The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette

by Carolly Erickson (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2006

  $3.28

  Imagine that, on the night before she is to die under the blade of the guillotine, Marie Antoinette leaves behind in her prison cell a diary telling the story of her life - from her privileged childhood as Austrian Archduchess to her years as glamorous mistress of Versailles to the heartbreak of imprisonment and humiliation during the French Revolution. Carolly Erickson takes the reader deep into the psyche of France's doomed queen: her love affair with handsome Swedish diplomat Count Axel Fersen, who risked his life to save her; her fears on the terrifying night the Parisian mob broke into her palace bedroom intent on murdering her and her family; her harrowing attempted flight from France in disguise; her recapture and the grim months of harsh captivity; and her agony when her beloved husband was guillotined and her young son was torn from her arms, never to be seen again. Erickson brilliantly captures the queen's voice, her hopes, her dreads, and her suffering. We follow, mesmerized, as she reveals every detail of her remarkable, eventful life - from her teenage years when she began keeping a diary to her final days when she awaited her own bloody appointment with the guillotine.

• Used

  Paperback
  2008

  $7.28

  In her powerful new book, Carolly Erickson brilliantly captures the queen's voice, her hopes and her suffering. We follow, mesmerised, as she reveals every detail of a remarkable, eventful life - from her teenage years when she began keeping a diary to her final days when she awaited her bloody appointment with the guillotine. An historical entertainment that elaborates imaginatively and whimsically on the actual lives of Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, Axel Fersen, and their peers. The Hidden Diary gives the reader the carthartic, visceral experience of reliving Marie Antoinette's life - as fictionally elaborated. Erickson creates a memorable, sympathetic, vivid image of this Queen that she hopes will stay in the mind and heart of the reader after the book is closed. 'Writers of historical fiction must tread a fine line between loving one's protagonists while telling the truth about them. arolly Erickson has executed this balancing act with the same scorching wit and great-heartedness that has always illuminated her biographies.' - Robin Maxwell, author of The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn. Carolly Erickson holds a Ph.D. in medieval history from Colombia University and was a college professor before becoming a writer. She has written many historical biographies, including The First Elizabeth, Her Little Majesty, and Alexandra.