I became engrossed with this novel from the beginning. Once I entered Rose's world, I didn't want to leave it. Luckily, this book is a first of a trilogy about Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de la Pagerie aka Josephine Bonaparte (she is known as Rose in this novel).

Gulland has created an exquisite story, where it's hard to remember that these aren't Rose's actual words. The story is written through journal entries, so we're basically reading the events of her life through 'her words'. T...more I became engrossed with this novel from the beginning. Once I entered Rose's world, I didn't want to leave it. Luckily, this book is a first of a trilogy about Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de la Pagerie aka Josephine Bonaparte (she is known as Rose in this novel).

Gulland has created an exquisite story, where it's hard to remember that these aren't Rose's actual words. The story is written through journal entries, so we're basically reading the events of her life through 'her words'. This first book starts on Rose's 14th birthday (June 23, 1777) and ends with her marriage to Napoleon (March 9, 1796), so I can just imagine all the good stuff to come in the remaining two books.

The change from child to adult is done masterfully. It's gradual. We see the events and people that shape Rose's world and character. We see her intelligence grow. We see a strong woman emerge from an unhappy marriage and the bloodshed of the Revolution. She fights for her friends and wants the best for her children.

I have become incredibly interested in learning more about this woman, who I knew absolutely nothing about when I ventured into this novel. I can't wait to get through the following two installments and stay in her world just a little longer. ( )

Very intereresting. I liked it better than the "The Other Boylyn Girl" and "The Queens Fool" by Philippa Gregory because this was a shorter read and didn't go into so much detail that it got boring. ( )

Part one in a trilogy about the young girl who eventually becomes the Empress Josephine, the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. This is her early life on Martinique and her first marriage to a a young French nobleman who plays a key role in the downfall of the monarchy and the brutal Revolution.

The novel is entirely in journal entries which lends an aura of intimacy and originality on the plus side. On the minus side, it is perhaps not the most effective technique for explication of the incredibly confusing political events of the time. I really longed for more history, more context, more of the hows and whys behind all the upheaval and the bloodshed. I also found it perplexing that Josephine could be supposedly struggling to feed her family by day, and traipsing about to salons with the rich and famous 'till all hours of the night --this did not ring true to me.

The writing was fairly pedestrian, but overall the story was fairly engaging and quickly read. I think on the whole this is a nice balance -- it is not the thinly veiled chick lit. that much historical fiction about women can be; but it is by no means heavy on dry historical ideology, philosophy etc. I'll choose to continue the trilogy. ( )

This is the first of a trilogy about Napoleon from the perspective of Josephine B. Normally I'm not a big fan of historical fiction, but I LOVED this trilogy. Apparently years of research went into writing this story. Great characters, great details. I learned so many interesting things about this period of history.

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