Farewell, My Queen

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 Queen' as a counterpoint to my usual pro-Revolution reading. In 'City of Darkness, City of Light' for example, all the characters are excited and carried along by the Revolution, to varying degrees. To Sidonie, her friends, and her superiors, it is a show more wholly baffling and terrifying prospect, incomprehensible and destructive. They have no concept of the wider social and economic context, no point of contact with the bourgeois third estate deputies, no common understanding with those outside the Versailles bubble. The sense of stifling helplessness and confusion is very effective in this novel, helped by copious symbolism. Indeed, some characters appear only to be avatars of chaos or longing, possibly invented by Sidonie. Her narration is powerful, albeit clearly not reliable.

I enjoyed this novel as a snapshot of the French monarchy's collapse, but ultimately I prefer the pro-revolutionary perspective. Sidonie is immersed in the wasteful, ineffectual, archaic ritual of Versailles, the appeal of which to her seems to be grounded in her love for the Queen. Actually, her portrait of Versailles life reminded me of the Gormenghast trilogy.

On balance, I'd only recommend reading this novel after seeing the film. The combination evokes the atmosphere of dissolution and collapse effectively; each on its own is fairly slight and insubstantial. Moreover, the film is beautifully shot and brings out the relationship between the Queen and Gabrielle de Polignac more unequivocally than the novel. show less

this is a well written but not brilliant portrait of Marie Antionette during a certain 3 days of a certain critical week in July 1789 through the eyes of her "reader". The book does create a very vivid and no doubt accurate portrait of the people who lived at Versailles during that week and the uncertainty that caused some to flee and some to arrive seeking sanctuary. I did enjoy the book and I would be very interested in reading the authors previous books.

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.

The story is told in flashbacks from the perspective of then-young woman who was a backup reader to Marie Antoinette. Her flashbacks are largely a series of people she interacted with and scenes she witnessed, like the animal keeper lamenting the show more death of his animals, the official court historian who is on volume 7 of his history, the man in charge of the household who is being ignored as everyone flees, and several other characters. The depiction of Marie Antoinette wandering around alone, knocking on doors and attempting--without success--to enter them is particularly moving, as Chantal Thomas explains that these are the first times she has even touched a door. It is interesting to understand that there is something infantile about the kings and queens who were helpless without people doing even the basic things for them.

It starts out telling all of these events in a witty and amusing manner. But then the method of telling does not sustain interest for the entire book, although it picks up again at the end when everyone is fleeing Versailles. show less

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.

The story is told in flashbacks from the perspective of then-young woman who was a backup reader to Marie Antoinette. Her flashbacks are largely a series of people she interacted with and scenes she witnessed, like the animal keeper lamenting the show more death of his animals, the official court historian who is on volume 7 of his history, the man in charge of the household who is being ignored as everyone flees, and several other characters. The depiction of Marie Antoinette wandering around alone, knocking on doors and attempting--without success--to enter them is particularly moving, as Chantal Thomas explains that these are the first times she has even touched a door. It is interesting to understand that there is something infantile about the kings and queens who were helpless without people doing even the basic things for them.

It starts out telling all of these events in a witty and amusing manner. But then the method of telling does not sustain interest for the entire book, although it picks up again at the end when everyone is fleeing Versailles. show less

Well written novel about 3 pivotal days at Versailles at the beginning of the French revolution. The details of the court life are facinating and repulsive at the same time.

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 do the menial tasks, like fetch a drink, or in the case of the Queen, to even open a door! The exodus of courtiers, and the influx of landed nobility seeking refuge at the palace collide, and show the many facets and dangers faced by the show more nobility in the face of the rumours of an advancing mob of peasantry sweeping all before them. show less

Told from the point of view of a lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinette, this story captures the mindset of the French gentry, insulated at the palace of Versailles, on the eve of the revolution.

The lady writes bitterly decades later from her home in Vienna, of the times and events. She made it out by purest luck, and it's clear she still reviles the revolutionaries.

I don't recall the exact prize this novel won in its native France. I presume it won for some social or political reason, or it reinforced some popular idea of the nobility at the time. The translation is workmanlike for, in the way of translations, its language seldom adds adornment to the narrative it serves.

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