Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
118th out of 428 books
—
99 voters
The Secret Life of Josephine: Napoleon's Bird of Paradise
The bestselling author of The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette and The Last Wife of Henry VIII returns with an enchanting novel about one of the most seductive women in history: Josephine Bonaparte, first wife of Napoleon.
Born on the Caribbean island of Martinique, Josephine had anexotic Creole appeal that would ultimately propel her to reign over an empire as wife of t
Hardcover, 336 pages
Published
September 4th 2007
by St. Martin's Press
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
1,809)
Actually, I read *Josephine: A Life of the Empress* by the same author, but that title isn't available except as a CD on Goodreads. This book sounds like the same thing.
I found Josephine's life quite intriguing, in large part because the telling of it involves many details about daily life in Paris during the Revolution. I learned quite a bit about that period in France through Josephine's biography, and she herself is quite remarkable.
I found the book overall well-written, and quite enjoyable...more
I found Josephine's life quite intriguing, in large part because the telling of it involves many details about daily life in Paris during the Revolution. I learned quite a bit about that period in France through Josephine's biography, and she herself is quite remarkable.
I found the book overall well-written, and quite enjoyable...more
I went into this book knowing this was embellished historical fiction. I enjoyed Carolly's style of writing. The storyline held my attention and sparked my interest in wanting to learn more about Josephine. As promiscuous as Josephine was, I felt the author was very tasteful in how she handled Josephine's sexual encounters. I thought the characters were well developed and I felt Josephine's pain, sorrows and desires. I found myself looking forward to what was coming next. Kudos to Carolly.
Distinguised historian Carolly Erickson always charms me with her biographies. This one about Josephine is no exception. Rose, whom Napolean called Josephine by her middle name, speaks in the first person to chronicle her life from her birthplace in Martinique to the end of her life in France more than a half century later. Josephine has already given birth to a son and a daughter through an arranged early marriage by the time she meets General Bonaparte. The love of Napolean's life and his good...more
I read a lot of books. I read a lot of historical fiction books, but never have I read anything about France during King Louis XVI's reign nor about Napoleon. I find that odd, now that I think about it - especially considering that in this year alone I've read two books which overlap over King Louis and Marie Antoinette's deaths.
I'll be honest, it took me a bit of time to get into The Secret Life of Josephine. It was strange and I knew next to nothing about her earlier life so I felt a little lo...more
I'll be honest, it took me a bit of time to get into The Secret Life of Josephine. It was strange and I knew next to nothing about her earlier life so I felt a little lo...more
A page turner, this fictional account of Rose Tascher, who became Josephine,
is intriguing and very readable. There is so much history, romance, slave isuurection,
French Revolution, that one never loses interest in this woman's life. It is based
on fact, but there is some exaggeration and romantic enhancement of this woman's
highly charged love life. I did not know much about the Grands Blancs of Martinique,
and these were her parents.
This is a horrid, horrid book. It's not because this is a very fictionalized aspect of Josephine's life, with probably more fiction than truth. It is because it is just so horribly written. It's like a bad romance novel, with a highly unsatisfying romance (seriously, Josephine sees this guy once, gives up her virginity to him on a beach without knowing his name or even having a real conversation with him [she would've been ruined if anyone found out! WTF, Josephine?:] and then is obsessed with h...more
I do respect the author for admitting that she provides a frothy version of history that has little, if any, relation to what really happened. Although the story and characters kept my interest, I'm not sure why she fabricated so many details. I turn to historical fiction for a painless way of learning history, and books like this make me wonder why the author needed to identify a fun story with a "brand-name" character like Josephine.
This is one of the WORST historical fiction books that I have ever had the displeasure of reading. Honestly, I have NO idea how I got through it at all! It doesn't even deserve the ONE star that I gave it...
This is very, very, very loosely "based on" Josephine Bonaparte's life. Some of the things that happen to her in the novel made me scratch my head and wonder what the author Carolly Erickson was on when she wrote it. I don't know what she was trying to achieve.
If you want to read a wonderful...more
This is very, very, very loosely "based on" Josephine Bonaparte's life. Some of the things that happen to her in the novel made me scratch my head and wonder what the author Carolly Erickson was on when she wrote it. I don't know what she was trying to achieve.
If you want to read a wonderful...more
1 like · like · see review
Carolly Erickson writes what I call, "Fluff historical-fiction". Adding elements of a romance novel, it is more fiction than history. However, sometimes we need an escape. That is the point of books, right? To take us on an extraordinary journey without us ever leaving the confines of our homes.
