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    The Many Lives And Secret Sorrows Of Josephine B
    Unavailable
    The Many Lives And Secret Sorrows Of Josephine B
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    The Many Lives And Secret Sorrows Of Josephine B
    Ebook645 pages7 hours

    The Many Lives And Secret Sorrows Of Josephine B

    By Sandra Gulland

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    In this first of three books inspired by the life of Josephine Bonaparte, wife of Napoleon, Sandra Gulland recreates the astonishing world of a young girl who transforms herself into one of the most powerful women in history. Told in an imaginative and historically accurate diary form, this is an utterly absorbing novel of magical proportions.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJan 17, 2012
    ISBN9781443403092
    Unavailable
    The Many Lives And Secret Sorrows Of Josephine B
    Author

    Sandra Gulland

    Sandra Gulland is the author of the Josephine Bonaparte series, Mistress of the Sun, and The Shadow Queen. She lives in Killaloe, Ontario and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

    Read more from Sandra Gulland

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    Reviews for The Many Lives And Secret Sorrows Of Josephine B

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    • 5/5
      The first of a trilogy, [The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.] is by Sandra Gulland. I found this first volume to be a compelling, extremely readable story about a young girl, Marie-Josephe-Rose Tascher de la Pagerie, from the island of Martinique, who eventually, through her marriage to Napoleon Buonaparte, becomes the first Empress of France.The story is told through her diaries and letters and appears to have been thoroughly researched with many footnotes detailing the actual events that are mentioned in passing. This book covers her life from age fourteen through to her betrothal and unhappy marriage to Alexandre de Beauharnais. This was never a love match, but they did have two children, a boy, Eugene, and a girl, Hortense. Although she went by the name of Rose through all her younger years, Napoleon decided to call her Josephine, and this became how she is known historically. Her married life was brought to an unhappy conclusion with the death of her husband at the guillotine. Rose herself was imprisoned but was released five days after her husband’s death. This first volume concludes with the marriage of Josephine and Napoleon.This was great read, rich with historical details, full of political intrigue, revolution and romance. Josephine comes across as a real person with hopes and dreams and I was pleased to find her such an appealing heroine. I will certainly be continuing on with this trilogy as I am eager to learn more about this fascinating woman of history.
    • 5/5
      The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B is the first of three volumes about Josephine Bonaparte. Told in the form of diary readings and correspondence to young Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie (later Josephine) the first volume reveals her early life, adolescence, first marriage, children, imprisonment, and introductory relationship to Napoleon. During these years, Rose is surrounded by revolution, intrigue, poverty and fear. We meet numerous characters through Rose's diary, many of them both familiar and famous. We read about her unhappy marriage to the philandering Alexander de Beauharnais and about the births of her children, Eugene and Hortense. A pragmatist who became a politician's mistress, she later marries the young Bonaparte to gain security and respectability. The reader will also learn more about the influence that women have in political and historical events.

      I'm not a fan of the diary narration format usually, but this was a fast read and I felt like a fly on the wall of Josephine's life and that tumultuous time of history when a young girl from the Colonies will eventually become Empress of France.

