The Queen’s Fortune

Désirée Clary is the daughter of a wealthy silk merchant in Marseille, France. Her sister, Julie, is older, but Désirée is the beauty. They meet Joseph and Napoleon Bonaparte, and their lives are never the same. Julie marries Joseph Bonaparte. Désirée is courted by Napoleon and then is secretly engaged to him.  Napoleon is very ambitious and is frequently away conquering other countries. He makes excuses for not seeing Désirée until she learns of the presence of Josephine in his life. Because of the connection between her sister and brother-in-law, Désirée is connected to Napoleon for the remainder of his life. He tries to marry her off to an older man while in Italy. That fails when the man is killed. She meets Jean-Batiste Bernadotte at a ball thrown by Joséphine and Napoleon. They marry,  Bernadotte is a high ranking official in Napoleon’s army. Désirée is part of Josephine’s court. 

There is much detail given to the lives of Napoleon and Joséphine. One truly wonders why the French people tolerated this having just overthrown the last royals. Joséphine seems to be just as flagrant in her waste of money as Marie Antoinette. Josephine’s big mistake was that she never gave Napoleon an heir. It’s obvious that she was the great love of his life. But who was the great love of Desiree’s life?  Was it Napoleon or Bernadotte?  

Although I love reading historical fiction, I was not aware of Désirée Clary. I loved her story. The author does a terrific job conveying it.  You feel as though you know Désirée, what’s important to her, what makes her tick. There is even a connection to Siri, the Empress of Austria, in the book.  There was not a slow part in this book where I felt I could put it down. I was angry I had to stop reading to go to work, cook and act productive!  It is very well written. If you love historical fiction, don’t miss this one!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.