The Secret Life of Josephine is one of the most colorful books by Erickson. Whether the story is true or not, it brings the characters to life. This can be confusing for someone who actually wants hard-b...more
The Secret Life of Josephine is one of the most colorful books by Erickson. Whether the story is true or not, it brings the characters to life. This can be confusing for someone who actually wants hard-b...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
It was an enjoyable FICTIONAL book. In no way should this be considered historical fiction as ABSOLUTELY nothing was truthful except Josephine was married to Napoleon. I was surprised to have finished and read the author state NOTHING she wrote about actually happened. How is that historical fiction regarding a high profile figure?
2 likes · like · see review
It was entertaining but I had many moments where I thought "what?" and "yeah right." The author herself says in A Note to the Reader at the end of the book, that this book is a "historical entertainment" book and not a "historical novel." Erickson says, "I have turned very happily to historical entertainments as a way of blending fact and whimsy." OK, that makes much more sense now. But, there were just too many scenes where I could not get over the ridiculousness of it (for example, the old sha...more
Wow Josephine. You’re quite saucy. Very saucy. I found it a little hard to like her. She seemed superficial, flaky, and although I’m sure she was a good mother, there was just something about her I could not sympathize with. Perhaps she’s just too much of a party animal for her own good. It annoyed me though, with her behavior towards Napoleon and when the tables turned on her she had the galls to say:
“I felt a pang, for until now I believed that he had been faithful to me. I knew I had no rig...more
“I felt a pang, for until now I believed that he had been faithful to me. I knew I had no rig...more
I've been reading a lot of biographies and historical novels about France and Napoleon and Josephine, so I thought this would be another historical novel. I found myself feeling irritated and sometimes even angry at the misinformation in this book, until I flipped to the author's note at the end and realized she wrote what she calls "historical entertainment." She has woven fact with fiction to create a brand new genre. Once I realized that she was taking a lot of liberties with the actual histo...more
Josephine, was a woman ahead of her time, having many lovers, fighting to maintain her way of life, even facing execution during the French Revolution, then rising to the pinnacle of her power as she was empress of France during her long and difficult marriage to Napoleon. Ms. Erickson speaks out through Josephine's voice about the struggles of the time such as the slave rebellions, mass executions in France, and the eventual return to the French monarchy. Josephine is not portrayed as a perfect...more
What an interesting look at Empress Josephine, wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. I knew they were married but had no idea of the life that Rose Joseph led before she married him. I didn't even realize that he was Italian and changed his name to make it more French as he tried to gain dominance over the world. He was truly a little dictator and his reign of terror was very extensive. And Josephine (her name was changed by Napoleon as a requirement of their marriage) had her own secrets and her own love...more
I was disappointed by this book. I went into it knowing it was mostly fictional. I do not like how Josephine is pertrayed in this novel. The book is written well, she did a good job bringing the story together. Bit I personally think it was a trash romance novel with a real person as the main character. I really do not see a need to bring a fictional romance into it (Donovan). I think that ruined the whole book. I also do not like how Boneparte and Josephine's relationship was pertrayed. If the...more
I came across this book while trying to find some interesting historical fiction about France. The story was interesting, but I feel like it took a while to pick up and although exciting things happened, the narrative itself was a little dry. As far as historical accuracy goes, I think this book more or less sticks to the facts although the author took some liberty with Josephine's personal life and relationship with Napoleon as well as her affairs. I think the story has some interesting potenti...more
I didn't know much about (probably because I never was too interested in her) Josephine going in to this 'historical entertainment' by Carolly Erickson, who normally does some rather riveting biographies of royal women. I still prefer her nonfiction work, but this was fun, and a quick read, and sent me scurrying to the computer to find out what was fact and what was fiction. Josephine and I have some things in common, it turns out, namely migraine headaches, horrible inlaws (hers actually tried...more
It was this book that sparked my interest in Carolly Erickson. I loved this book almost instantly and have become obsessed with it ever since. The story follows Josephine, a beautiful young woman that you follow from her time as a beautiful young woman till her death in the 1800s. Josephine is most famous for being the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, which you can't help but like during the story, but Erickson has showed Josephine's life was just as interesting before she met Napoleon. I highl...more
I love historical fiction -- it's my way of delving into time periods and learning from a well written, factual representation of the characters and time period. Here the author refers to her work as "historical entertainment" and "frothy" representation of Josephine's life. It wasn't entertaining and I finished reading it in hopes of the book finally reaching a point where the writer gave me that blend of historical fact and her development of real life characters. For me, this never happened....more
I've always been wary of books that include 'The Secret Life' or 'The Secret Diary,' or really any 'Secret' at all in the title. When it comes to historical figures, the 'Secret' usually means a lot of historical discrepancies or guessing on the author's part. Now I didn't know a lot about Josephine Bonaparte, so I wasn't sure if this was the case or not with Carolly Erickson.
