much in this book that’s not accepted widely by historians as accurate but instead meant to create an emotional narrative, and it was genuinely frustrating. A good narrative in a history book does make it more compelling to read, yes, but it has to be based on facts, not rumors with no supporting evidence or that directly contradict the evidence
dexychik's review
4.0
Exquisitely gossipy, handles the disparate timelines beautifully and keeps a laser focus on the women involved.
alexsbooksandsocks's review against another edition
In de schaduw van de keizerin laat de lezer kennismaken met Marie Theresia van Oostenrijk en 3 van haar dochters. Ook al is dit niet de makkelijkste lees door de vele namen, oorlogen etc, toch heeft de auteur naar mijn mening een heel goed, sterk en informatief boek geschreven. Het is heel gedetailleerd en compleet zonder té te zijn. Ik moest uiteraard alert blijven tijdens hem gehele boek maar het is razend interessant en het bleef - ondanks die vele oorlogen, details en tig namen - een enorm boeiende lees van begin tot einde. Als liefhebber van geschiedenis is dit zeker een meerwaarde om te lezen. En natuurlijk zou ik nog veel uitgebreider kunnen vertellen over dit boek maar dat zou plezier wegnemen van deze zelf te ontdekken.
ailurophile_bibliophile89's review
2.0
2 Stars
Snarky but baseless and inaccurate
Previous Nancy Goldstone books I've quite enjoyed for several reasons: easy-to-understand writing, enthralling subjects, and I love her witty notes (she's right - there's no originality in royal names).
However, while I appreciated the humor and side comments, and while I enjoyed Maria Theresa's tale, along with her daughters, Maria Christina and Maria Carolina, the author's assumption that Fersen was the father of two of Marie Antionette's children is absurd and not based on historical fact. If anything, it's based on the author's own opinions and theories.
While I, perhaps unfortunately, have to take the author's words for the former three ladies, I have done a fair amount of reading on Marie Antionette and can say with confidence that Fersen fathering any children off Marie Antionette is only gossip and hearsay, and quite frankly - absurd. Even the queen's contemporaries were certain that Louis XVI was the father of all their children.
Moreover, I disliked how she breezed through the lives of these remarkable women. Perhaps Goldstone needed to meet a deadline, or perhaps there wasn't enough material she could add (which explains the rather odd addition of Emma, Lady Hamilton's life tale), or maybe she just wanted to finish writing and didn't care about the final outcome, but whatever it was, the book felt rushed.
Basically, due to the aforementioned reasons above, overall In the Shadow of the Empress: The Defiant Lives of Maria Theresa, Mother of Marie Antoinette, and Her Daughters is definitely a disappointment.
Snarky but baseless and inaccurate
Previous Nancy Goldstone books I've quite enjoyed for several reasons: easy-to-understand writing, enthralling subjects, and I love her witty notes (she's right - there's no originality in royal names).
However, while I appreciated the humor and side comments, and while I enjoyed Maria Theresa's tale, along with her daughters, Maria Christina and Maria Carolina, the author's assumption that Fersen was the father of two of Marie Antionette's children is absurd and not based on historical fact. If anything, it's based on the author's own opinions and theories.
While I, perhaps unfortunately, have to take the author's words for the former three ladies, I have done a fair amount of reading on Marie Antionette and can say with confidence that Fersen fathering any children off Marie Antionette is only gossip and hearsay, and quite frankly - absurd. Even the queen's contemporaries were certain that Louis XVI was the father of all their children.
Moreover, I disliked how she breezed through the lives of these remarkable women. Perhaps Goldstone needed to meet a deadline, or perhaps there wasn't enough material she could add (which explains the rather odd addition of Emma, Lady Hamilton's life tale), or maybe she just wanted to finish writing and didn't care about the final outcome, but whatever it was, the book felt rushed.
Basically, due to the aforementioned reasons above, overall In the Shadow of the Empress: The Defiant Lives of Maria Theresa, Mother of Marie Antoinette, and Her Daughters is definitely a disappointment.
katemc's review
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
5.0
Loved this and immediately got the rest of her books out from the library. Compulsively readable, funny, chock full of anecdotes. She writes history how my friends and I studied for AP Euro.
I learned so much! I especially loved how many excerpts from letters she included - those aristos were funny as hell. Really great primary sources but also did so much to humanize the people writing. It didn’t just feel like reading about abstract actors but could actually get in their heads and witness their relationships and thoughts.
A bunch of negative reviews focus on her interpretations of Marie Antoinette and I do not know enough about the Count Fersen lore to weigh in but it’s always fascinating to see how hard people ride for stuff like that!!
I learned so much! I especially loved how many excerpts from letters she included - those aristos were funny as hell. Really great primary sources but also did so much to humanize the people writing. It didn’t just feel like reading about abstract actors but could actually get in their heads and witness their relationships and thoughts.
A bunch of negative reviews focus on her interpretations of Marie Antoinette and I do not know enough about the Count Fersen lore to weigh in but it’s always fascinating to see how hard people ride for stuff like that!!
adelita18's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.75