Louis the Well Beloved

French Revolution #1

by Jean Plaidy

France eagerly awaits the day the young King, Louis XV, comes of age and breaks free from the rule of his ministers. The country hopes Louis will bring back glory and prosperity to France. However, he is too preoccupied with the thrills of hunting and gambling to notice the power struggle going on in his own court. Soon, the King is introduced to the pleasures of mistresses and a succession of lovers follows. From the gentle persuasions of Madame de Mailley to her overtly ambitious sister, Madame Vintimille, France stands by and watches a King ruled by his women.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, France, 18th Century, Fiction, French Revolution, Ebooks

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Eleanor Alice Burford, Mrs. George Percival Hibbert was a British author of about 200 historical novels, most of them under the pen name Jean Plaidy which had sold 14 million copies by the time of her death. She chose to use various names because of the differences in subject matter between her books; the best-known, apart from Plaidy, are Victoria Holt (56 million) and Philippa Carr (3 million). Lesser known were the novels Hibbert published under her maiden name Eleanor Burford, or the pseudonyms of Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow and Ellalice Tate. Many of her readers under one penname never suspected her other identities.
-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This hasn't been my favourite Plaidy novel, I must say.

It details the life of the young Louis XV and his earlier mistresses and his wife. I found the story a little dull in places. I also couldn't help thinking Louis' daughters were slightly bratty.

I will read the other two books in the series, mainly because I already have them.

[Jenks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was handed to me to read because of my love for everything Versailles !

So more chance reading than actual choice. But what a good read. I enjoyed Louis , I thought his childish ways and fear of confrontation was written so well it made me laugh in parts. The court gossip and drama was as juicy as ever .

Recommended !

[Anne Fenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Jean Plaidy, a writer well known in latter years of the twentieth century for her historical fiction, a bit before people like Philippa Gregory. This novel charts the early to midlife years of Louis XV, with an emphasis on his women. It’s a funny mix, he’s portrayed as being ‘faithful’ to his wife, then his first mistress, then his second, third etc. The women are hard to believe, they all plot, scheme, succeed, not just at being in a relationship with the king, what they really want is to run the country! Yes, they’re more than the power behind the throne, they’re it.
I enjoyed reading this novel although it crams a lot into a small space, and there are two more books in the series! I’ll try JP’s Tudor series next.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kind of historical fiction I like: short, simple characters, semi-accurate and tons of court intrigue. Although court intrigues and who-is-sleeping-with-who make up 95% of the book and it gets a little tiresome by the end. Still, I liked Plaidy's take on it: by easily following advisers and mistresses, Louis XV is never handed the opportunity to grow as a ruler. And thus, the seeds for the French Revolution, which will happen during the reign of his son, are sown. I'll have to hunt down the sequels.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great start to a trilogy about the French revolution. It lays the foundation for what is to come and explains how all the craziness came to be. An interesting read all around.

[Nefertari · Rating 1 out of 5]

Took an exciting, scandalous tale of a king and his many mistresses (four of whom were sisters!) and reduced it to dry, lifeless prose. Try Sally Christie's novels about Louis XV's mistresses for a little more intrigue.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

France eagerly awaits the day the young King, Louis XV, comes of age and breaks free from the rule of his ministers. The country hopes Louis will bring back glory and prosperity to France. However, he is too preoccupied with the thrills of hunting and gambling to notice the power struggle going on in his own court. Soon, the King is introduced to the pleasures of mistresses and a succession of lovers follows.
Really enjoyed the tales of the court and you get a sense of the impending doom.
Good read.

[M.M. George · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been a great fan of Jean Plaidy (in all her avatars) since my schooldays. What she taught me about history has stayed with me, and even now I'm able to impress people with all I've learnt from her.
So it was very pleasing to re-read Louis the Well Beloved and develop an adult vision on those tempestuous times in France. What a momentous time in history and narrated so well, you can see the road leading to the French Revolution clearly.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feels like it's been forever since I've read a Jean Plaidy novel. They always tend to be pleasantly entertaining, though I didn't enjoy this one as much as most others I've read. Largely that's due to the topic: Louis XV with his many, many mistresses just isn't a historical figure I'm all that interested in, and if I didn't feel compelled to read series in order I might have just skipped this one and picked up the French Revolution series at a later point.