Anyways, as you might have guessed, this book is about Rose Tascher, later known as Josephine Bonaparte, throughout the c...more
Anyways, as you might have guessed, this book is about Rose Tascher, later known as Josephine Bonaparte, throughout the c...more
The fascinating story of the wife of one of history's most infamous men.
This is also an interesting look to see how the French became so free with fashion and love in all its forms. This book gives the impression that those who survived the bloody time of the French Revolution wanted to live life to the fullest, to really LIVE. Before it seems like they were all prim and proper like the British, but that was thrown out the window after all the blood was washed out of the street.
We travel the wor...more
This is also an interesting look to see how the French became so free with fashion and love in all its forms. This book gives the impression that those who survived the bloody time of the French Revolution wanted to live life to the fullest, to really LIVE. Before it seems like they were all prim and proper like the British, but that was thrown out the window after all the blood was washed out of the street.
We travel the wor...more
While I have no particular issue with the writing and character development of this book, I do with the author's "creation" of events that never happened, and truthfully, would be out of the range of happening in Josephine's life. I found myself getting irritated with the fabrications because I know that people will read it and think these were true events. There is a blurb at the very end of the book that tells that basically most of the book is fiction. This should have been put at the beginni...more
Wow. I wish I didn't know this book existed. I don't mind an unlovable heroine- a Borgia perhaps, but this is too much. I have no idea why anyone found Josephine wonderful from this books description of her life and frollics. Surely she couldn't have been this 'eh'. It's just not possible. Usually 'fictional history' makes every too special- this removes all charm, grace and even hygiene from the character of the 1st Empress of France. Really, I wished she'd stayed on Martinique and let the snak...more
May 27, 2008
Tara
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
bored people
Recommended to Tara by:
Bobbie!!!
I wasn't terribly impressed with this shallow portrait of Napoleon's first empress. I think Erickson's portrayal of Josephine lacks any true depth or insight into the character of a very interesting woman. More of the book was devoted to Erickson's fictionalized characters and events than on Josephine's character. She really just did not come alive to me. Also, it seemed like the author really skimmed over some important and potentially dramatic events, scarcely giving them any more attention th...more
The perfect companion to all that I have been reading about Paris present day tourism as well as my ever favorite topic of Marie Antoinette and the period of time before and during as well as the aftermath of the French Revolution. Did not realize that I had purchased a book about Marie Antoinette by this same author from the bargain bin of a bookstore (2009 wow!) and had not read it until right before I started to read this. A fun blend of historical truth and fiction.
I give this book 3/5 stars. It was an interesting read and I really like Erickson's writing, but I found the beginning to be very boring and didn't like the level of liberties the author took with Josephine's story. She went way beyond what is historically known about her and made things up, way beyond what historical fiction should be. She might as well have invented an imaginary character that lived during the reign of Napoleon to tell this story.
I found Josephine's life quite intriguing. I learned quite a bit about that period in France through this book, and she herself is quite remarkable. However, I was disapointed to learn at the end that this is more "fiction" than "history" -- the author embellished on Josephine's personal life more than I think was necessary. I was disappointed that it was not truer to her life.
I was disappointed with the writing style. Erickson has written many non-fiction books and I expected this to be written a little more in that style. Too many convenient and unbelievable turn of events. It was interesting to learn about Josephine - I really didn't know anything about her prior to reading this book.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josephine | 1 | 7 | Jan 09, 2008 04:56pm |
Distinguished historian Carolly Erickson is the author of The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette, The First Elizabeth, Great Catherine, Alexandra and many other prize-winning works of fiction and nonfiction. She lives in Hawaii.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/caroll...
More about Carolly Erickson...
http://us.macmillan.com/author/caroll...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“It's a wonder, given your prowess with these delicious women, that there aren't dozens of little Bonapartes running around. Tell me, how do you account for that?”
—
4 people liked it
“Could it be that the great Bonaparte is incapable of fathering a child? that it is not I who am at fault but you?”
—
2 people liked it
More quotes…
May 06, 2011 09:02am