Product Description

All the passions and intrigues of Bonaparte's court are seen through the eyes of a silk merchant's daughter from Marseilles, a young woman who became Napoleon's fiancee and, ultimately, the Queen of Sweden. 'An astonishing story told with verve and a swift, fluent and deeply feminine charm. The Napoleonic background is vivid and accurate' Evening Standard First published in 1953.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #482262 in Books
• Published on: 2002-07-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

About the Author
Annemarie Selinko was born in Vienna in 1914. She was a successful journalist and novelist. In 1938 she moved to Copenhagen, and subsequently lived in Stockholm, Paris and London, before returning to Copenhagen. Annemarie Selinko died in Copenhagen in 1986.

Customer Reviews

Brilliant writing - not the least dated
A very well crafted book about an extraordinary woman. The story is told in 'real time' through the supposed diary of Desiree - Napoleon's first fiancee. She lived in unusual times and played a crucial role on one or two occasions.

Quite a page turner - and given that it was first published in 1953, not at all dated in style. Well worth reading.

Sweeping Historical Drama
Desiree is a most compelling book.
It spans the life of a ordinary woman destined to effect the lives of two of the most influential men of the 19th century.
The story begins in Marseilles, when Desiree is but a teenage provincial girl. She then meets both Napoleon and Jean-Baptist Bernadot.
Napoleon as we know is destined to become Emperor of the French and rule most of Europe; Bernadot an officer in the army and a veteran of the revolution rises to an unexpected level!
That both these powerful men should fall in love with the same woman makes the book appealing to those who seek a good romantic novel.
Annemarie Selinko paints a detailed portrait of the Napoleonic times, the politics and intrigue that beset them.
For those who love historical drama I feel sure they will not be disappointed and will feel drawn into this highly enjoyable classic.

But for the fact that she went to get her brother out of jail....
Bernardine Eugénie Désirée Clary, a wealthy silk merchant's daughter, would not have met young impoverished Napoleon Bonaparte and how different her life might have been. Enchanted by the young officer, she invites him and his brother Joseph to her home - where Joseph finds himself attracted to her sister Julie and her very generous dowry. Still too young to wed at fourteen, she and Napoleon are engaged, but the older Joséphine de Beauharnais has something to say about that. Although heartbroken, Désirée recovers and eventually marries French General Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, although he spends much of their marriage away from Paris in service to the now Emperor of France. Eventually Bernadotte is nominated to become Crown Prince of Sweden, and subsequently King with Désirée as its reluctant Queen.

Written in diary format from Désirée's POV, her story give the reader an inside glimpse at the young Napoleon and his family, through his opulent days as Emperor lavishing gifts and titles on his family, on to his final defeat at Waterloo. As interesting as much of this history was, I found myself snoozing off at times as the author lost me with a too busy cast of characters, too many of which were always called "your royal highness" and nothing else that I had a hard time following who was who. Worse yet, the diary format really painted the author into quite a corner and she had a hard time getting herself out of it at times - frankly she fell out of that corner on more than one occasion. Writing in your diary and you quote verbatim a long long letter from your son? I don't think so. If you're a big fan of anything and everything Napoleonic and want to read more I'd go for it, but definitely not for a first time reader of this period in France's history. 3/5 stars.