How to Ruin a Queen: Marie Antoinette and the Diamond Necklace Affair

by Jonathan Beckman

In 1785, a sensational trial began in Paris that would divide the country and captivate Europe. A leading Catholic cardinal and scion of one of the most distinguished families in France stood accused of forging the queen's signature to obtain the most expensive piece of jewelry in a 2,800-carat diamond necklace. Where were the diamonds? Was the cardinal innocent? Was, for that matter, the queen? The revelations from the trial would bedevil the French monarchy as the country descended into a bloody revolution.

In How to Ruin a Queen , award-winning author Jonathan Beckman tells of political machinations and enormous extravagance; of kidnappings, prison breaks, and assassination attempts; of hapless French police in disguise, reams of lesbian pornography, and a duel fought with poisoned pigs. It is a detective story, a courtroom drama, a tragicomic farce, and a study of credulity and self-deception in the Age of Enlightenment.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, France, Biography, True Crime, French Revolution, Historical

408 pages, Hardcover

First published June 19, 2014

Reviews

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a good book, I was taken aback by the amount of information contained in this book. It deals with pre revolution France, the main subject has to do with the purchase of a diamond necklace by the queen Marie Antoinette . But things are not so simple, it turns out the whole purchase was a scam instigated by a woman called Jane , with royal aspirations herself who planned all of it to do away with the jewels. There are more characters introduced as the story goes on. We get a glimpse at the French court , at the intricacies inside of it , the political climate in France before the revolution. This accident brought attention to the decadence of the royal court and it exposes its inner workings to the population, this trial damaged the royal image so much that its repercussions were felt all the way the 1850's . The author does a good job of detailing everything, this is good and well researched book.

[K.J. Charles]

File under 'stranger than fiction'. The bizarre story of the Affair of the Diamond Necklace that helped bring down the French monarchy (in which a scammer set up a cardinal to arrange the sale of a necklace made of literally a pound of diamonds to Marie Antoinette, only in fact they just nicked it). Well told and atmospheric.

[Beata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific insight into one of the most incredible affairs ever, some claim, Napolean among them, this affair was the beginning of the end of Marie Antoinette.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was the scandal which put the reputation of the queen of France at stake. Cardinal Louis de Rohan, the prince-bishop of Strasbourg and the grand almoner of France, was accused of stealing a 2,800 carot diamond necklace worth 1.6 million livres and invoking the name of the queen in his criminal enterprise. Offending the royal dignity was a crime seen as far worse than the theft. This fascinating book reads more like a historical thriller, as the author traces the events of the crime and investigates the people involved.

What unfolds is really a sordid affair; of thwarted ambition, revenge, debt, deception and a longing for attention. One of the most central characters was Jeanne de Saint Remy, a young woman who had a deeply unhappy childhood. Told that she was descended from royalty, her family’s wealth decimated and abandoned by her mother, Jeanne felt a deep resentment at her poverty and dependence on benefactors. After making a much repented marriage to Nicolas de la Motte, she headed for Versaille to try to reclaim her family lands. “Everyone at Versaille was waiting – for a promotion, for as assignation, for an increased stipend or a favour for a relative. The La Mottes joined the queue,” remarks the author. However, the queue was long and there was little interest in another impoverished claimant. Even when Jeanne attempted a fainting fit in front of Marie Antoinette, it elicited no response. Yet, Jeanne felt that she should have been given a sympathetic shoulder on which to cry and, more than that, she wanted financial help. It is fair to say that no money would have been enough for the La Mottes – the couple lived in virtual poverty, yet constantly begged and borrowed to keep up appearances. Considering their income, the amount that Jeanne managed to spend, and her audacity, breathtaking.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Louis de Rohan was also resentful. The Rohan family were at the pinnacle of French society and Cardinal Rohan felt that he should be promoted to chief minister. However, Marie Antoinette’s dislike made life uncomfortable for him at Court and, he felt, thwarted his career prospects. Jeanne suggested that she should act as an intermediary between Rohan and the queen and restore him in her estimation. Was Rohan so desperate that he was willing to believe this claim? Jeanne informed Rohan that the queen wished him to partake a delicate mission for her; to buy a diamond necklace from jewellers Boehmer and Bassenge. This incredibly expensive necklace had, in fact, been offered to the queen before and she had refused it. Yet, the real problem here was that everyone was so desperate that they were willing to believe the charade. The jewellers were desperate to sell the necklace, Cardinal Rohan was willing to undergo almost anything to gain good relations with the queen and Jeanne was desperate for the attention and wealth she felt was her due. This book uncovers all the characters and events which led up to the purchase of a necklace which the queen claimed she had never asked for. Was Rohan really duped or was it a scheme to pay off his debts? Was Rohan really the victim?

