Michelle Moran

Draws on primary sources to recreate the wildly promiscuous court of Napoleon Bonaparte through the experiences of his stepdaughter Hortense, his infamous sister Pauline, and his freedom-seeking Austrian wife Marie-Louise.

A Novel of Napoleon's Court

The Second Empress

Lacy W

Title: The Second Empress
Author: Michelle Moran
Genre: Historical Fiction
Format: hardback library book
Series: N/A
Star Rating: 3 stars

tw: mention of parent death, book burning, incest, abuse, horrors of war, STIs, slut shaming, cancer

Well, this book was certainly interesting but not the best. I didn’t really learn that much besides the fact that I really need to learn more about Marie Antoinette. She is a prominent figure in the world of Napoleon, so I need to figure out what she did that was so bad. I mean, I have a vague idea of what she did but apparently, she was just awful. 

Anyway. This book had three different main characters. There was Maria Lucia, who was the second wife of Napoleon and the main character. I liked her. She put Napoleon in his place. I also appreciated that she understood the court. She knew when to fight and when to back down. 

The other characters are intertwined for the most part. There was Pauline, Napeolone’s sister. Her POV was hard to read at times. She had very incestuous feelings toward Napoleon and was obsessed with how Egyptians did intermarriage. The Egyptians often married their brother/sisters in order to keep the family pure and not have to bring in people from other countries to marry. It was just not great. She was obsessed with the fact that she would marry napoleon and then they would rule France together. Paul was her valet. His POV was okay. I didn’t like him but I also didn’t hate him either. He was kind of important to the story but the plot would have survived without his POV. If I’m being honest, he was kind of boring. 

Overall, this was an okay book—nothing to write home about. I had a good time reading it minus the weird incestuous relationship. It definitely put me off from enjoying the book more. It had intrigued my interest in French royalty but other than that, I don’t think this is the author for me. I’ve read another book by this author and I think I rated that one three stars as well. Oh well. Onto the next one.

erin s

i love michelle moran’s writing style; she manages to evoke every era she chronicles. however, i was pretty underwhelmed with this novel. the pacing and characterization seemed rushed and the alternating narrators didn’t add much to the story. also seemed a bit historically iffy, but i don’t know much about the french empire so Who’s To Say

1810. Palais des Tuileries, France. As a princess of the Holy Roman Empire, Marie-Louise Habsburg knows the importance of family loyalty. So when her father asks her to save his crown by marrying a foreign stranger twice her age she has no choice but to obey. But when she arrives in Paris, is becomes clear that Marie-Louise will have to fight for a place in her new husband's affections. Between a scorned first wife determined to hold on to her title and a fiendishly devious sister-in-law, will the young princess ever be able to win her rightful place at court? Meet Marie-Louise Bonaparte, youngest wife of Napoleon the Great and France's unwilling Second Empress.

The Second Empress A Novel of Napoleon's Court

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