[Coco Cervantes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I normally love Jean Plaidy books, but I've noticed that when she doesn't focus on a character from an emotional point of view, her writing kinda loses... Something... Maybe the second part will be better, but I'll wait to read it.

[Michelle allan · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF pg 100. sloooow and booooring.

[longtimewish · Rating 2 out of 5]

La autora de alguna manera convirtió uno de mis momentos favoritos de la historia en un bodrio infumable.

[foolscap · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, light introduction to my foray into understanding the French Revolution.

[Lucinda Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

PROFESSIONAL AS ALWAYS
Since a new serial started on the television about Marie Antoinette, I just had to read up the historical background. This author never disappoints.

[RainLady777 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book I ever read from this era. Entertaining, accurate and not hung up on political correctness, which you cannot be if you are making it authentic to the period.

[Jessica Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly what historical novels should be! Superb research, and great delivery!

[Gaynor Bracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. Although it did take time to get into and there were a lot of characters to remember and I had to keep flicking back to jog my memory. Took a while to read.

[Steppenwolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

✮ 4.0

I recently read Jean Plaidy's novel "Madame du Barry", which I liked very much, which is why I decided to start this series as well.

Plaidy manages to write an entertaining and beautiful novel in her prelude to the "French Revolution" trilogy, which I really enjoyed. For one thing, her characterizations (especially of Louis and Madame de Pompadour) are sympathetic and tangible.

The drama and madness of the court of Versailles are fantastically portrayed!

[Lucy Bertoldi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This deliciously French historical on Louis XV, the Well- beloved (le bien aimé) just led me to further embrace my passion for reading Plaidy. Simply put: History at its best. Yes, I did say history, because no matter that Plaidy’s novels classify as HF, you just need to read one to immediately understand that this is an accurate version of the past retold in its best form.

Louis The Well Beloved, Jean Plaidy

The story begins with the Sun King, Louis XIV (Louis XV’s great grandfather) on his death bed, his life imminently ending. From the moment the Sun King holds his little great grandson and tells him that he will be his successor, I fell in love with the little guy who would become the Well beloved of all of France.
If it weren’t for his great grandfather and uncles, Little Louis was left practically an orphan after the sudden deaths of both his parents and older brother. The only one left to mother him was his governess, whom he became completely and totally attached to (in my opinion, this in itself probably set the stage for loving in a grand way, all the subsequent ladies in his life).

It was incredibly interesting to read about Louis’ coming of age as a Little King admired by all. From the beginning we sense his kind nature and desire for closeness and intimacy (with the privileged few, mind you). Even more important, Louis stands out as one whose great aversion to any type of conflict or breach of etiquette was mega- or borderline insane.

Louis The Well Beloved takes us through Louis ’life, his reign and his loves...and of these, there were quite a few. Louis, in his all consuming passion for the ladies, was, believe it or not, incredibly faithful (especially for those times...and in France!). Without going into too much detail, I will mention the obvious Mistress, Madame de Pompadour; notorious for winning the King’s heart (she wasn’t the first nor the last though...). I love the way Plaidy portrays her in this novel. It’s a refreshing look at someone whom I thought to have been quite the opposite (well at least in this first book of this series).

Plaidy also brings in Louis’ children (mostly daughters) and shows us the King as an overly protective, doting
- father. we get a good taste of what the princesses were like as well. Louis was also a most loving husband. Yes, another surprise, this Queen was blessed with Kingly love. Too much love, in fact- Louis was insatiable. Sadly we see how their love slowly digressed- but the respect remained and neither was really to blame. Louis really tried.

As far as the country went, France loved her King. Louis could do no wrong. It was all the fault of either his ministers, tutors, queen or mistresses. Louis was their hero, but how long could they sing that tune? The seeds of the Revolution were slowly taking root. For how long could Louis remain The Well Beloved?

I f you love French history, and all the eccentricities of etiquette taken too far, along with a good dose of rapturous forbidden love- this Plaidy is for you. I absolutely must read 'Road to Compiegne' next- which is the sequel to this one.

Excellent !

