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Farewell, My Queen
"A woman whose function it once was to read books aloud to Marie-Antoinette is haunted by the memory of her last days at the French court of Versailles, when Louis XVI's magnificent chateau succumbed to the irrepressible forces of revolution. Now exiled in Vienna, Madame Agathe-Sidonie Laborde looks back twenty-one years to the legendary opulence of Versailles and, overcom...more
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
September 2nd 2004
by Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )
(first published August 28th 2002)
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Recently the UK’s Mail Online ran an article entitled, “Do you have Celebrity Worship Syndrome?” along with a quiz “to measure the reader’s ‘CWS’ symptoms”. One of the T/F quiz statements was, “I enjoy watching my favourite celebrity”; another read, “I have a special bond with my celebrity.”
The piece put me in mind of Chantal Thomas’s engrossing historical novel, Farewell, My Queen, which I’d just finished reading. The link in my thought loop can probably be traced to Thomas’s description of lif...more
The piece put me in mind of Chantal Thomas’s engrossing historical novel, Farewell, My Queen, which I’d just finished reading. The link in my thought loop can probably be traced to Thomas’s description of lif...more
The book is translated quite well from French, originally, I think in 2002. I reviewed the film for my newspaper and, without my knowing much European history (sadly), I was moved by it to read the book and do a little other reading to fill in some of the gaps in my understanding. The book, narrated in first person by the protagonist, did not make her as much a figure of mystery as did the film. Sidonie Laborde, a reader to Queen Marie Antoinette at the court in Versailles, loves her. The book i...more
Farewell My Queen has some great writing, some great scenes, some great impressions, but much of it is dull and uneven.
It recounts, almost hour-by-hour, Versailles on July 14th-16th 1789. The first day is a normal one as courtiers and servants do what courtiers and servants do. The second day begins with the residents learning that the King was awoken in the middle of the night to be told about the Bastille. By the third day everyone is making plans to flee and the monarchy appears to be over.
Th...more
It recounts, almost hour-by-hour, Versailles on July 14th-16th 1789. The first day is a normal one as courtiers and servants do what courtiers and servants do. The second day begins with the residents learning that the King was awoken in the middle of the night to be told about the Bastille. By the third day everyone is making plans to flee and the monarchy appears to be over.
Th...more
This was absolutely brilliant. Given, I did pick it up once I had seen the movie trailer (but only because I didn't know it existed beforehand, for I am deeply attached to this particular era), but I came to like it for different reasons than I had been expecting. From a typically non -fiction author, this book is packed with facts and yet it still manages to flow. Once you begin the book you are taken through the sorted memories of a girl who was once Marie Antoinette's personal reader. You mee...more
High quality historical fiction with a gender touch. The former reader of Marie Antoinette evokes the last days of royal life in Versailles and, thereby, laments the passing of the Ancien Régime. What distinguishes this novel from the multitude of fiction concerned with 'Great Women in History' is the amount of historical facts invested and the beautifully ambivalent atmosphere created by the author. Instead of focusing on common stereotypes about the people and the places of glorious France bef...more
Jun 03, 2009
Bridget
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
History lovers, those interested in Marie Antoinette
Shelves:
2009-reads
This book was given to me by a friend. The story is told from the perspective of a woman who is the Reader to the Queen, Marie Antoinette. The story is remembered from the perspective of 1810, in Vienna, and covers the story of the last days of the court at Versailles in 1789, when the French Revolution started.
This was an interesting read, as it was told from the perspective of someone who is part of the court, but not one of the higher ranking indviduals. Marie Antoinette is presented as a wom...more
This was an interesting read, as it was told from the perspective of someone who is part of the court, but not one of the higher ranking indviduals. Marie Antoinette is presented as a wom...more
This is not historical fiction. This is literary fiction. I could not put this down to save my life. After seeing the film, which was beautiful in its own regards, I had to purchase this (if only I read French well enough!). Both are incredibly different, and yet, incredibly enjoyable. And while the movie is delicious and glamorous, moving and one I cannot wait for on DVD, this has a beauty, life, and suspense to it that cannot be recreated on film. Agathe lives and breathes and in her own almos...more
The storyline of this book was that of one women who was Marie Antoinette's personal reader talking about 3 days back in 1789, as the French Revolution nears. It seemed rather promising. However, I had three major problems with the book. First, it had no solid plot line. Secondly, it went off on tangents that really made no sense. And last of all, it was so unengaging. I didn't care about the characters or the book at all. It took me forever to finish it, all the while HOPING it would get better...more
I read 'Farewell, My Queen' after seeing the sumptuous film adaptation. Although the film and book differ substantially in the details of how things unfold, they have the same basic structure and, crucially, the same atmosphere. This novel takes place as a memory of the last few days the main character, Sidonie, spends in the Palace of Versailles. After news of the fall of the Bastille reaches the royal family, life at Versailles unravels chaotically.
