Zia Wesley's Blog: The Veil and the Crown - Posts Tagged "empress-josephine"

So, my dearest, my worst fear came true (as predicted), and I am a widow with two children. Hortense is twelve and Eugène already a young man of fourteen. We were just fourteen when we ran off to see Euphemia David. Speaking of that old witch, I recently met an extraordinary woman who considers herself “gifted” in a similar fashion. Her name is Marie Le Normand, and she hosts the most marvelous salons, though her “talents” do not compare with those displayed by Madame David.

From The French Sultana by Zia Wesley

Marie Le Normand (1772 – 1843) was a “spiritualist” a professional fortuneteller, specializing as a cartomancer (card reading) and in palmistry (palm reading). Mlle. Le Normand used The Etteilla deck, developed by occultist Jean-Baptiste Alliette and noted as possibly the first card set to be used exclusively for divination. Mlle. Le Normand’s clientele included many prominent figures in the French aristocracy, which may account for the popularization of the trend during that time period.

As a young child, Marie’s mother died, after which, her father remarried. Shortly afterwards, her father also died, and Marie and her brother and sister lived with their stepmother (who also remarried after the death of Marie’s father). Even though Marie and her siblings where in the care of two new step parents, they were well taken care of and sent to various schools to further their educations.

While at a Benedictine School, Marie made her first notable prediction, in which she foretold the termination of the Mother Superior of the school as well as predicting who the Mother Superior’s replacement would be.

When she finished her schooling, Marie was apprenticed for a Milliner. When her apprenticeship ended, Marie convinced her step parents to send her to Paris. It was there that Marie set up a shop at 5 Rue de Tournon, where she sold books as well as plied her trade as a cartomancer. During this time, Marie gained fame as both a fortune teller and a writer (writing 15 books in total). Her clientele (whom she advised) included high members of the French aristocracy: Princess de Lamballe (Superintendent of Marie Antoinette’s household), Robespierre, and Czar Alexander of Russia.

Marie was a royalist. During the French Revolution, her involvement in a plot to rescue Marie Antoinette resulted in her capture and imprisonment. While in prison, Marie met Madame de Beauharnais (Rose Tascher), who was also imprisoned along with her husband Alexander, Vicomte de Beauharnais. While in prison, Marie foretold that Rose would survive her imprisonment, go on to marry a soldier, and rule France along with her new husband. After the release of both Rose and Marie from prison, Rose would continue to call upon Marie for advice. It is not known whether Rose (The Empress Josephine Bonaparte) either provided information or gave her blessing to Mlle. Le Normand to author her biography to be written following her death.

Marie, who had predicted that she would live to be 100, died at the age of 71. A deck of Tarot cards was named after her, called the Lenormand Deck, which are used to this day.

I am sure no one remembers that I did not come to this life of my own accord. My immersion has appeared to be so complete. Few people outside these walls could ever imagine the priceless jewels that adorn my body, the numbers of those who wait upon my every desire, or the vastness of the land and wealth I own. Only a handful comprehend the power of my words, my political influence, and the public works I personally conceived of, funded and built.

While our corner of the world knew my husband's name and deeds well, the whole world now knows of my son. Yet only those who live within these walls know me. Despite the fact that I am the wealthiest woman in the world, my name is unknown. The only persons who truly knew me are gone: my cousin Rose, who died six years ago as the former Empress Josephine, and Baba Mohammed Ben Osman, The Dey of Algiers, Captain of all Barbary Coast pirates and my personal savior. Now that I am old and dying, I suddenly feel desperate for someone to know who I am. I do not wish to die as if I had never existed. I want someone to know that I did not enter this world at the age of eighteen as Nakshidil, the odalisque. Although I shall die as the most powerful woman in the whole Ottoman Empire I was born French on the island of Martinique as Marie-Aimée Dubucq de Rivery.

The Stolen Girl
Zia Wesley

I want to publicly express my gratitude to all of the readers in Europe and the US who have turned my two-book series, The Veil and the Crown (The Stolen Girl and The French Sultana) into runaway best sellers in the last two months. Please feel free to contact me here with any questions or comments you may have about the story or characters. Thank you from my heart.