Marie Antoinette: The Journey

Marie Antoinette: The Journey is a sympathetic 2001 biography of archduchess Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France (1774–1792) by Antonia Fraser. It is the basis for the 2006 Sofia Coppola film Marie Antoinette.

Orion Publishing Group

The book, which was relaunched to coincide with the release of the related film, has had considerable success. It has been translated into French and Italian, been awarded the Enid McLeod Literary Prize, received critical praise including being described "definitive" by British historian, Amanda Foreman, author of a bestselling biography of Georgiana, duchess of Devonshire. It is considered, by some modern historians, as the most thorough and balanced biography of the queen,[citation needed] though it naturally builds upon earlier biographies, first hand accounts, and even the infamous libelles which destroyed the queen's reputation.

Summary

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Beginning with Marie Antoinette's mother, Empress Maria Theresa, the book chronicles the life of Marie Antoinette and how she, though the youngest of her mother's daughters, was selected to marry the future king of France.

Fraser depicts a young dauphine, and eventual queen, unfairly maligned due to decades of anti-Austrian sentiment and xenophobia who was never comfortable in her role as influencer and ambassadress to Austria in a French court in which she was treated with derision and hostility.

Reception

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Upon release, Marie Antoinette: The Journey was generally well-received amongst British press.[1] [2]

First editions

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  • London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2001. ISBN 0-297-81908-9
  • New York: Doubleday, 2001. ISBN 0-385-48948-X

Paperback edition

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References

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  1. ^ "Books of the moment: What the papers say". The Daily Telegraph. 28 July 2001. p. 52. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  2. ^ "Books of the moment: What the papers say". The Daily Telegraph. 23 June 2001. p. 56. Retrieved 22 July 2024.