Queen Margot, or, Marguerite de Valois
by Alexandre Dumas
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 406)
SO much better than I expected it to be. The book is long, but the story moves at such a fast pace and so much happens that you don't even notice. All the characters are fascinating, and my personal favorite was Catherine d'Medici, who wins the award for Worst Mother-in-Law Ever. I swear, she spends all her time trying to poison just about everybody in the book. She kills one person with poisoned gloves, then fills somebody's lamp with poisoned oil so the vapors smother them, and then she...more
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Read in April, 2008
I loved this book. Dumas wrote it in serial form, so it is fast paced and hard to put down--almost every chapter ends with a cliffhanger. It is set in Paris in the 1570s, during and after the marriage of Catholic Marguerite de Valois (Margot) to Protestant Henry de Navarre, a union orchestrated by Margot's mother Catherine de Medicis, which ends up resulting in the Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre on French Protestants. It's got it all: history (albeit re-written by Dumas), scandal, intrigue, a ...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
This was a delicious read...better than Three Musketeers or The Man in the Iron Mask. Then again, I read those two when I was about 12 so I'd probably appreciate them more at this age. The deceit, the intrigue, the court manueverings were all so delightful, even when it bordered on the macabre. I don't quite understand why the book is called Queen Margot when I felt it mostly concerned her husband Henri de Navarre. Catherine de Medicis is a truly heinous woman and it's unfortunate that she came ...more
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Read in March, 1998
The name is Mole. De la Mole. This is our man. The topic...you know, it has probably be done before, and afterwards, and in more intellectual ways (see all of the Henri IVs by Thomas Mann), but it never gets quite as gripping as here. There is the King, there is the Queen, there is the Executioner, there is Fate whirring by your ears like hot lead. There is Blood everywhere.
In one word this is KQEFB.
This sums it up. about. Not really. Just read it.
In one word this is KQEFB.
This sums it up. about. Not really. Just read it.
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Read in November, 2006
Great, fun and yet disturbing tale of the life of Marguerite of Navarre. The bloody and grim portrayal of the massacre of the Huguenots alone makes this book worth reading. It is shocking. But the friendship between the two male characters is moving the suspense regarding the fate of almost every character is palpable. Dumas' ever-present high-humor rescues the book from being too maudlin during awful events. Highly recommended.
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...that lovely brow, around which stars of diamonds formed a tremulous circlet...
...know you not that you are my sun by day, and my star by night? By my faith! I was in deepest darkness till you appeared and illuminated all.
...women are never so strong as after their defeat.
...know you not that you are my sun by day, and my star by night? By my faith! I was in deepest darkness till you appeared and illuminated all.
...women are never so strong as after their defeat.
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Read in September, 1997
Larger than life, bright, ironic, intelliegnt, the characters of this book ar more tahn fiction or historical character. Probably , Dumas' masterpiece.
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Read in January, 2008
magnificent as always! I love Dumas books, once you get started on them you can't put them down. Very interesting, highly recommended to everyone!
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So far I've read the first page over three times. At this rate, it's gonna take me awhile!
I just couldn't do it! Maybe another time. Ugh!
I just couldn't do it! Maybe another time. Ugh!
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Good historical fiction. It is nice to read literature every few months to remind me that paperbacks are truly still penny fiction.
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Read in January, 1999
i think its the first book that made me cry...one of the only. i guess i have to give it to the French.
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Read in February, 2008
Wonderful, grand, touching, sweeping, treachery-filled and lovely. Totally devoured it.
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Read in September, 2006
Pere Dumas shines as a master of dialogue and political intrigue.
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Read in March, 2007
Surprisingly entertaining. I couldn't put it down.
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Read in January, 1992
I used to love Dumas' books
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Read in January, 1994
Love, adventure, deceit.
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Have in Audible library.
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 4.09 (282 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.91 (197 ratings) number of reviews: 23
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"...that lovely brow, around which stars of diamonds formed a tremulous circlet..."
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