Madame de Pompadour

I have read that Mitford began this book with amusement and a certain degree of condescension, but finished it with a deep admiration for the woman who had been the mistress of a king. One of the things that I liked so much about this book is that you always see the affection and admiration, and it's so clear that it would be easy not to see that.In the histories that I have read to date that touch Versailles, many of the actual details of the period have been elided. It has come to be such shorthand for artificial elegance and extravagence that hardly any writers bother to explain what it was really about. The manners, the customs, the position of the nobility in France-- all these things were much clearer to me after reading Mitford's sparkling account than they were from any of the other history that I have read. For all that she chooses a seemingly frivolous main subject, Mitford never fails to point out how her subject applied or related to the key political questions of the time and the contrast is both entertaining and smart.Recommended for almost all kinds of readers-- I think this would be excellent if one would just like some relaxing entertainment and from my point of view it also helped give me a more real look at the historical period in France.

To be a mistress to an 18th Century monarch is no sinecure. First and foremost, the king must be kept enchanted and amused at all times. Friends and enemies must be dealt with. Relatives must be cared for. Appearance must be perfect. Taste must be exquisite. Little Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson was not exactly born for the role; she was a bourgeoisie, rather than the aristocrat, which automatically made her a poor candidate for the King's intimate favors. She was not a sensual woman, and the Bourbon kings were known as lusty. She overcame all by her total devotion to the king, her kindness, savoir-faire, and brilliant taste in décor, art, and architecture. Luckily for the Marquise, Louis XV was a man of habit. Once he became fond of Madame, his eye might stray, but he saw no reason whatsoever to change his arrangements.Madame is Nancy Mitford's kind of girl. Her biography is affectionate and admiring while not being a puff piece. Her history is good and her style is light hearted and charming. Ms. Mitford gives us a vivid picture of Versailles at its apex, yet does not gloss over the hardships and realities of the day. Court society was sterile in that none of its members had anything to do but be amused by gossip and frivolity. Banishment from Court was a small death because their lives were engineered only by pleasure, and pleasure was only to be had at Court.This is a fine biography with an excellent contemporary view of the times. Highly recommended.

Nancy Mitford has a remarkable ability to blend historical fact with equally factual gossip and cunning insight. The result is a biography of great charm that offers much for both serious students of history and those who also enjoy the backstairs take on famous people -- beauty marks, warts and all. "Madame de Pompadour" is especially rich is limning the life of this great horizontal, with all its struggles, sorrows and triumphs (she was lovely, with elegant taste, a delightful companion, but sadly frigid). Pompadour, beautiful, charming, erudite and influential was the favorite of Louis XV for many years, and was loved and hated with equal intensity by his court. The books is lavishly illustrated with portraits of Pompadour, the King, courtiers, Versailles and its gardens and lush interiors, art and bijou -- all the luxury in over which she reigned and inspired. Ms. Mitford's prose in incomparable in its easy elegance and fluid felicity -- a great read by any standards. But do not mistake her light hand with light history. This is a biography of great richness and learned insight, giving us a portrait of a powerful woman during a fascinating chapter in French history.

Why is it that Catherine the Great is so often ridiculed because of her endless sexual longings? And Louis XV sallies through history not a name called. Both Bourbon kings, Louis XIV and his great-grandson, Louis XV, were randy royal lovers who's ardours embroider history's account; but without a sexual blame. From de la Valliere to Montespan to Maintenon, etc etc etc, to Parc aux Cerfs. Is that not hypocritical that poor Catherine must wear forever the scarlet letter, and these royal serial lovers lust on unscathed? Amid this endless tumult of ready available women loved by the Bourbon kings shines the divine Marquise de Pompadour. Nee Poisson, never changed her humbler ways to suit a court bred on intrigue and constant and lethal social climbing. Pompadour was a precieuse though no longer ridiculed by Moliere. Her intellectual power, her beauty and her exquisite taste kept her at the side of her regal lover for a long twenty years. This book is like breathing and fee!ling the XVIIIc; and what can be better than that? Jeanne Antoinette was like Babe Paley and Jackie O all rolled into one. Her account of Pompadour is ecclectic and each section is round and breathes life. Nancy Mitford is a serious biographer but also a romantic. I give this book 5 Stars.

The sheer magnetism of Nancy Mitford's eloquence draws one into her vibrant story of Louis XV and the enchanting Madame de Pompadour and soon we regret not having met them earlier.Time flies as we experience their twenty years of devotion in the glittering French court.Although the illustrations and photographs are superb,there's much more to this biography than that which initially meets the eye