≫ Libro MarieTherese Child of Terror The Fate of Marie Antoinette Daughter Susan Nagel Books

MarieTherese Child of Terror The Fate of Marie Antoinette Daughter Susan Nagel Books

Download As PDF : MarieTherese Child of Terror The Fate of Marie Antoinette Daughter Susan Nagel Books

MarieTherese Child of Terror The Fate of Marie Antoinette Daughter Susan Nagel Books

An excellent book documenting the life if the daughter of marie antoinette. Contains information and perspectives not covered in american public high school history classes. It reads like a novel and less like a biography, which made it enjoyable (to an extent) to read and learn more about french customs at the time of the revolution. Be forewarned, the apt portrayal of tension an 11 year old girl might feel at being imprisoned and her family murdered comes through after all these years and makes for a tearful read.


Tags : Amazon.com: Marie-Therese, Child of Terror: The Fate of Marie Antoinette's Daughter (9781596910577): Susan Nagel: Books,Susan Nagel,Marie-Therese, Child of Terror: The Fate of Marie Antoinette's Daughter,Bloomsbury USA,1596910577,France;History;1789-1815.,France;History;Louis XVI, 1774-1793.,France;Kings and rulers;Children;Biography.,1755-1793,1778-1851,Angoulãeme, Marie-Thâeráese Charlotte,,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Historical,Biography,Biography & Autobiography,Biography Autobiography,BiographyAutobiography,Children,Family,France,GENERAL,General Adult,Historical - General,Kings and rulers,Marie Antoinette,,Non-Fiction,Queen, consort of Louis XVI, King of France,,United States,Western Europe,Women,duchesse d',

MarieTherese Child of Terror The Fate of Marie Antoinette Daughter Susan Nagel Books Reviews

MT was described by Napoleon, comparison to her husband and uncles, as the "only man in the family." This alone attests to her courage. Few children, after experiencing the unimaginable horrors of her imprisonment, could move on to display the qualities of leadership, intelligence, political savvy and the ability to form close and rich personal relationships.

After reading Antonia Frasers biography of Marie Antoinette I was thrilled to come across this biography. It more than met my expectations.

Like other readers I found the story of the dark countess a huge distraction. One paragraph on this woman would have sufficed. I would have found more detailed information on her friends, relatives and even adversaries, particularly their lives in exile, more interesting. Even some detail on the relationship between Yolanda Polignac and the Duchess of Devonshire, another fascinating woman, would have been more relevant than that of the countess.

The author's opening book with a description of the dark countess lead this reader to anticipate a later revelation of the woman's identity. This expectation grew with each narrative of her life in seclusion. What a let down I felt at the lack of resolution to her story. Her body was exhumed for the purpose of DNA testing but apparently the results have not yet been publicized.

I'm no scholar but curiosity led me to google all the "main characters" in the book. The several brief bios on the father and son duc d'Orleans painted them in a far more favorable light than Nagle. One even blamed Marie Antoinette's rudeness to the father for the hostility between the two. I would love to hear other perspectives on these two men from those of you more knowledgable than I am.

But I digress! Returning to MT herself, in spite of the nomadic life she endured, she did experience a "normal" life in many respects. No one was more deserving so I felt much joy for her. Of course there were scars that never healed but the high level at which she functioned was remarkable. Politically she was far more astute than her two uncles, Louis XVIII and Charles X. Amen to her remark wishing France had permitted women monarchs.

One of her greatest accomplishments was raising her niece and nephew as her own children. Although she placed too much emphasis on expectations of one day returning to France with Henri as king she did a fine job. Abandoned by their widowed mother, she provided an idyllic life despite of its nomadic nature. Again, I was uplifted by her pleasure in motherhood.

MT's fine qualities are a testament to her parents' teaching and example. Their extravagance and initial unwillingness to bend with the times led to their downfall but a legacy of the good in them lived on in their daughter.
Firstly, on a basic level, this is a very expensive book that is bound very cheaply. The book is falling out of the spine and many of the pages had to be presses open because the glue extended up into the pages.
The topic of Marie Therese is a very interesting topic and the book was a pretty quick read. However, if the reader is a French History/ Biography buff there are a lot of inconsistencies that she claims as fact.
As far as layout, the author titles the chapter with events that happen in the last paragraph of the chapter. For instance, in the chapter "Two Orphans", Louis Charles and Marie Therese become orphans in the last sentence of the chapter. So the chapters titles are outcomes and not a content/topic, which is confusing.
The author also doesn't put full dates for events. Many times it is only day and month, so the reader has to search, sometimes many pages, to find the year.
Basically, Marie Theresa is a fascinating and fierce woman. The book was interesting, other than the author approaches the subject like she is excitedly telling a friend a story, rather than as a documented historical biography.
If you know only enough of the history of the French Revolution to be familiar with the characters in this book or if you are willing to suspend all judgment, this can be a fast paced and enjoyable read. However, if you have a more than casual knowledge of the period, this book will leave you at times shaking your head in disbelief. First, the author introduces into the family a half sister sired by Louis xvi with a maid who apparently has such an uncanny resemblance to Marie Therese they could be identical twins. This claim is used to introduce the strange tale of the Dark Countess which pops up every so often (once was too often in my opinion) as a parallel story. The tacit implication is that Marie Therese is the Dark Countess and had switched places with her half sister so that after spending most of her teen years trapped in the brutal environment of the Tower she could lead a peripatetic life hidden under a black veil. This strains credulity on several levels. First, Louis XVI was a well known prude not to mention a devout catholic who eschewed extramarital activities. Historians agree on this point. Louis for all his faults loved and was devoted to Marie Antoinette. Secondly, if accounts of Marie Therese's interactions with various guards and visitors -- none of whom were people she chose to see-- are to be believed she was hardly a shrinking violet. This is supported by observations of her as a child at Versailles where she had at a very young age already displayed a haughty attitude. This hardly comports with someone who would choose an itinerant life in order to hide her true identity. Additionally, there is a passage in the book where unbeknownst to her she is driven through the town of Verennes (this is the town where the royal family's attempt to escape was discovered and they were unceremoniously returned to Paris) she has an extremely visceral reaction to her surroundings and asks the driver where they are. When he answers Verennes she in a panic demands that he get them out of there immediately. This can only be the reaction of someone who actually experienced the horrors of that day. The only surviving member of the royal family who was there is none other than Marie Therese.

Putting the above aside, I found the story of her life with her uncle Louis XVIII to be extremely interesting. She proves to be a woman of great resilience. She believes that the Bourbons are still the rightful rulers of France and makes every effort to ensure they reclaim and retain that right. Throughout the vicissitudes of her life she shows unwavering determination. I only wish this book solely concentrated on her life and her life only. The other story is a distraction and detracts from what is otherwise an interesting character study of a woman born into great pomp and wealth who before her eighteenth birthday witnesses first hand a revolution. Subsequently, she is imprisoned with her family. Has the father she loved dearly taken from her and executed. Has her mother, brother and aunt one by one taken away without her knowing where or why only to learn years later-- while still imprisoned-- that her mother and aunt were executed and her brother died under horrific circumstances. Yet she emerges from these horrid circumstances to lead a life dedicated to restoring their memories and her birthright.
An excellent book documenting the life if the daughter of marie antoinette. Contains information and perspectives not covered in american public high school history classes. It reads like a novel and less like a biography, which made it enjoyable (to an extent) to read and learn more about french customs at the time of the revolution. Be forewarned, the apt portrayal of tension an 11 year old girl might feel at being imprisoned and her family murdered comes through after all these years and makes for a tearful read.