Goodreads asked Allison Pataki:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Allison Pataki "The Accidental Empress" is the little known and tumultuous love story of “Sisi,” the Austro-Hungarian Empress and captivating wife of Emperor Franz-Joseph, who was plucked from obscurity at the age of 16 and thrust onto the throne in the golden era of the Habsburg Court.

Years ago I was traveling through Austria and Hungary and the Czech Republic with my family. I kept seeing this beautiful image of this young woman. She had this quizzical smile, this rich chestnut hair curled in these elaborate hairdos. I saw her face at every gift shop, museum, even in restaurants and hotels.

I asked someone who she was and the response was that she was “Sisi,” the most beloved Habsburg Empress. I heard just a bit about her epic and tragic life—about the legends that she grew her hair to the floor, that she was considered the most beautiful woman in the world, that every other foreign ruler at the time was in love with her. I sensed that she was a combination of Princess Diana and Marie Antoinette and Catherine the Great and so much more.

I read about how Sisi didn’t mean to seduce her sister’s fiancé the emperor, but did, at the age of 15. Just enough to whet my appetite! I went home and dug in, reading everything I could about Sisi’s story; what I found astounded me. Hers is a story of love triangles, love, lust, betrayal, and so much more. It’s an incredibly human story, told against the glittering backdrop of the Habsburg Court. In Sisi’s case, history is even juicier than any fiction I could have dreamed up. I was hooked—and I hope readers will be, as well.

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