      The first volume covers Rose's life up to the point she marries Napoleon and it's an absolute page turner. I found it completely engrossing and look forward to reading Volume 2 - Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe, and Volume 3, The Last Great Dance on Earth.
    • 3/5
      More historic fiction than history, Gulland successfully brings to life the characters and the era. Good stuff.Read in Samoa Aug 2002
    • 4/5
      The Josephine B. referred to in the title is, of course, Josephine Bonaparte. What I didn't know until I read this book is that she did not become known as Josephine until she was married to Napoleon Bonaparte. She was born Marie-Joseph-Rose and was known as Rose until she was 32 years old. Bonaparte decided to rename her and so she goes down in history as Josephine. I also did not know that Rose/Josephine was married and widowed prior to meeting Bonaparte. Her husband, Alexandre de Beauharnais, was a Parisian noble who turned Republican when the French Revolution began. He was a man of some influence becoming a general in the army and a Deputy in the Republican government. Then he lost a battle and he was taken prisoner and eventually killed by guillotine. Rose was also put in prison but she was released soon after Robespierre was ejected from power and also guillotined. Rose and her two children were still not able to return to their house and Rose had little in the way of income. But Rose was determined to educate her children and provide them with a decent home and she managed to do so. One of the reasons she agreed to marry Bonaparte was to provide some stability for her children. She certainly did not love him. This book ends just after their marriage but Sandra Gulland has continued the story of Josephine in two more books. I certainly want to learn more about this fascinating woman.
    • 5/5
      This was a very enjoyable read telling the tale of Josephine's life up until the time she married Bonaparte. Very much written as a personal account through her journal. Very interesting approach which seemed to work well. It's quite a quick read but despite this gives you the feel of her early life and a real feel for much of the French Revolution and the extent of 'The Terror' that followed it, even for those who had worked towards the Revolution throughout! Look forward to reading the others in the trilogy. 4.5 stars.
    • 4/5
      What a great introduction to Josephine (Rose). Typically I do not like the diary style of writing but Gulland skillfully makes it work. This is the first of series and I am sold. We meet Josephine as a young girl living on a sugar cane plantation and follow her to France to be married to her first husband. As the political upheaval in France progresses, you can feel her terror as she fights to protect her friends and family. The politics of it all are constantly shifting and make for excellent reading. Will be reading part two in quick order.
    • 4/5
      I read most of this book over two days and am now really frustrated that I don't have the second volume of the series with me. The story is compelling and the characters feel very real. I had somewhat of a difficult time keeping track of all the names, but in the end, it didn't seem to matter. The high school French I had twenty years ago was more than enough for understandomg what little French there is in the novel. Why not five stars? The book is well-written, interesting, and compelling, but it didn't change my world view, cause me to pause and think, or show me a side of human nature I hadn't seen before. So I reserve five stars for books that do those things, but still, this is definitely a novel I'd recommend (especially if you'd like an enjoyable refresher course on the French Revolution).
    • 4/5
      This purports to be the diary of Josephine Bonaparte from the time she was a fourteen-year-old plantation owner's daughter in Martinique in 1777 to her marriage to Napoleon in 1796. That's its weakness and it's strength. The weakness, I think, being that diary format. There are novels told in diary form that I've found moving and riveting: Bridget Jones's Diary, Flowers for Algernon, and even, believe it or not, a Buffy novel, Go Ask Malice. I think what all of them have in common are very strong voices and the way the entries show a change in the character. Without a strong personality, diary format can come across as sketchy, with a jerky, stop and go quality, and I'm afraid I found the voice created for Josephine very bland and the voice doesn't vary from inexperienced creole girl to a mature sophisticated woman deeply involved and influential in the the politics of Revolutionary France. I don't feel the story gained from being in diary form or even first person.The strength? That this is the story of Josephine Bonaparte, and if the story it tells comes anywhere near the historical truth, she's a far more interesting character than I could have guessed. A generous, compassionate woman who took risks to save others against the backdrop of "the Reign of Terror" where she almost lost her own head to the guillotine. The content of her life and the history she lived kept me riveted, in spite of spare, restrained, dare I say dull, writing. The picture of Revolutionary France, that turned into a totalitarian state in the name of "liberty" was fascinating. However, I often found the footnotes in the book of real history more revealing, making Josephine sound more complex and interesting than the voice created for her telling her own story. As for Napoleon, he only enters the story in the last 50 pages or so, and comes across as a rather cold fish, while history (and his surviving letters to her) marks his love for Josephine as one of the great passionate affairs in history--not something that comes across in the book. I admit in the end I'm much more likely as the result of this novel to pick up a biography of her, than the next volume in the trilogy.
    • 4/5
