Author: Juliet Grey
Published: Ballantine Books, 24 September 2013
This book was reviewed as a part of Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours.
While I've read through and reviewed the first two books in Juliet Grey's trilogy covering the life of Marie Antoinette, I knew it'd all come to this. The final book. The ending is never going to change, but I always hope it does. Let me just tell you now, in Confessions of Marie Antoinette the ending doesn't change and it's extremely heartbreaking. Get out the tissues.
The overall feel of the book is very bleak and leaves you with feelings of helplessness as it takes place in the midst of the Revolution and overturning of the monarchy. Marie and her husband King Louis are losing stability everyday. Their power has been stripped away and they are completely at the mercy of the French citizens attempting to create and control a new government. The majority of their family and friends have fled to the country - those who stay risk their lives in doing so. Even servants who seem to show to much kindness to the king and queen are arrested for fears of royalist sympathies. It's a disturbing and frightening time in France, yet Marie Antoinette but put on a brave face for her husband, her children, and her people. Yet through this, we still have tender, thoughtful, and clever moments that emphasizes what a close unit Louis, Marie, and their children were forced to become. You get the feeling that their family was the only reason they survived so long.
This book was originally titled something along the lines of The Last October Sky, which I thought was extremely beautiful. It correlated nicely with the last few pages of the book. I'm not sure why the change came about, but it sounds like it'd be written in diary form, which it's not. It's also strange because the whole point of the book was that Marie was innocent of all the slander thrown against her. She had nothing to confess. Throughout the journey of this trilogy you can tell that Marie Antoinette is a figure very near and dear to Juliet Grey's heart. She is written with such sympathy, detail, and care that it's hard not to become attached to her as a character throughout this journey.Grey's Marie Antoinette will always be my favorite!
Leave a comment below for your chance to win a copy of Confessions of Marie Antoinette!
This really does sound like a heartbreaking novel, but something I'd be so interested in! I need to get my hands on the first two books in this series :-) thanks for the great review and giveaway!
ReplyDeleteThank you Kelly, for the beautiful review. Yes, the novel was originally titled THE LAST OCTOBER SKY, a title that I agree is very atmospheric. The publishers decided to change the title after the book was completely written and edited because they wanted Marie Antoinette's name in the title. It was difficult for me to contest the wisdom of my book title showing up in a Google search of Marie Antoinette.
ReplyDeleteI can't resist a good historical fiction novel. :) I will definitely be checking out the first one on my own!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds extremely interesting!
ReplyDeleteI recently read the second book of this series and really enjoyed it. I would love to win a copy of part three to finish the series!
ReplyDeletethanks for your review. My own reflected my divided opinion on this book, but a friend of mine loves everything about Marie-Antoinette, so it would be neat to win this book for her. thanks for the giveaway. Emma @ Words And Peace. ehc16e at yahoo dot com
ReplyDeleteI would love to read that book, I don't really know the history of Marie Antoinette it sounds really heatrbreaking and wonderful at the same time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for such a thoughtful review. I am going to have to check this book out.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great read - it just made my "to-read" list!
ReplyDeleteI love reading about Marie Antoinette. I became obsessed with her when I visited Versailles a few years ago. She's fascinating!
ReplyDeleteI saw this book at Barnes and Noble this weekend and almost got it. It hadn't realized it was part of a series though. I'm definitely going to have to check the books out though. I love historical novels
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds like a great read. I love the cover. Thanks for having the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteayancey1974(at)gmail(dot)com
LOVE Marie Antoinette and historical fiction! I WANT! :)
ReplyDeleteI've never seen these books before but now I'm going to have to look into the series, seems very interesting :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway!
I don't know if this is international, but here's my comment anyways. I just read Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly and I'm fascinated by the French Revolution all over again!
ReplyDeleteShe died so young. This sounds interesting Count me in please.
ReplyDeleteIve never read anything like this. Thanks for the contest.
ReplyDeleteThis looks really good! Thanks for posting the contest.
ReplyDeleteThis looks really good! Thanks for posting the contest.
ReplyDeleteOh I'd love to read this! Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds interesting to me. I am always looking for more historical fiction books to read. Thank you for the chance.
ReplyDeletegriperang at embarqmail dot com
So excited about this one! Thanks for the chance to win
ReplyDeletelafra86 at gmail dot com
Love Marie Antoinette. Took an entire course in college just on the French revolution.
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