Annotation 4: The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette

The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette

by Carolly Erickson

Setting: France

Time Period: Leading up to the French Revoloution

Genre: Historical Fiction

Tone/Mood: Varies, light-hearted, passionate, grieved, bleak

Writing Style: Character-driven, diary style

Pacing: Fast-paced, engaging, quick read

Summary:

Delve into the mind of Marie Antoinette from age 13, just before she is married off to King Louis XVI, up to the day she is beheaded. While the diary and many characters are fictitious, the reader gets a sneak peak at what Marie Antoinette may have been thinking and feeling as she led her trying life and made incredibly difficult decisions and some less than savory choices. Diary-style writing allows the reader to see the humanity of the author, this story is no exception. No matter how you feel about Monarchy and the French Revolution this book reminds the reader that Marie Antoinette was a person too, with her own struggles, however different from her subjects.

This book is a great choice for any lover of royal historical fiction who wants something fast to read on the weekend.

Other titles by this author:

• The Last Wife of Henry VIII (2006)
• The Secret Life of Josephine: Napoleon's Bird of Paradise (2007)
• The Tsarina's Daughter (2008)
• The Memoirs of Mary Queen of Scots (2009)

Read-alikes:

• Abundance by Sena Jeter Naslund
• The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn by Robin Maxwell
• The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George
• The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory