The Meeting at Saint-Cloud
Publisher
:
Ed. Héloïse d'Ormesson
Parution date
:
EAN
:
9782350871448
Number of pages
:
141
Description
The Meeting at Saint-Cloud is not historical fiction, but a “novel in costumes.” Inspired by real events, it allows the reader to journey through the torments of the French Revolution, learning the complex and intimate thinking of the two central characters.
July 3, 1790: The Monarchy is in great danger and the future of France uncertain. Count Mirabeau has asked Queen Marie-Antoinette to meet him secretly in the park of Saint-Cloud, just outside Paris. Mirabeau is a notorious libertine who represents everything the Queen hates. She sees him as an opportunist, incapable of real feelings, and is repulsed by his face, which was disfigured by smallpox. But he is the leader of the Third Estate—the common people—and so she agrees to meet him. Will the short time she allots for the meeting be enough to change what seems like the inexorable course of history?
They soon find common ground in their shared dislike for the world in which they live. Austrian by birth, Marie-Antoinette never felt accepted by the French people, and was forced to marry a man who for years was unable to satisfy her sexual needs, and Mirabeau, because he had been jailed for his political ideas and was rejected by women for his lack of physical attributes felt like an outsider as well. The Count needs the Queen’s alliance in order to achieve his goals, and she knows she might be able to hold onto the throne by cooperating with him. Mirabeau suggests a plot to reestablish the Queen’s popularity and give her revenge over the French people. The meeting at Saint-Cloud is a duel that goes beyond political strategy. We know from history that the plan didn’t work—but we can all relate to the story of their dreams.
Author
Harold Cobert :
Harold Cobert was born in 1974. He is the author of two previous novels, including Un hiver avec Baudelaire (2009, Éditions Héloïse d’Ormesson).
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