Marie Antoinette: The Last Queen of France

by Evelyne Lever Narrated by Lorna Raver

Overview

Married for political reasons at the age of fourteen, Marie Antoinette was naïve, impetuous, and ill equipped for the role in which history cast her. From her birth in Vienna in 1755 through her turbulent, unhappy marriage, the bloody turmoil of the French Revolution, her trial for high treason (during which she was accused of incest), and her final beheading, Marie Antoinette's life was the tragic tale of disastrous circumstances colliding.

Drawing upon her diaries, letters, court records, and memoirs, Evelyne Lever paints vivid portraits of Marie Antoinette, her inner circle, and the lavish court life at Versailles. Marie Antoinette dispels the myth of the callous queen whose supposed response to her starving subjects was the comment, “Let them eat cake.” What emerges instead is a surprisingly average woman thrust into a position for which she was wholly unprepared, a combination that proved disastrous both for her and for France. This is the revealing story of how Marie Antoinette kept her dignity and courage when Fate turned its back and she lost everything: throne, children, husband, and-in a very public and cruel execution-her life.

Editorial Reviews

FEB/MAR 07 - AudioFile

Lorna Raver is a pleasing narrator for navigating the intrigues and complicated settings of eighteenth-century court life. Lever’s biography of Marie Antoinette requires an able reader capable of accurate pronunciation of French names and words, and Raver succeeds. While her voice has a slightly nasal quality, it is distinctive rather than tinny. She matches the even pace of Lever’s writing, moving the listener through the many events of court life and revolution without getting bogged down or falling into exaggeration. Raver further matches the tone of Lever’s work by narrating rather than interpreting, leaving judgment of one of Europe’s most infamous rulers to the listener. R.F. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169574913
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	01/01/2006
Edition description:	Unabridged

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