[Syrdarya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this as an audiobook and the reader's voices for children and women were very annoying, but not enough to make me quit listening. This is a book that I would have preferred to read at least in ebook format so that I could see the spellings for all the names and titles.

On the plus side, I am a huge Victoria Holt fan (one of Jean Plaidy's other aliases), and I always meant to read some of the historical fiction published under her Jean Plaidy pseudonym, so I was excited to get ahold of this book.

Louis VX, nicknamed the Well-Beloved, was spoiled rotten as a child by his nanny and thrust into power as a child when his grandfather passed away. He was torn from his nanny and raised by ministers who sought to control him. He was rather spineless and hated confrontations, so he often dismissed people through passive aggressive means. He loved his wife, Maria Leszczyńska, until she began to tire of being pregnant all the time, and she began to refuse him. Then he basically ignored her for the rest of their lives and chased after his mistresses. It's bizarre to me that a country could be so tied to religion and openly flout the adulteries of their kings, but that's the way it was. Louis broke an unwritten rule (in my eyes) when he took one mistress after another from the same family - I think four of them were sisters, and there was a bit of backstabbing going on, which shows Louis wasn't the only badly principled person.

After the four sisters, he was hunted down by Madame du Pompadour, and she became his favorite. I might have liked her less except for the Doctor Who episode in which she plays a guest role.

Most of the book seems to come from the viewpoints of his wife and mistresses, and even a little bit from his daughters and daughter-in-law. Louis himself is rather unsympathetic, as he is disgusted by the common people, and won't be forceful himself to his relatives and ministers but makes other people do his dirty work for him. He spent relatively little time concerned with governing and most of it hunting, partying, spending time with his mistresses, and spending lots of money building extravagant and unnecessary buildings.

His moniker was only as it was because the people never really seemed to know what he was like.

[Phil Syphe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this because I'm interested in France's Bourbon kings and Madame de Pompadour. I 'm also a fan of the author.

I think that Jean Plaidy did a good job bringing the early to mid-eighteenth-century France to life. I like her portrayal of Louis XV, whom we get to see grow from a five-year-old up to about thirty. As a child he comes across as a spoiled brat with no interest in the French people who cheer and adore him. Yet as he becomes a man, little of his character alters.

I found myself liking Louis whilst having little respect for his carefree ways. That said, I did admire him for joining his soldiers in various battles, as he could easily have avoided doing so.

It's interesting to observe how Louis's coldness towards his subjects who love him, and the amount of money he taxes them to pay for fruitless wars, or to indulge his passion for architecture, all leads to his loss of popularity. More to the point, his carefree attitude points the way to the French Revolution a few decades later.

On a lighter note, it's also interesting to see how his mistresses come and go, along with his changing relationship with his queen. His first intended queen, back when he was a boy, was the character for whom I felt the most sympathy for in the entire book. I won't say more about the little Spanish princess in case I leak any spoilers.

I've previously read a biography of Madame de Pompadour, discovering that I liked her very much, and I'm impressed with the author's depiction of the beautiful, gifted lady.

Adelaide, one of Louis's daughters, is one of the most interesting characters. She's clever yet also slightly mad.

Overall this is a good read though I would've enjoyed it more had it been a little more spicy or confrontational at times.

[Kavita · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book describes the life of Louis XV and his succession of mistresses, which angered the Parisians. The story is told through the eyes of the various mistresses and as usual, Plaidy tells a good story. I am hoping it will get more intricate in her subsequent books of her series as it does get a little boring to read about what the King's mistresses do to keep him interested, and how they fail (or succeed).

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a quick and easy, smooth read. No wonder I was lured to this, just found out that Jean Plaidy is also Victoria Holt. I found myself looking up the characters on the internet (well, mostly his mistresses) to put a face to the characters and the events that happened was on track with the book. I can't wait to receive the 2nd book in this series!

[Karen Galber]

Tells the story of Louis xv and his mistresses. Louis had no interest in ruling but did so through his ministers. He only lived for pleasure. He partied while the rest of France starved. This was the beginnings of the road towards the French Revolution.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's OK. I can't help feeling how utterly sad we human beings are, our own worst enemies. He

[Lynn Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published 1972. The Story of Louis XV.