'Drama, betrayal, religion and sex, it's all here ... Fascinating' GUARDIAN
'Beautifully paced, impeccably written ... Don't miss it' INDEPENDENT
'Fraser is at her best here, lucid, authoritative and compassionate' SUNDAY TIMES
'Superbly researched ... the definitive work on the ill-fated queen' CATHOLIC HERALD

Marie Antoinette's dramatic life-story continues to arouse mixed emotions. To many people, she is still 'la reine mechante', whose extravagance and frivolity helped to bring down the French monarchy; her indifference to popular suffering epitomised by the (apocryphal) words: 'let them eat cake'. Others are equally passionate in her defence: to them, she is a victim of misogyny.

Antonia Fraser examines her influence over the king, Louis XVI, the accusations and sexual slurs made against her, her patronage of the arts which enhanced French cultural life, her imprisonment, the death threats made against her, rumours of lesbian affairs, her trial (during which her young son was forced to testify to sexual abuse by his mother) and her eventual execution by guillotine in 1793.

The major movie about the legendary French queen, directed by Sofia Coppola, is based on this book by bestselling historian Antonia Fraser.

About the Author

Antonia Fraser is the author of many widely acclaimed historical works which have been international bestsellers. She was awarded the Medlicott Medal by the Historical Association in 2000 and was made a DBE in 2011 for services to literature.

Her previous books include Mary Queen of Scots, King Charles II, The Weaker Vessel: Woman's Lot in Seventeenth-Century England, which won the Wolfson History Prize, Marie Antoinette: The Journey, Perilous Question: The Drama of the Great Reform Bill 1832 and The King and the Catholics: The Fight for Rights 1829. Must You Go?, a memoir of her life with Harold Pinter, was published in 2010, and My History: A Memoir of Growing Up in 2015. She lives in London.

Visit Antonia Fraser's website at www.antoniafraser.com

Reviews
Drama, betrayal, religion and sex, it's all here, adorned by often fascinating, at times esoteric detail -- Hazel Mills * GUARDIAN *
A hugely well-researched work . . . MARIE ANTOINETTE is a heroic and tragic exercise in identification * DAILY TELEGRAPH *
This beautifully paced, impeccably written biography is destined to generate the same success as Antonia Fraser's previous work. Don't miss it -- Andrea Stuart * INDEPENDENT *
A sparkling new biography . . . Antonia Fraser writes beautifully, with impressively shrewd judgement . . . This is a fine book and a very good read -- Desmond Seward * DAILY MAIL *
In MARIE ANTOINETTE, Fraser's superb gifts of narrative, characterisation and eye for salient detail are deployed to greater effect than ever before -- Mark Bostridge * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY *
Fraser sets out to rescue Marie Antoinette from the shadow of the guillotine, and she does this with resounding success -- Ruth Scurr * THE TIMES *
Fraser is at her best here, lucid, authoritative and compassionate -- Miranda Seymour * SUNDAY TIMES *
[Fraser] has written a fine biography . . . A fine and rewarding book -- Douglas Johnson * SPECTATOR *
An authoritative, sympathetic and beautifully written life of the much maligned queen -- Charles Osborne * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *
A superbly researched book which will clearly become the definitive work on the ill-fated queen -- Margot Lawrence * CATHOLIC HERALD *
That fatal combination of a magnificent story, magnificently well told. It's the perfect book in which to lose yourself when you can afford to do nothing else for a day or so. -- Lucy Worsley * WAITROSE WEEKEND *



Book Information
ISBN 9780753813058
Author Lady Antonia Fraser
Format Paperback
Page Count 656
Imprint Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Publisher Orion Publishing Co
Weight(grams) 532g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 129mm * 44mm