Marie-Therese,
Child of Terror by Susan Nagel (Bloomsbury USA, ISBN 9781596910577,
$39.99)
Stories of royalty
have fascinated the world for centuries. Marie-Antoinette especially has
provoked the curiosity of many. Eclipsed by Napoleon and by Marie-Antoinette
herself, her daughter Marie-Therese is not as well known. This book tells
the true story of Marie-Therese’s equally dramatic and tumultuous life.
Marie-Therese,
Child of Terror, begins with Marie-Antoinette’s preparations to leave
Austria for France in order to marry the future King Louis XIV. Finally
after 8 years of marriage, they conceive a daughter, Marie-Therese.
During the 11 years
after Marie-Therese’s birth, the royal family loses popularity, and plummets
in to dangerous territory. As an 11-year-old girl, Marie-Therese endures the
horrifying experience of the storming of (her home) the Bastille. After
experiencing several more shocking public uprisings, life-threatening
encounters, and secret attempts to flee the country, the whole royal family
is incarcerated at the filthy Temple Prison. Marie-Therese is only 13 at the
time of her incarceration. She remains in a room alone for much of the time,
forced to speculate about the deaths of her family members, who have indeed
been executed. When she is finally released over 3 years later, she is
undoubtedly changed.
This is wherein the
mystery lies. Theorists have speculated since the time of her release that
there was a switch and another woman, possibly her half-sister, took her
place and acted as the heir to the throne while the real Marie-Therese went
into hiding. Because the public had not seen her for 3 years, people had to
compare her likeness to portraits painted of her when she was only a girl.
Stories of a “dark countess,” living in Germany have convinced many that the
real princess, frail and terrified due to her time at the prison, chose to
live the rest of her life outside of the limelight.
The public
Marie-Therese continued to live a remarkable life, most of it in exile from
France. Her constant battle to return to France, including a fantastic
speech and effort to rally troops to her aid makes very exciting reading.
It is clear that this
book was meticulously researched. The exciting true story is punctuated with
excerpts from letters, speeches, and memoirs and includes a fantastic
section of color paintings and photos. Every well-stocked home-library or
interesting coffee table deserves a copy of this book.
Recommended for
historians and drama-lovers alike.
Review by
Laura
Flaugher, April 17, 2008
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