It was interesting to read 'Farewell, My Quee...more
It was interesting to read 'Farewell, My Quee...more
Jun 04, 2013
Adam Siegfried
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical,
favorites
Les Adieux a la Reine was recently adapted for the silver screen with Diane Kruger as Marie Antoinette. The film is visually stunning but lacks many of the details that made the novel intriguing.
The story is concerned with Marie Antoinette's final days at the Palace of Versailles. This is an interesting period of time for a Antoinette novel. The revolution is occurring but we are intrenched with Agathe-Sidonie Laborde, the royal reader to the queen. All we know about the revolution is told thro...more
The story is concerned with Marie Antoinette's final days at the Palace of Versailles. This is an interesting period of time for a Antoinette novel. The revolution is occurring but we are intrenched with Agathe-Sidonie Laborde, the royal reader to the queen. All we know about the revolution is told thro...more
J'ai globalement bien aimé ce livre, surtout la façon dont il est écrit, on rentre dans l'intimité de Versailles de Marie-Antoinette, on apprend à aimer cette reine publique. Vu la période, on a plutôt tendance à s'intéresser à ce qui se passait du côté du peuple, et ce livre se déroule du côté de la cour de Versailles, et c'était intéressant de voir ce point de vue, même s'il s'agit d'une fiction. Le plus frappant a été le passage où la prise de la Bastille est perçue comme un pur canular, comm...more
Je suis loin d'être passionnée par la reine Marie-Antoinette,je le suis bien plus par cette période de l'histoire, qu'est la révolution. Suite à l'adaptation de Benoit Jacquot,je me suis plongée dans ce récit hors d'âge. Ce roman dépeint les coulisses de Versailles suite au funeste 14 juillet,Versailles coté Grands Appartements et courtisans et Versailles coté galeries et domesticité au moment ou l'Ancien régime s'éffondre
Ayant vu le film avant d'en lire le roman, j'ai trouvé que l'adaptation ap...more
Ayant vu le film avant d'en lire le roman, j'ai trouvé que l'adaptation ap...more
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Just as I am a fan of all things Tudor, I am also a fan of all things Marie Antoinette. Unfortunately, this book was very disappointing.
That the this book was told from the point of view from the reader of Marie Antoinette is unusual. I do not think such a person would be the best to accurately represent events. I felt like the reader was a nonperson and was only there to convey the story even though the book is told from her point of view. Technically, this book is told from first person perspe...more
That the this book was told from the point of view from the reader of Marie Antoinette is unusual. I do not think such a person would be the best to accurately represent events. I felt like the reader was a nonperson and was only there to convey the story even though the book is told from her point of view. Technically, this book is told from first person perspe...more
Farewell, My Queen is a narrative of the last three days at the court of Louis XVI, told from the perspective of a reader to Marie-Antoinette.
Chantal Thomas, who has written several books about Marie-Antoinette and the French Revolution, does well capturing the chaos and downfall of the court.
The book tells a story, but the main focus is rather on Versailles itself. On the courtiers, the way of life, the things that seem absurd to even think of - as the main character states in one passage, it'...more
Chantal Thomas, who has written several books about Marie-Antoinette and the French Revolution, does well capturing the chaos and downfall of the court.
The book tells a story, but the main focus is rather on Versailles itself. On the courtiers, the way of life, the things that seem absurd to even think of - as the main character states in one passage, it'...more
Je viens de finir de lire Les Adieux à la Reine de Chantal Thomas (Prix Femina 2002). Madame Laborde est la lectrice adjointe de Marie-Antoinette. C'est par ses yeux et sa narration à la première personne que le lecteur découvre l'ambiance qui devait régner à la Cour de Versailles en juillet 1789 (du 14 au 17 plus précisément.)