      I have recently been craving a good historical novel, so I picked up this one seeing as it was a suggestion of one of my friends. I told her of my interest in this specific genre, and she said that this one was by far the best she had ever Though the trilogy has not gained much popularity other than in Canada, it still proved to be a very entertaining read. The fictional journal written by Rose, the future Josephine Bonaparte.
    • 4/5
      These fictional diary entries of Josephine Bonaparte rock! The time and place are brought to life and the drama of the period is the backdrop for the emotional landscape of one of Europe's most famous historical women. Could not put it down.This is part one of a trilogy.
    • 4/5
      Really enjoyed it! I didn't know anything about Josephine Bonaparte, so it was interesting. I didn't know she was married before Napoleon & had it pretty rough. I look forward to reading the sequel to this book which is about her marriage to Napoleon. This book focuses on her first marriage.
    • 4/5
      I became engrossed with this novel from the beginning. Once I entered Rose's world, I didn't want to leave it. Luckily, this book is a first of a trilogy about Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de la Pagerie aka Josephine Bonaparte (she is known as Rose in this novel).Gulland has created an exquisite story, where it's hard to remember that these aren't Rose's actual words. The story is written through journal entries, so we're basically reading the events of her life through 'her words'. T...more I became engrossed with this novel from the beginning. Once I entered Rose's world, I didn't want to leave it. Luckily, this book is a first of a trilogy about Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de la Pagerie aka Josephine Bonaparte (she is known as Rose in this novel).Gulland has created an exquisite story, where it's hard to remember that these aren't Rose's actual words. The story is written through journal entries, so we're basically reading the events of her life through 'her words'. This first book starts on Rose's 14th birthday (June 23, 1777) and ends with her marriage to Napoleon (March 9, 1796), so I can just imagine all the good stuff to come in the remaining two books.The change from child to adult is done masterfully. It's gradual. We see the events and people that shape Rose's world and character. We see her intelligence grow. We see a strong woman emerge from an unhappy marriage and the bloodshed of the Revolution. She fights for her friends and wants the best for her children.I have become incredibly interested in learning more about this woman, who I knew absolutely nothing about when I ventured into this novel. I can't wait to get through the following two installments and stay in her world just a little longer.
    • 4/5
      Very intereresting. I liked it better than the "The Other Boylyn Girl" and "The Queens Fool" by Philippa Gregory because this was a shorter read and didn't go into so much detail that it got boring.
    • 4/5
      Enjoyable novel, written in diary format. I was unaware of any of Josephine's earlier life, including her childhood on Martinque, and her first marriage to a French aristocrat turned revolutionary. Great background on the Revolution, the true horrors of "The Terror" under Robespierre.
    • 4/5
      A quick read and a concise biography of Empress Josephine's early life, from Martinique through the Revolution to marrying Bonaparte. The first person narrative is a little redundant, as there are no personal contradictions or omissions to tell the reader more about Rose than a straightforward ominiscient narrator would reveal, and the historical language of the text rather dilutes her 'voice'. Sandra Gulland's research and love of her central character shine through, however, and unobtrusive footnotes supply further information that would sound clumsy if delievered via dialogue.
    • 4/5
      A fictionalized account of Josephine (aka Rose) Bonaparte's life, stretching from her fourteenth birthday to her marriage to Napoleon.The novel is nicely structured. Gulland employs a diary format that really draws the reader in, keeping her right there with Rose as events unfold. Each entry is fairly short, making it easy to convince oneself that it won't hurt to read just one more... or maybe two... or maybe ten. The style captures that late 18th century feel to a tee without ever getting bogged. Wonderfully personal snippets of everyday life combine with events of historical significance to create a read that’s as emotionally satisfying as it is historically relevant.I must admit, I was surprised at how much I came to care for Rose. I have a longstanding interest in the events surrounding the French Revolution, so I was sure I’d enjoy this book on an intellectual level, but I never expected I’d become so attached to the main character. Gulland builds her up beautifully; she changes and grows as the book progresses, and she does so in a completely natural way. By the end of the book, I’d become an ardent fan. I’m eager to read more about this extraordinary woman.Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the French Revolution, fascinating women, or great stories in general.
    • 3/5
      Diary and journal entries style took some time to get used to but book was well researched and facinating.
    • 3/5
      Very interesting book, hard to put down. It begins with Rose as a girl and follows her marriage to a stranger, her unhappy marriage, her trials during the reign of Robespierre, and ends with a marriage proposal. This is the first of three books, and I wish I had the second in my hands right now. One of the better books I have read this year.
    • 5/5
      I really liked this book. The diary format was pulled off well and I grew to really care for Rose/Josephine. I read it all in a few hours because I was so captivated. I loved the historical footnotes, which were perfect for grounding the reader in history, making us fully aware that this woman lived. Can't wait to read the next!