As the crime is uncovered, the consequences would be far reaching and possibly turned the public opinion more against Marie Antoinette than it had been previously. Whether it led to the French Revolution is an over simplification of events, but it certainly damaged her reputation. The investigation, the trial in 1786 and what happened to all the people involved is fascinating to read. This is history at its most readable – well researched, detailed, but also very well laid out. The author makes a complicated story easy to follow and I found it a good retelling of this, very important, historical event – the consequence of which were far reaching and so damaging for Marie Antoinette .

Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publishers, via NetGalley, for review.

[Dave Schoettinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of history books, however I am often drawn to generalized histories on big topics such as the 16th century or the American Civil War. This book is different in that it is an in depth account of events that occurred over the course of only a few years in France on the eve of their Revolution. The challenge for Jonathan Beekman was to compare various accounts from the time, often featuring wildly divergent versions of what happened. He does an excellent job of explaining which accounts he has chosen to believe and why, while also describing the other accounts and why he thinks they are in error.

The Diamond Necklace Affair (DNA) was a scam reminiscent of the one perpetrated by American author Clifford Irving fifty years ago when he convinced a publisher to pay him handsomely for a book allegedly based on lengthy interviews with billionaire recluse, Howard Hughes. Irving counted on Hughes to stay reclusive and not let the world know that he had never met Irving and that his book was a total fabrication. In the DNA the recluse who the scammers had relied on not blowing the whistle on their scam was Marie Antoinette.

As compelling as the story itself, was the author's description of the French legal system and of the general relationship between the nobility and the remainder of the French population. In hindsight, it is not difficult to see the seeds of revolutionary upheaval.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow this was a wild and humorous ride.
This is surprisingly detailed and while I don't agree with all of the authors conclusions I felt this was well handled and informative.
In many ways this reminded me of that American Crime The OJ Story TV show. As in the details are fantastic and outrageous yet at the same time absolutely true, lol.
Books like this are why I LOVE history. Truth is so much more interesting than fiction!

[Nikki · Rating 1 out of 5]

So overall the best part of this book was the introduction as it was all downhill from there. The introduction was the most concise and lacked the personal opinions and superfluous detail of the rest. The main issue this book has is the level of unnecessary information that did not even lead to significant detail, it was practically filler. This was especially the case when it came to Jeanne. Yes, she was a major player in this controversy but the author took the long route when establishing her character and overall outlook on life. I could not help but consider that without the extreme background material on Jeanne and Rohan and a few other minor players, that the book would have been far too short to be published. This is the only logical reason I came come up with for the author to include such tedious, dull detail.

The person I was most interested in regarding this affair was Marie Antoinette and I was quite disappointed in how little time the author actually spent on her. I suppose he was leaving her details for a biographer but considering his aptitude for unnecessary detail I would have thought he would dive in. Unfortunately the author skimmed Marie Antoinette's life but we did get this lovely tidbit:

Marie Antoinette's brother, the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, left a description of the king's curious sexual technique: he has strong, perfectly satisfactory erections; he introduces the member, stays there without moving for about two minutes, withdraws without ejaculating but still erect, and bids goodnight.Loc887

I think, if nothing else, this is the fact about Louis XVI that will forever stick with me. Thanks Beckman.

Despite all of the details, important or easily discarded, the author proved to continually be a fan of “unreliable” sources. The author readily admits to including information that is from these unreliable sources and it left me questioning a large portion of the details within the work. I was already tired from the extrapolations the author was making and opinions he was making clear, that to be using unreliable sources on top of it was almost a deal breaker. The author also went on numerous tangents, enjoying examining works of the era and relating them to the affair. Boredom always ensued.

The author also enjoyed going on little opinion-driven waxing poetic moments, such as this gem (pun intended) from the end of the book:

Gems also secrete sexual connotations... A stolen necklace was an apt symbol for the lost virtue of Marie Antoinette, orbited by rumours of infidelity. Diamonds draw the eye but also distract it; their flash in the light fascinates, but they hold the gaze on the surface and are impenetrable to the core. They betoken a secret world, in which conspiracy may flourish, in which enemies are crushed in the clench of a fist, in which the Austrian plenipotentiary might guide the queen's hand across the engine of government. In the flare of the diamond, one meets the lure of the dangerous, enigmatic female.

Retrospectively, it was particularly poignant that they were strung together in a necklace, laid around the most vulnerable juncture of the body, the indestructible crystal against the lacerable skin and cartilage and vein. It does not take much force to make a choker choke. And, as the French discovered, the quickest way to kill a queen was to slice straight through her throat.Loc4644

I really did not see the need for half of the details the author chose to include in this, factual or opinionated. Honestly I think you would save yourself much boredom and annoyance if you simply read the Wikipedia entry, there are only so many facts you need on this story.

