Tuesday, August 04, 2015

Tuesday Intros -- The Sisters of Versailles


Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.
I'm reading The Sisters of Versailles by Sally Christie as part of France Book Tours. I'm not sure yet when I'll be reviewing it, but sometime between Aug. 31 and Sept. 9.
As I started the book, I thought the language was a bit blah, but the historical novel has really sucked me in.
Here's the intro:
Hortense
Paris
1799
We are five sisters and four became mistresses of our king. Only I escaped his arms but that was my choice: I may be eighty-four years old, and all that I speak of may have happened in the far distance of the past, but in a woman vanity is eternal. So I need to tell you: I could have. Had I wanted.
Because he - the king - he certainly wanted.
I'm not speaking of the last king, our sixteenth Louis, poor hapless man dead these six years on the guillotine, followed by his Austrian wife. No, here I talk of the fifteenth Louis, a magnificent king. I knew him when he was fresh and young, no hint of the debauched libertine that he would become in his later years, with his drooping eyes and sallow skin, his lips wet with lust.

What do you think? The book becomes available on Sept. 1.
Looking forward to seeing what everyone else is reading.

6 comments:

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

I think this one has definite potential. Hope you enjoy it.

Mystica said...

I just finished this one and found it very very good. I hope you like it too.

Literary Feline said...

I like the opening quite a bit, the way it starts with an elderly woman looking back on her life. It's a very effective way to open a story. The subject matter interests me less, I'm afraid, as I am not a huge fan of books about royalty, but a lot depends on the direction the story will take.

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

Oh, great descriptive opener! I don't often read historical fiction, but I have been seeing this one around...and now I'm eager to learn more.

Thanks for sharing...and here's mine: “SOME LUCK”

grammajudyb said...

A very intriguing first paragraph. The language is a bit strange, but I find as I keep reading I can get into the language pretty easily. I will keep a look out for this one.

Sandra Nachlinger said...

Love that description: "drooping eyes and sallow skin, his lips wet with lust." I think I'd enjoy this author's writing.
My Tuesday post features SHELTER US.

Cockadoodle Doo or Cocorico?

 We stood in the middle of the road, having walked together 13 miles that day and Claudine grasped my forearm. "Mais non! It doesn'...