Thursday, February 2, 2012

Upcoming 2012 Historical Fiction Release: The Queen's Lover by Francine du Plessix Gray

Publish Date: June 14th 2012
Format: Hardcover 304 pp


Synopsis (From the Publisher):
"Historical fiction of the highest order, THE QUEEN'S LOVER reveals the untold love affair between Swedish aristocrat Count Axel von Fersen and Marie Antoinette. 
The Queen's Lover begins at a masquerade ball in Paris in 1774, when the dashing Swedish nobleman Count Axel von Fersen first meets the mesmerizing nineteen-year-old Dauphine, Marie Antoinette, wife of the shy, reclusive prince who will soon become Louis XVI. This electric encounter launches a lifelong romance that will span the course of the French Revolution. 
The affair begins in friendship, however, and Fersen quickly becomes a devoted companion to the entire royal family. As he roams the halls of Versailles and visits the private haven of Le Petit Trianon, Fersen discovers the deepest secrets of the court, even learning the startling, erotic details of Marie Antoinette's marriage to Louis XVI. But the events of the American Revolution tear Fersen away. Moved by the cause, he joins French troops in the fight for American independence. 
When he returns, he finds France on the brink of disintegration. After the Revolution of 1789 the royal family is moved from Versailles to the Tuileries. Fersen devises an escape for the family and their young children (Marie-Thérèse and the Dauphin-whom many suspect is in fact Fersen's son). The failed attempt leads to a more grueling imprisonment, and the family spends its excruciating final days captive before the King and Queen meet the guillotine. 
Grieving his lost love in his native Sweden, Fersen begins to sense the effects of the French Revolution in his homeland. Royalists are now targets, and the sensuous world of his youth is fast vanishing. Fersen is incapable of realizing that centuries of tradition have disappeared, and he pays dearly for his naïveté, losing his life at the hands of a savage mob that views him as a pivotal member of the aristocracy.Scion of Sweden's most esteemed nobility, Fersen came to be seen as an enemy of the country he loved. His fate is symbolic of the violent speed with which the events of the eighteenth century transformed European culture. Expertly researched and deeply imagined, The Queen's Lover is a fresh vision of the French Revolution and the French royal family as told through the love story that was at its center."
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Copyright © 2012 Svea Love. All Rights Reserved.

6 comments:

Carrie at In the Hammock Blog said...

Oooh!! I have to add this to my list! thanks for sharing!!

Unknown said...

I want to read this book!!! It sounds wonderful.

Elizabeth Kerri Mahon said...

I'm really looking forward to this one, although I know that some people hate the idea of an affair between Marie Antoinette and Axel Fersen.

Unknown said...

I love the sounds of this one!

The Lit Bitch said...

Great review, it sounds intriguing! I'll have to add it to my ever growing TBR list :)

Alexis @ Reflections of a Bookaholic said...

I love how dramatic this cover is.