To Dance with Kings

This is kind of an embarrassment to admit but, when I was younger, in the deep dark on the night, on very rare occasions-I used to read Sweet Valley High books. Not the ordinary ones, but these four or so books which were about the romantic lineage of the main characters, showing how their ancestors on both sides had twined lives constantly but never come together until the parents of the main characters did. I liked these books, which spanned about four hundred years each. When I started reading "To Dance with Kings" I was reminded very much of those books-right down to the little half cover which has various scenes underneath it of men and women kissing, undressing, dancing...ect. "To Dance with Kings" is a story of four generations of women and the destiny they have which entwines their lives, in one way or another, with the palace of Versailles. When Louis XIV, the great sun king, invites the court to visit Versailles, then a simple (but royal) hunting lodge, the village of Versailles is overwhelmed with nobles who rent out space from the peasants in which to sleep. Augustine Roussier and his four friends witness the birth of a fan maker's daughter-and christen her Marguerite. A drunken Augustine promises the mother that he will return upon her seventeenth birthday and pay her court. The mother takes the promise to heart and educates Marguerite so she will make a fitting mistress for the noble man. But plans change when on Marguerite's seventeenth birthday both parents die. She starts her own fan making business but Augustine, who has forgotten his promise, meets her through chance and is bewitched by her strange beauty-and drawn out of a long funk caused by a secret love for his best friend's wife. Soon they come together but political strife interferes. The rest of the book is devoted to Marguerite's daughter Jasmin, her daughter Violette and her daughter Rose. Eventually the "flower women" are all drawn to Versailles in some way or another-exploring al of its facets, dark and light. Eventually Marguerites and Augustine's love will come full circle during the turbulent and dangerous terror following the French revolution. This isn't exactly high quality literature, more like a romance with a ton of historical detail, but it is an extremely fun book to read and great in its own way. I only had two problems with it: 1. The title. At no point does Marguerites mother say her daughter will dance with kings or anything like that. She just thinks her daughter will be the mistress of a wealthy noble man. The book needs a different title. 2. There is almost nothing in the book about Violette. She's like the forgotten character and I would have liked to hear more detail about her life; instead of the little summery the book gives. Other than that I really enjoyed reading this book. It's a fun read, there a lot of detail and historical tidbits about the royal traditions and Versailles, and hair and fashion-tons of cool stuff to lear

This is one of the best books that I have ever read. Laker illustrates Versailles so well that it is almost like another character. To Dance with Kings chronicles in epic porportions the rise and fall of Versialles. Beginning when the little hunting chateau of Versailles is just starting to expand, it begins with the birth of the peasent Margurite. It follows her throughout her life as her social situation begins to rise. When her lover flees to England some years later, I cried, the characters become that endearing to you. She eventually marries a baron (who designed her lover's house, which she inherited) and has a child. Her child, Jasmin (all of the women in her family are named for flowers) becomes friends with the future Luis XV. When she is a teenager she agrees to become his mistress because they are in love. Luis's power-hungary advisers catch wind of this and force her into marrying a sadistic and cruel nobleman, and then thus are exiled from Versailles and into his ancestral estate in the French country-side. Her life is horrible with him and there is no love, and he rapes her repeatedly. He has her potrait painted, and she falls in love with the painter. She becomes pregnant with his child, and is forced to send her, named Violette, to the family of a farmer to keep her safe. The releationship between the two is that of distant reletavies that brings extravagant presents every so often. Violette become mad at Jasmin because she can not acknowlege her as her daughter. When she becomes of age, Violette disappears and makes her way to Versailles, where she becomes a prostitute. In the meantime, Jasmin's husband dies and she moves beck to Versailles to the house that she inheirted from her mother. Violette show up on her doorstep with a baby in her arms, announcing that she is to marry and Austrian nobleman, and move to Austria, but she can not thake the child with her. She also says that the child is Luis's. Jasmin takes the child in and names her Rose. Rose grows up in the speldor of Versailles to become a court beauty and a confidante of Marie Antionette. she falls in love with a rich Englishman, who we later learn is an ancestor of Margurite's lover. As they French revolution happens, Rose gets cought in the middle, torn between her loyalty to Marie Antionette and escaping with her love to safty in England. Laker develops her characters so wonderfully that it has you wishing that the French Revolution didn't happen, and makes us incredibly sympathetic to Marie Antionette.As usual, she ends the book a bit quickly, but the rest is just so wonderful that it overrides it. This is the first of her books that I've read, and I fel in love with her books because of it. To Dance With Kings is still my favorite, though.

I first read this novel in high school after a friend gave it to me. It was as if from any dream I had dreamt before. Absolutely beautiful, well-written and the description of every detail from the colors of the gowns to the scenery was amazing. I ended up having the book stolen. I bought it at a local bookstore about 3 years after that, read it again, then gave it to my sister to read. She loved it just as much as I did, however whe moved and lost the book in the process. Then not too long ago, after endless searches in bookstores, I found it was no longer published. I then searched this site and found it, FINALLY, bought it again and have enjoyed reading it for the third time! I personally find it to be one of my favorite books, if not my favorite. I recommend it to any one who finds the French and the time of the revolution to be intriguing. I know you will love it!

Anyone liking a bit of learning along with sheer enjoyment should read ANY Rosiland Laker book. To Dance with Kings rates right up there with Circle of Pearls and the Warrwyck sagas. You're always sad when the characters go. I definite 5 star.

Any history buff, romance reader, or basically anyone with a soft spot for enduring love should have a copy of this book in their home. I read it first when I was 13 years old, I am now 25 and still re-reading it each winter.