Name: Angelique
ISBN: 9780783813929

Sergeanne Golon

Anne Golon

Rita Barisse

Angelique is consumed by the desire for revenge when her husband is accused of witchcraft during the Inquisition

The Marquise of the Angels

Angelique

Pepper

Set in 17th Century in a France that is much divided with unrest, revolts and suspicion on political and religious matters this book follows the life of Angélique de Sance de Monteloup from when she is 12 years old and quite the tomboy. While hearing of her little adventures we are at the same time treated to a wonderfully detailed and as it happens historically accurate picture of what France was like for the poor nobility burdened with having to pay taxes they cannot afford while also for the sake of their lineage having to look after the peasants on their land. Angélique's father, who has these very same responsibilities along with having to look after numerous children of his, is approached by a mysterious but enterprising man called Molines who proposes to solve his monetary issues by helping him with his mule business at a time when it was frowned upon for nobility to be seen engaging in toil and hard work as living beyond their means in extravagant follies was much more the fashion of things. The Baron de Sance is not very sure that he should be engaging in business but Angélique proving herself to be a child of uncommon intelligence convinces her father about the necessity of taking up this opportunity. Following this the Baron is asked by Molines to apply to much influential relations for certain tax exemption that a noblean like himself could be allowed to have. The Baron and Angélique attend a gathering where the Prince de Condé is present and while the Baron is off trying to convince his peers to grant him exemptions Angélique finds herself witnessing the planning of a plot by Prince de Condé to kill the young King Louie XIV and in fact manages to foil it to. It is something that will have a great effect on not only France's but her own future too though she had no idea of knowing it at the time. 

I will admit that though I was sufficiently engaged during these recountings of Angélique's youth, mostly because of how much I was learning of France's history and its people during that era (a subject I know very little about), I did not think this was a series I was going to love for no character had as of yet managed to engage me. It wasn't that the protagonist wasn't interesting - just that she was just too beautiful and too headstrong and too clever for me to have any chance to sympathise with her. But after Angélique finds herself being married off to a man she has never met which has been arranged by her father through the machinations of Molines things start to get really interesting. For one thing we begin to get an idea of why Molines would bother engaging in business with a poor nobleman who he has to constantly help in money matters. Moreover this new man in the picture - Angélique's husband the Comte de Peyrac is a singularly interesting character and not everything is as it seems. Moreover as Angélique and her husband find themselves tangled more and more into the political intrigues of the time due to the delicate issue of being richer than the King himself and the Comte being an outspoken scientist at a time when the Church could still burn people at the stake for witchcraft we begin to greatly fear for their safety because it appears that someone is bent on causing their downfall using all the circumstances of Angélique's youthful misadventures and the Comte's arrogance and impatience in dealing with narrow-minded fools who call chemistry alchemy and accuse the Comte of hiding the Philosopher's Stone from the State. All this leads to the most exciting climax set in a court scene that has got to be one of the best and most frustrating things I have read in my life. Best because Anne Golon's narrative remains taut, tense and suspenseful despite the long scene and frustrating because the arguments that are offered are just so ridiculous and it makes one feel quite sad for the fate of humanity. I really wanted to smash my head against the wall each time the other lawyer spoke. On the other hand the lawyer helping the characters we favour was the first to become my favourite character in the series. Forgive me for descending into incoherency but ...squeee he's so awesome <3 I hope we makes an appearance in the future~ Ok I'm done. 

My parting shot to you all is that Marquise of the Angels with its part Phantom of the Opera and part Count of Monte Cristo like leanings is sure to delight any history buff so if you spot it in a shop lying tattered and lonely - pick it up and give it a try!

Angelique The Marquise of the Angels

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