La Reine envisage de fuir avec sa famille, y renonce à la dernière minute, fait partir sa favorite, Gabrielle de Polignac et demande à Mme Laborde de l'accompagner. Ces jo...more
La Reine envisage de fuir avec sa famille, y renonce à la dernière minute, fait partir sa favorite, Gabrielle de Polignac et demande à Mme Laborde de l'accompagner. Ces jo...more
Pour situer le roman : une dame, deuxième lectrice de la Reine Marie-Antoinette, raconte les 14, 15 et 16 juillet 1789 avec elle à Versailles.
Les adieux à la Reine est une lecture intéressante, mais pas le chef-d'œuvre que j'attendais vu les critiques dithyrambiques que j'avais lues à son sujet. Je ne me suis pas sentie emportée par l'histoire, j'ai continué à lire parce que ça m'intéressait, mais pas parce que j'étais passionnée. Petite déception, donc.
Les adieux à la Reine est une lecture intéressante, mais pas le chef-d'œuvre que j'attendais vu les critiques dithyrambiques que j'avais lues à son sujet. Je ne me suis pas sentie emportée par l'histoire, j'ai continué à lire parce que ça m'intéressait, mais pas parce que j'étais passionnée. Petite déception, donc.
Versailles comme palais de rêve, comme château d'un conte de fées où une foule de personnages fantastiques se promène menant une vie artificielle et irréelle. La lectrice de la reine (bon, lectrice-adjointe) décrit les cérémonies, les coiffures, l'étiquette, les bâtiments... et la chute: en deux jours, du 14 au 16 juillet 1789 un monde s’écroule et une nouvelle société nait.
A look at the panic that whirled around Versailles when the Bastille fell. From the point of view of Marie Antoinette's deputy reader, we see many details of court life and ritual. And some of the nastier aspects too. Apparently Versailles was riddled with vermin and on a hot day was quite a stinky place to be - but the place to be none the less. We also see how people had become so inculcated with the hierachy of the society, that people were swept up into a panic when there were no servants to...more
In the past, I have enjoyed reading about Marie Antoinette. I never connected with this writer's version of the story, told from the point of view of the Queen's assistant reader--now residing in Vienna some 21 years past the revolution. Don't know why I even continued in reading, because it was confusing and unclear to me.
Three days in the life of Marie-Antoinette beginning on the day the people stormed the Bastille and were then on their way to Versailles to arrest and behead 286 Royalists as seen through the eyes of the Queen's Official reader.
Jun 05, 2010
Nissa
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2004,
dont-remember-reading
Can't remember the book or whether I liked it. I save one star reviews for books that actually repulse me or for books I abort reading, that's why the books that merit merely a (shrug)/"meh" get two stars from me.
Fascinating and deeply disturbing... sadly I found the film version by Benoit Jacquot more interesting than I did this literary version. However, I am no w interested in reading more Chantal Thomas.
du 14 au 16 juillet 1789 a versailles et la fuite de l'aristocratie dans la panique, raconte par la lectrice de marie antoinette. disparition des valeurs et de la solidarite dans la panique et la peur.
Good book. One woman's experience of the last few days of Marie Antoinette and those around her. Not overly emotional or silly. Very well written. I like the intelligent writing style so much I look forward to finding more books by this same writer.
fascinating insights about life at the French court of Versailles but not necessarily a page-turner. Reads more like a historical biography even though it's technically historical fiction.
I have my doubts as to whether whoever wrote the review quoted on the cover calling this book "a racy, pacy story with a cast of rogues and villains" has in fact read it. It was neither racy, nor pacy, and the characters weren't fleshed out enough to be rogues and villains. In fact, it didn't really have characters at all, just figures who appeared as the narrative required. However, while I wasn't the slightest bit interested in the characters, least of all the insipid narrator, I was quite int...more
I really enjoyed this book as it is told from the standpoint of a minor member of the Court of Versailles. Well written and well done.
I usually enjoy period pieces, but I could not get into this book. I think that something was lost in the translation.
I became interested in this book because there is a movie adaptation coming out.
it was written in french and translated into english. The author's writing was disjointed and I was easily lost. It started out good but I was bored at the end, which should of been the most exciting part.
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