by Sandra Gulland
Paris 1660 during the reign of the Sun KingThis historical fiction set against the gilded opulence of Versailles is essentially the story of two persons: the main character being Claude des Oeilletes also named Claudette, an impoverished young woman and of Athénaïs, Madame Montespan, member of the h...
Gulland won my undying readerly love with her fantastic trilogy about Josephine Bonaparte. Her writing is warm and inviting, her characters rich and appealingly complicated. I've been waiting on tenterhooks for this novel, as I'm slightly obsessed with the notorious Athénaïs de Montespan, official...
The Shadow Queen delivered much more than I expected. Full of intrigue, scandal and secrets - religious cults and fantastic plays. The tale of Claudette begins as a poor player and spans many levels fame. From helping her mother become a famous actress to being the confidante of The Shadow Queen - w...
I love historical fiction where the plot is tightly integrated with the setting. Sandra Gulland achieves that well here. The story could take place in very few other time periods and by following the plot, I learned a lot about this particular time period. The details of daily life as both a player ...
An intriguing look at the world of the Parisian theatre in the 1600's and an emotional look at the medieval mindset towards acting and the superstitious fears open the stage for this story. Claudette is a victim of her circumstances of poverty and ridicule but yet always compassionate. The incredib...
I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads and am deeply grateful to the Doubleday Marketing Department for sharing this book with readers.Based on the true lives of King Louis XIV-the Sun King, his wives, mistresses, court and country.The book practically vibrated with energy from t...
Thank you to Doubleday books for providing me with a copy of the book to read, it was such a pleasure and I enjoyed the journey I took along with Claudette through this wonderful masterpiece.I am not the biggest fan of historical fiction – often the writing is dry, the story too clustered with facts...
Highly recommended for anyone interested in the world of 17th-century French theater. The title of the book is a little inaccurate - while the novel certainly features the woman who was known as 'The Shadow Queen,' Athénaïs, Madame de Montspan, the main character is the woman who came to be her comp...
tl;dr this book was ok. Not quite what I was expecting, but it was still a pretty decent story. Description (from Goodreads) 1660, Paris: As the daughter of itinerant actors who once lit up the Parisian stages, Claudette always thought her future lay in the theater. But a series of chance encounters...
Thank you to Netgalley and Doubleday for allowing me a copy to review.I will admit that I don
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