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Loading... Leonie and the Last Napoleonby Tony Boullemier
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Born in Paris at the height of France's 1848 revolution, Leonie Michel's early life is blighted by illness, drama and tragedy. She is born almost blind; her father is taken to court for practicing as a doctor while unqualified; and her mother dies when she is young. Leonie has to cope with the predatory women who descend on her father and bleed him dry and she is then packed off to a cruel boarding school. But matters improve when her father starts finding success with his unique new treatment for skin cancer. He begins curing people in high society and he and Leonie are invited to the Tuileries Palace where they meet the Napoleon III. Leonie is now a blonde beauty of 17 and enchants the ageing emperor. He encourages her ambition to become an actress and after she makes a successful debut, the dazzling city of Paris open up to her. She encounters celebrated writers, artists and musicians, not to mention the dashing soldiers of the Second Empire and their gilded women. But she is also exposed to temptation and danger and an intimate encounter ends in a terrifying kidnap. When she falls in love, her future is ruined by the last person she would expect. And worse is to follow when war breaks out. The Prussians invade France and their vast army besieges Paris. Leonie's family and friends are caught up in the bitter conflict as the starving city fights for its life, reduced to eating dogs, cats and zoo animals to survive. What follows is yet another revolution and civil war. Some of Leonie's closest friends are killed and in her quest for peace and happiness, she flees to England where again her path crosses that of the exiled Emperor. No library descriptions found. |
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