Josephine

"An intimate, richly detailed, and candid portrait. . . . a mastery of period manners more often found in the best historical fiction." — Kirkus Reviews Josephine Tascher de la Pagerie, born a Creole on the island of Martinique in the French West Indies, became one of the best known and most envied women who ever lived. Sent to France to make an advantageous marriage to a young aristocrat, her naivete and lack of education left her ill prepared to deal with the sophisticated—if decadent—world of pre-Revolutionary Paris. Treated cruelly by her shallow young husband, her life had become a nightmare during the Terror, in which she was imprisoned and almost lost her life. It was during this period that she honed the skills of manipulation and seduction that would lead her from the dungeons of the terror into the beds of the post-Revolutionary powerbrokers, including the Corsican corporal who would conquer Europe. As the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, Josephine was assumed to be a worthy consort for her astounding husband, a woman as beautiful, wise and altogether remarkable as he was charismatic, brilliant, and invincible in battle. Yet the truth was much darker. For the eight-year marriage between Josephine and Napoleon had long been corroded by infidelity and abuse. Far from the love match previous biographers have described, author Carolly Erickson's Napoleon and Josephine were the ultimate pragmatists, drawn together by political necessity. A fascinating portrait of an immensely complex and ultimately tragic woman. "Carolly Erikson tells [this story] with all the flair it deserves . . . Exquisite writing." — Houston Chronicle