this im guessing is a true story because at the beggining of the book it has the pictue of betsy and napolean bonaparte. the girl is 14 and is always going to gearge town when her parents think she is asleep. one day she meets the emporer (napolean)and he begins tp like betsy.after they become friends she turns from a tom boy to a nice ladylike girl.then they go on a huge adventure. find out what happens next but you have to read the book ( )

This deals with the same historical moment as Errol Broome's Gracie and the Emperor -- namely Napoleon's exile and eventual death on St Helena. Interestingly, Staton, the New Yorker, has a heroine who becomes good friends with the Emperor; Errol, modestly West Australian, gives us a heroine who doesn't even speak to him.

Napoleone Buonaparte exiled and he is not happy. after all he is emperor and he should be treated as such. the inhabitants of the island treat him not according to his rank and station. only a young girl befriends him (and he allows her to befriend him) this is a funny story. how the young girl interacts with an aging, deposed, irritable, curmudgeonly old man. they form a bond and a friendship. the girl is rather irreverent towards him nd that makes the whole story funny. ( )

The problem with a lot of our history lessons is that you learn a lot of names, but you never get introduced to the people. I suppose that's one reason why I enjoy reading biographies. Anyway, this is a kind of biography. Technically, it's historical fiction, but a lot of it is based on source materials. The book tells the tale of a few years in the life of Betsy Balcombe. During her teens, she was living on the island of St. Helena when the deposed emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled there. Napoleon and Betsy became friends of sorts and years later she wrote a memoir of that time. This isn't that book however. Ms. Rabin admits that she refrained from reading Betsy's work in order that she might craft her own take on Miss Balcombe's character. Since I haven't read the memoir, either, I can't comment on whether Ms. Rabin made a mistake or not. I do know, however, that Betsy and the Emperor is an enjoyable piece of historical fiction. One of those good books that makes one want to delve into some of the real history behind it. So check this one out first, just in case the real story isn't as entertaining.
--J. ( )

I have not yet read this book.