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Mistress of the Sun King
WIFE TO A MARQUIS, MISTRESS TO A KING
Abused by her brutal husband, lovely Athenais de Montespan yearned for the love of the one man in all France who seemed completely beyond her reach - handsome, sensual Louis XIV. As Maid of Honor to Queen Marie-Therese, Athenais was constantly in Louis' presence, and at last she won his heart.
Surrounded by ever luxury, envied by every woman at the Court of Versailles, second in power only to the King himself, Athenais at last thought her future secure - until she was forced to confront her rival for her lover's affections, a woman she had raised from poverty and introduced to the French Court.
Abused by her brutal husband, lovely Athenais de Montespan yearned for the love of the one man in all France who seemed completely beyond her reach - handsome, sensual Louis XIV. As Maid of Honor to Queen Marie-Therese, Athenais was constantly in Louis' presence, and at last she won his heart.
Surrounded by ever luxury, envied by every woman at the Court of Versailles, second in power only to the King himself, Athenais at last thought her future secure - until she was forced to confront her rival for her lover's affections, a woman she had raised from poverty and introduced to the French Court.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
44 people want to read
About the author
Sandra Dubay
36 books20 followersAlso publishes under the pseudonym Carolyn Chase and J.K.Crane.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 30, 2019
DNF, pg 105 (I think? I'm too lazy to check).
This was disappointing. I love the setting because there's so much flamboyance & drama to work with, but the writing was flatter than a pancake -- no depth at all, just telling & time gaps & more telling & more time gaps. Not only were Louis & Montespan lacking in depth, with scenes so short & disjointed that nothing ever had a chance to build, but the author couldn't be bothered to make minor personages like Marie-Therese, La Valliere, the Marquis, & various others anything more than one-note caricatures. (The portrayal of Marie-Therese particularly bothered me, because dude. Enough with her big red nose & yammering about how often the King bedded her. Either it was badly-written humor or badly-written development -- either way, STFU.) Overall it was just boring & blah, with Leisure's habitually dumbed-down prose (was their editorial board a bunch of 4th graders?).
Life's too short. I'll go watch VERSAILLES** instead.
Typical 2-star DNF. Despite the shortcomings, it could be a starting point for someone interested in this era, but if you're already familiar with this stuff (or a fan of VERSAILLES :P) don't bother.
**I'm not saying the show is entirely accurate, but like THE BORGIAS it's fascinating, addictive, & beautifully OTT. Which is everything this book isn't.
This was disappointing. I love the setting because there's so much flamboyance & drama to work with, but the writing was flatter than a pancake -- no depth at all, just telling & time gaps & more telling & more time gaps. Not only were Louis & Montespan lacking in depth, with scenes so short & disjointed that nothing ever had a chance to build, but the author couldn't be bothered to make minor personages like Marie-Therese, La Valliere, the Marquis, & various others anything more than one-note caricatures. (The portrayal of Marie-Therese particularly bothered me, because dude. Enough with her big red nose & yammering about how often the King bedded her. Either it was badly-written humor or badly-written development -- either way, STFU.) Overall it was just boring & blah, with Leisure's habitually dumbed-down prose (was their editorial board a bunch of 4th graders?).
Life's too short. I'll go watch VERSAILLES** instead.
Typical 2-star DNF. Despite the shortcomings, it could be a starting point for someone interested in this era, but if you're already familiar with this stuff (or a fan of VERSAILLES :P) don't bother.
**I'm not saying the show is entirely accurate, but like THE BORGIAS it's fascinating, addictive, & beautifully OTT. Which is everything this book isn't.
March 11, 2010
Mistress Of The Sun King is a fictional biography of Athenais de Montespan the second mistress of King Louis XVI of France. The story starts with Athenais' move to the court of France and then skips to her marriage and subsequent affair with King Louis XIV. Not much of her life is detailed in those first areas, until she starts to be noticed by the king.
This novel is definitely a very romanticized telling of Athenais' rise to be 2nd in power in France, but this was writen as a love story, which is why her fall from grace is not part of this book. Even in doing that, its impossible not to find Athenais to be a greedy, scheming woman who will do and often did anything to stay in the position of the King's favorite. In the beginning of the book, its very difficult to like her at all and though she becomes more tolerable as the book progresses its very hard to change that first impression.
There's a lot of intrigue and scandal in this story. Most of which seems historically accurate or close to it. I particularly liked the inclusion of the possible child of the Queen's that could have been fathered by one of her dwarves.
Sandra's choice of character's is unique as most people seem to gravitate towards the queens and kinds as subject matter, but she chose the king's mistress, and for the most part, its an entertaining read.
As a society we like the bad girls, and Athenais was definitely a bad girl in her day. A great read that has made me want to learn more about her and Louis XIV's reign.
This novel is definitely a very romanticized telling of Athenais' rise to be 2nd in power in France, but this was writen as a love story, which is why her fall from grace is not part of this book. Even in doing that, its impossible not to find Athenais to be a greedy, scheming woman who will do and often did anything to stay in the position of the King's favorite. In the beginning of the book, its very difficult to like her at all and though she becomes more tolerable as the book progresses its very hard to change that first impression.
There's a lot of intrigue and scandal in this story. Most of which seems historically accurate or close to it. I particularly liked the inclusion of the possible child of the Queen's that could have been fathered by one of her dwarves.
Sandra's choice of character's is unique as most people seem to gravitate towards the queens and kinds as subject matter, but she chose the king's mistress, and for the most part, its an entertaining read.
As a society we like the bad girls, and Athenais was definitely a bad girl in her day. A great read that has made me want to learn more about her and Louis XIV's reign.
December 3, 2014
Read this one several years ago and thought it was one of the superior bodice rippers. The story of Athenais and Louis XlV brought alive and fun to read.
November 8, 2017
read in 1992? one of my very first read ha!
May 26, 2020
it's quit boring, but interesting somehow . i highly recommned it to history freak's
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews