The King's Way

A truly, engaging, interesting book. A fictionalized account of Madame de Maintenon's life, told in autobiographical(?) style. You get carried along by her thoughts and feelings. You read about her early life, her introduction to court, her growing influence, her complex and intriguing relationship with King Louis XIV, and their later life. A MUST read.

This novel is a book I stumbled across purely by accident and it has been a wonderful surprise. Translated from an original French novel the language in this English version is clear and flows well and drags you along easily from chapter to chapter. Francoise D'Aubigne was born in jail to a family of well to do origins, but her parents were habitues of jail and poverty and she saw some of the worst of humanity before she even hit her teens. That she survived her childhood is amazing enough in itself. This is the story of her gradual rise through French society of the late 17th century and her eventual secret marriage to the King. A most unlikely couple was never imagined, especially when you read about Francoise's beginings. The author has bsed this novel on the many letters left behind by Francoise, and it shows a depth of knowledge rarely found, but often sought, in a well written historical story. As the Marquie de Maintenon Francoise has not left the best reputation in history and is often described as a religious bigot and has taken most of the blame for King Louis later religious reforms. This novel gives you a facinating look at person trying to preserve personal worth in what she sees as a sea of sin and temptation - and trying to improve herself, and the people around her, in the only ways she knows how. I'm not sure I'll ever look at the Marquise de Maintenon the same way again, and I'm happy to have read this excellent novel. (Annotated at the end with historical facts on a chapter by chapter basis no less)

"La vie méconnue et follement romanesque d'une femme qui, partie de rien, arriva à tout pour s'appercevoir que tout n'était rien."Je ne suis qu'une adolescente et pourtant jamais livre ne m'a autant plut! Cette biographie de la marquise de Maintenon (presque inconnue aux Etat-Unis mais très célèbre en France) par Françoise Chandernagor est un vrai chef d'oeuvre! On y voit l'assension d'une femme de petite noblesse qui, enfant, mandiait dans les rues sombres de La Rochelle... Elle sera Reine, femme d'un des plus grand monarque que la France ait connu, à une époque ou ce pays dominait l'Europe, c'est à dire tout le monde occidental. A-t-on jamais vu destin plus grandiose?

I read this book 3 months ago and I really enjoyed to know the second wife of Louis XVI. Madame de Maintenon had a bad reputation but I think she was very clever, very sensitive and kind. Although sometimes she acted in a way we cannot approve we have to see her in an historical perpective. She had a strong character, moral strength and was very different from other women of her century. She leaved in a promiscuous and immoral time where the intrigue ruled and it was very well described by the author. I sank deeply into the XVIIth century and it was with great regret that I closed the book.