Josephine

A Life of the Empress

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Josephine

By: Carolly Erickson

Narrated by: Anna Fields

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When, in 1804, Josephine Bonaparte knelt before her husband Napoleon to receive the imperial diadem, few in the vast crowd of onlookers were aware of the dark secrets hidden behind the imperial fa├ºade. To her subjects, she appeared to be the most favored woman in France: alluring, wealthy, and with the devoted love of a remarkable husband who was the conqueror of Europe. In actuality, Josephine's life was far darker: her celebrated allure was fading, her wealth was compromised by massive debt, and her marriage was corroded by infidelity and abuse.

Josephine's life story was as turbulent as the age—an era of revolution and social upheaval, frenzied hedonism and the guillotine. With telling psychological depth and compelling literary grace, Carolly Erickson brings the complex, charming, ever-resilient Josephine to life, carrying us along every twist and turn of the empress' often thorny path,from the sensual richness of her childhood in the tropics to her final lonely days at Malmaison.

Carolly EricksonAnna FieldsBlackstone Publishing

Biographical Fiction

Genre Fiction

Historical

Politics & Activism

Royalty

Women

Biographical Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Politics & Activism Royalty Women

Critic reviews

“An intimate, richly detailed, and candid portrait.”

(Kirkus Reviews)

“Carolly Erickson tells [this story] with all the flair it deserves...Exquisite writing.”

(Houston Chronicle)

“The focus is always on Josephine, whose psychology is discussed at length. Erickson succeeds in making her subject an attractive figure, if hardly an exemplar of moral rectitude.”

(Amazon.com editorial review)

Most relevant

While finding the story of Josephine interesting, particularly as a woman of her time, for me, the narrator sounded as if she was about to fall asleep! There were a number of contradictions in the text, and too many repetitions. Why did the author feel it was necessary to describe in graphic, highly descriptive and bloody detail, the time of the guillotine? I know it was a time of extreme terror, but I don't need to know the minutiae. I AM thankful that this was a free listen!