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Marie Antoinette: The Journey | 
| Author: Antonia Fraser
Publisher: Anchor
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy Used: $3.86
You Save: $13.09 (77%)
New (35) Used (72) from $3.86
Rating:  106 reviews
Sales Rank: 7875
Media: Paperback
Pages: 544
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 0385489498
Dewey Decimal Number: 944.035092
EAN: 9780385489492
ASIN: 0385489498
Publication Date: November 12, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
In the past, Antonia Fraser's bestselling histories and biographies have focused on people and events in her native England, from Mary Queen of Scots to Faith and Treason: The Story of the Gunpowder Plot. Now she crosses the Channel to limn the life of France's unhappiest queen, bringing along her gift for fluent storytelling, vivid characterization, and evocative historical background. Marie Antoinette (1755-93) emerges in Fraser's sympathetic portrait as a goodhearted girl woefully undereducated and poorly prepared for the dynastic political intrigues into which she was thrust at age 14, when her mother, Empress Maria Theresa, married her off to the future Louis XVI to further Austria's interests in France. Far from being the licentious monster later depicted by the radicals who sent her to the guillotine at the height of the French Revolution, young Marie Antoinette was quite prudish, as well as thoroughly humiliated by her husband's widely known failure to have complete intercourse with her for seven long years (the gory details were reported to any number of concerned royal parties, including her mother and brother). She compensated by spending lavishly on clothes and palaces, but Fraser points out that this hardly made her unique among 18th-century royalty, and in any case the causes of the Revolution went far beyond one woman's frivolities. The moving final chapters show Marie Antoinette gaining in dignity and courage as the Revolution stripped her of everything, subjected her to horrific brutalities (a mob paraded the head of her closest female friend on a pike below her window), and eventually took her life. Fraser makes no attempt to hide the queen's shortcomings, in particular her poor political skills, but focuses on her personal warmth and noble bearing during her final ordeal. It's another fine piece of popular historical biography to add to Fraser's already impressive bibliography. --Wendy Smith
Product Description
France’s beleaguered queen, Marie Antoinette, wrongly accused of uttering the infamous “Let them eat cake,” was the subject of ridicule and curiosity even before her death; she has since been the object of debate and speculation and the fascination so often accorded tragic figures in history. Married in mere girlhood, this essentially lighthearted, privileged, but otherwise unremarkable child was thrust into an unparalleled time and place, and was commanded by circumstance to play a significant role in history. Antonia Fraser’s lavish and engaging portrait of Marie Antoinette, one of the most recognizable women in European history, excites compassion and regard for all aspects of her subject, immersing the reader not only in the coming-of-age of a graceful woman, but also in the unraveling of an era.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 101 more reviews...
 Deeply Moving November 24, 2008
Christina Croft (England)
I loved this book! With every page I really felt for Marie Antoinette and realized what a brave woman she was - so very different from the popular view of the silly girl skipping about in a shepherdess dress. Antonia Fraser showed so clearly the development of Antoinette's character - how she grew from being a victim to a woman who chose to stand by her husband when everything was against her. I was truly horrified by the descriptions of the cruelty of the revolutionaries, and the accounts of the accustations made by the son she loved were almost too unbearable to read - what transformed that horror in this book, for me, was Antonia Fraser's beautiful writing and the sense that she cared deeply about her subject.
[...]
A pleasant surprise October 31, 2008
S. Edington (Los Angeles, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This biography was a pleasant surprise! I thought it would be tedious to read and even harder to sift through the writer's biases. However, Antonia Frasier provided a wonderful insight into not only what Marie Antoinette's world was like, but also her strengths and weaknesses as a queen, mother, and woman. Frasier lent an air of sympathy which kept me enraptured until the very end of the book - not an easy task in a biography!
History as readable as a novel. October 18, 2008
Nienna (Ann Arbor, MI)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Fraser's biography is now considered one of the more complete contemporary works on Marie Antoinette's life, and beyond that is a fascinating peek into the end of imperial French life.
We all know the story as well as if it were a Greek tragedy; the beautiful young princess who desired too much, the lascivious old king who left "le deluge" to wash over his descendants, and the harrowing end for the last heir to the thrown in a Gothic prison. Fraser, however, brings all these scenes that make up the story Marie Antoinette and her part in the French Revolution to new life. The narrative flows like a novel while her prose remains slightly detached, ultimately allowing the reader to judge the queen's guilt for himself.
I know some readers find Fraser too sympathetic to Marie Antoinette considering all the transgressions, but I challenge anyone not to be moved by Marie Antoinette's love for her children and loyalty to her family.
Marie Antoinette the journey August 13, 2008
Cheryl Wilder
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Wonderful book about the Queen of France. From her early days as the Arch Duchess of Austria, to Dauphine of France to finally the Queen of France. It follows her life (journey)to her death. It also gives insight into the last surviving member of King Louis Auguste and Queen Marie Antoinette, Marie Therese.
Marie Antoinette in depth June 25, 2008
Edward C. Barile (Massachusetts)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have read many books on the Dauphine over the years and this is one of the best.
It covers in detail all of the daily life of a queen and the sacrifice she made by becoming a queen.
It seems that the paparazzi today are angels compared to what the people of France and all of Europe did to their monarchs.
The book is well researched, and well done and like all good books on her, this one doesnt speculate but clarifies the life of this often misunderstood young woman.
I recommend it highly.
But be warned - it is very detailed and there are tons of people to keep track of,
Even so, it reads well and you never get bored with it.
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