Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


This is the first book in a new trilogy.  It covers Marie Antoinette’s life from when she was a pre-teen until she first became Queen of France.  She was raised with her brothers and sisters by the empress of Austria.  Her real name was Maria Antonia.  She knew that she would eventual be married off somewhere as her mother’s political pawn but she had no idea that it would start at the tender age of ten.  

Her mother summoned her and told her that she was to be betrothed to the Dauphin of France.  Soon after that representatives of King Louis XVI started flooding in to assess Marie to see if she could indeed become the Dauphine of France.  They picked apart just about everything about her.  Her teeth weren’t perfect, her hair, her posture, her education, and the list went on.  She had to endure braces for her teeth, a brace for her posture, numerous painful gadgets in her hair, etc.

Then, once she gets to court she finds a teenage boy who acts even younger than his years is her husband.  She is expected to start having babies right away but he is unable to consecrate their marriage.

Juliet Grey does not skimp on any detail, no matter how small.  I found myself getting bored in several parts of the book because of this.  Some of the details were important and interesting like what she had to endure with getting braces for her teeth and the torture she had to endure to get her hair just right.

The characters were well written.  I really enjoyed Maria’s relationship with her sister, Charlotte.  Grey weaved a sympathetic  and compassionate relationship between Marie and her awkward husband. 

Though there are other books out there that deal with Marie in her earlier years, I hadn’t read any before this.  Despite the parts that dragged, I did find this book worthwhile.  Will I read the next book in the trilogy?  I’m not sure at this point.

3/5

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for arranging the tour and allowing me to take part.  I received an advance reader copy at the BEA back in May.

Also reviewed by:

Did I miss your review?  Please leave a link in the comments.

Now for the giveaway:

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The winner’s mailing address: No P.O. Boxes
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Winners will be subject to the one copy per household rule, which means that if you win the same title in two or more contests, you will receive only one copy of the book.
This giveaway will end on Wednesday, September 14th, 11:59 P.M. E.S.T. The winners will be notified by email. Winners must respond within TWO days or will be disqualified.


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Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Madame Poirier’s Dog by Kathleen Winter

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on August 30, 2011
Posted in Short Story Read in 2011  | 7 Comments

I had the privilege of meeting Kathleen Winter at the Vancouver International Writer’s Festival last year.   It was there that I heard about her debut novel, Annabel.  (Yes, this is a photo of Kathleen and I, taken at the festival.)

Back in July, Emeire brought my attention to a challenge to 5 authors in the Walrus, this summerEach author was asked to make a list of 5 guidelines to write a short story.  The lists were then traded and each author had to writer a short story according to the list of 5 guidelines received.


Alexi Zentner’s complied the guidelines that Kathleen Winter had to follow.  They were:

1. You may not describe any characters physically (beyond using “he” or “she” or their given name).

2. Include a peach, but don’t make it sexual.

3. You must have dialogue, but you may not use the word “said” (or any variation of the word “said”).

4. Evoke warmth without mentioning the sun.

5. A dog must bark in the distance, causing a character to state that he or she finds people who treat dogs like children sort of creepy. Somebody else must take offense at this comment.

The result was Madame Poirier’s Dog. I found these guidelines intriguing and saved the link to the story for a future date.  Then John, of The Book Mine Set reminded me of it last week with his review and I had to read it immediately.
The narrator is an unnamed senior woman who appears to be living in assisted living or perhaps a nursing home.  She is a bit upset because an old neighbor, Mrs. Poirter is moving there and seems to think they were great friends.  
Our narrator sees it differently.  She reminisces with her youngest son Armond about Mrs. Poirter and her dog.  
At it’s heart, this is a story about how are life changes when we get older, including how family members deal with it or not.  Our unknown narrator has other children but is Armond, her youngest son who visits her and has the patience to listen to her reminisce about the past.  Though it has an ambiguous end, I recommend it.  You can read it here.

Short Story Monday is hosted by John at The Book Mine Set.

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Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Mailbox Monday

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on August 30, 2011
Posted in Mail Box Mondays  | 6 Comments

Mailbox Monday now has it’s very own blog, Mailbox Monday.  It is also on tour and is being hosted by Life in the Thumb in August.

Here are the books I received last week:

 Thanks to Net Galley and Harper Collins for this ebook galley.  I have read so many enticing reviews and couldn’t resist.

 Thanks to Chelsey Emmelhainz of William Morrow for the finished copy of this book.

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Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.