The Second Empress; A Novel of Napoleon's Court

Michelle Moran chooses Marie-Louise Hapsburg as the subject of her latest book The Second Empress: A Novel of Napoleon's Court (#234).  In his single-minded quest to found his own dynasty, Napoleon sets out to find a suitable princess who comes from an established royal family to replace the barren Josephine.  Maria Lucia, daughter of the conquered Emperor Francis I of Austria, fits the bill, especially as she understands statecraft.  She's been groomed by her father to rule as Regent for her brother in the future.  But when Napoleon commands, Maria Lucia must obey, lest Austria suffer the consequences.  It's hardly a romantic story.

Told from three viewpoints of those closely involved in this dynastic marriage: Maria Lucia of Austria (whom Napoleon promptly re-names Marie-Louise), Princess Pauline Borghese, Napoleon's possessive sister and Paul Moreau, Pauline's mulatto chamberlain who came with her from Haiti after the death of her first husband, the novel covers the period from Napoleon's search for the proper bride to his death on St. Helena in exile.

Maria Lucia is horrified when she learns that she is the candidate chosen for this marriage.  Napoleon has not yet even divorced Josephine, to whom he is reportedly still devoted.  The Pope will not recognize his new marriage, so where does that put her, a devout Catholic?  With a speed that makes her head spin, she is whisked off to France on a journey that bears eerie echoes of her great aunt Marie Antoinette's not so very long ago.

Pauline Borghese is also upset by the marriage.  After Napoleon's conquest of Egypt, the brother and sister share a dream of ruling an empire as the Pharaohs did.  Pauline wants to emulate the Ptolemies in all ways...

Paul has always been devoted to Pauline, but even he can see that the changes in the Bonaparte family as they rise meteorically to power with a reach that outstrips their grasp.  He is a keen observer of the scenes around him, but has it all become too much to bear?

For me, Marie-Louise has always been a shadowy figure; you're aware that Napoleon married twice, scandalously, but she rarely appears in books as a solid character with thoughts, feelings, pressures and perils of her own.  One cannot help but sympathize with her marrying into such a family as the Bonapartes, and be glad for her sake that she survived!  I found this book so engrossing that I was done with it before I knew it.  If you're interested in how much of a historical novel is factual, and how much fiction, you'll appreciate Ms. Moran's notes at the end on her sources, and what happens to the people in the book.

Before I leave the subject, though, I do have to say how very much I disliked the cover art on The Second Empress.  It was originally featured on GoodReads with a different, and to my mind, far more attractive cover, and I think the publishers would have done much better to stick with it.  This is the second book of Ms. Moran's that has used a photograph of a model in an ill-fitting theatrical costume on the cover.  Frankly, if Ms. Moran was not already a favorite of mine, I would have picked this up in a bookstore, looked at the cover and thought "Tawdry second or third rate romantic novel." and put it right back down.  I wouldn't even have bothered to read the cover copy.  Cover art does make a difference and can easily sabotage sales.