Disclosure: ARC received from Netgalley & publisher in exchange for an honest review. (They may regret this.) Any and all quotes were taken from an advanced edition subject to change in the final edition.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

There isn't a history of the French revolution that doesn't mention the Affair of the Diamond Necklace but I know of no other, English language book, which manages to tell the whole story so well and even bring you up-to-date on whether the necklace was ever paid for. But what Mr. Beckman does so brilliantly is assemble the whole menagerie of bizarre characters who were swept up in the affair including the marvellous mountebank Cagliostro who although he had nothing do with anything except sponging off the ridiculous, debauched and deceived Cardinal de Rohan. That he brings to life such a cavalcade of freaks like the Jeanne, self styled countess de la Mott the impresario of the the theft; Nicole d'Oliva who was hired to, unknowingly, to impersonate the queen; the lawyers, revolutionaries, pamphleteers and all the others who seized on the scandal not because it was true but they thought it must be true because they believed the queen was a monster who would do such things.

This is solid popular history, it verges on the brilliant because it is so over the top you end up laughing at the sheer craziness of it all. Of course the affair of the diamond necklace didn't cause the revolution. This book provides the facts of the scandal what it can't explain is why people so readily believed such dreadful things about the queen. That is why there was a revolution and to understand the gigger picture you need a different book. But for this utterly mesmerising car crash of a scandal there is no better book.

[Michele Grimmett · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Hollywood had made a movie creating this plot, criticism would be that it was way over the top. Truth is stranger than fiction, however, and these events really did occur.

At its heart, Marie Antoinette was accused of agreeing to buy, then stealing, a necklace of well over 2000 carats; the most expensive piece of jewelry in all of Europe. It wasn’t that easy a situation, though, and an impoverished noblewoman, a cardinal of the church outside royal favor, and a prostitute all played role in the scandal of the vanished diamonds. Because the average French citizen was exposed to so much of the affair, public opinion of the queen and the extravagance of the royal court worsened.

Jeanne de Motte claimed to be one of the last descendants of the Valois regime, the dynasty that immediately preceded the ruling Bourbons. Impoverished and abused as a child, she made a poor marriage and went to Versailles to petition for a better pension from the king and queen. Failing that, she suckered a Cardinal from a prominent family also anxious to better his position using royal favor into acting as an intermediary to obtain an extraordinarily expensive necklace commissioned by the previous king for his mistress and not paid for. The almost bankrupt jewelers were desperate to sell the piece and had offered to sell it to Marie Antoinette before, but she had refused. In an elaborate scheme, Jeanne caused Cardinal Rohan to fall in love with the queen, and told him that the queen actually wanted to buy the necklace but was reluctant due to the financial condition of the country. Using forged documents, the Cardinal obtained the necklace from the jewelers and handed it off to a man he believe to be from the Queen. When payment became due, the jewelers approached the Queen and told her the story. The conspirators in the plot were arrested and tried, but all parties except Jeanne and the forger were acquitted. She was condemned, physically punished, and sentenced to life imprisonment, but she escaped. Although it appears that the queen and Rohan were used by Jeanne, who drove the plot, public opinion regarded the exculpation of Rohan as an indication that the Queen had done something wrong, and her popularity took a hit from which it would never recover.

This book is thoroughly researched, highly detailed, and very readable. Despite the convolutions of the events, it is still easy to follow and provides a clear view of the culture and history of France at that time. It is an excellent read.

I received an eARC of this book, and all opinions are my own.

[Pamela (Here to Read Books and Chew Gum) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The event that is the 'Diamond Necklace Affair' is perhaps one of the most exciting and enigmatic cons in history. Its effects were more far reaching than the players could ever have envisaged, and it played a huge part to toppling the French monarchy. This is the first book I have read on the subject, and it certainly served as a great introduction to the character of Jeanne de la Motte Valois, but unfortunately did very little to discuss the subject of its title 'How to Ruin a Queen'.

From the historical documents that remain, Beckman does a wonderful job of extrapolating the fact from the fiction. He paints a vivid picture of Jeanne, her childhood and her upbringing, and places her firmly in her milieu to show just how the affair could have arisen. She is characterised with as much depth as in any novel, and the Diamond necklace affair itself given a blow by blow narration which was truly outstanding.

Where Beckman's 'How To Ruin A Queen' falls short however was in its failure to attempt anything more than a passing analysis on the effect the affair had on the royal family and public opinion. Close to the end there was a poignant moment where Beckman very succinctly pointed out that essentially what the outcome of the trial amounted to for Marie Antoinette was that by exonerating the Cardinal de Rohan the courts essentially admitted that it was acceptable and understandable that a commoner and a prostitute could have been mistaken for the Queen. A deeper analysis of this would have been wonderful. Rather than being a tale of how the Queen was ruined and the political effect the scandal had, it was instead a narrative of Jeanne and the affair itself.

'How To Ruin A Queen' was an exciting read about a fascinating period and event in history. It brings the affair in to stark focus, but lacked any deeper thought in to how it related to the bigger picture of the French Revolution. A deeper analysis of this would have turned a good book in to a great one.

[Cindy H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Da Capo Press Publishing for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy of How to Ruin A Queen by Jonathan Beckman.
Below is my unbiased review.

Wow! What a thorough and well researched true account of Marie Antoinette
and the Diamond Necklace debacle of 1785. The story is captivating and spectacular with a cast of characters, whom Hollywood could only hope to create but are nonetheless real.
Jeanne de Saint- Remy was born into an impoverished family who had once been of royal court. Jeanne had a miserable childhood yet managed to seek a place for herself amongst the higher echelons of French court and society. Never accepting her plight, Jeanne constantly lied, cheated and wheedled her way to keep up appearances and live the grand life she believed she was entitled to. Her audacity and cunning schemes involved enlisting the Cardinal Louis de Rohan, a prince - bishop of Strasbourg. Due to Jeanne 's manipulation, the Cardinal believed he was aiding Marie Antoinette, queen of France, in purchasing a 2,800 -carat diamond necklace from the renowned jewelers Boehmer & Bassenge. Only problem, the queen had no clue.
The story and trial that follows is astonishing; a messy, sordid affair of deceit and treachery.
Jonathan Beckman does an incredible job of laying out the details in a clear, concise manner. This was a long read but well worth the time and investment. Readers will be awed by the circumstances and shocked by the impudence of those involved.
I highly recommend this splendid read.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

for all the drama going on the book itself is shockingly unexciting. still a wild ride tho

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: ARC from Netgalley.

One has to feel sorry for Marie Antoinette. Yes, yes, it’s popular to see her as a spoiled brat of a queen, but it can’t have been easy to marry a king with some type of erectile dysfunction while moving to a throne country where everyone doubts your loyalty.

And then when you finally start having children, your eldest son dies.
And everyone is talking about your gambling habit and whether or not you might just be slut.
Of course, they are far more polite about than that.

Finally, to make matters worse, some common person pretends to be you, “seduces” a nobleman whose excuse for doing something illegal is that he could believe that the women was such a loose woman.

That is the story set forth in this book. What is more Jonathan Beckman presents more than just rumor. He not only details the story, in far better way than Hollywood did with its adaption of Dumas’ work, but with more life and passion. It reads like a good old fashion mystery cum soap Opera. The thing is that the story is true. Beckman checks and rechecks his sources. He lets the reader know of the conflicting stories.

What is more Beckman links the effects of the Diamond Necklace Affair not only to the French Revolution but he does much to redeem Marie Antoinette. She isn’t perfect, far from it, but she is handled deftly and with more nuances here, even more than in more recent biographies. It’s strange that she is remembered for a quote that is taken out of context and not for being the victim, in part, of a scandal that didn’t cost her money but her name and reputation. She isn’t the only woman to suffer because of the scandal. What is interesting is that feminists haven’t taken this story up more considering that the women involved, from the planning to the victim herself, all faced harsher penalties than the men did.
Don’t we sue people for that?

If you've read any Dumas, try this.

[Maria Beltrami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting historical research about the well-known "Diamonds Necklace's Affair", which is one of the key triggers of the French Revolution. Like other essays before this, it completely exonerates Marie Antoinette, guilty at most of being inadequate as Queen of France, and points the finger at Jean De La Motte, given the mind of intrigue, and the Cardinal de Rohan, who was guilty of immense stupidity. Nothing new except for the level of detail achieved in delineating the nature of the characters and the accuracy in the reconstruction of the process, marred by massive prejudices and interests.
Well written and, at times, more funny than the average of essays on the subject.
I thank Da Capo Press and Netgalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Interessante ricerca storica relativa al ben noto "Affare della collana di diamanti", ovvero uno degli elementi scatenanti della Rivoluzione Francese. Come altri saggi prima di questo, scagiona completamente Maria Antonietta, colpevole tuttalpiù di essere inadeguata come Regina di Francia, e punta il dito contro Jean De La Motte, considerata la mente dell'intrigo, e il Cardinale di Rohan, colpevole di immensa stupidità. Niente di nuovo se non per il livello di approfondimento raggiunto nel delineare il carattere dei personaggi e l'accuratezza nella ricostruzione del processo, viziato da enormi pregiudizi e interessi.
Ben scritto e, a tratti, più divertente della media dei saggi sull'argomento.
Ringrazio Da Capo Press e Netgalley per avermi offerto una copia gratuita in cambio di una recensione onesta.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A highly detailed and informative account of the Diamond Necklace Affair. Beckman's investigation into this case, which helped to instigate the fall of Marie Antoinette, is nonfiction but written in a compelling style. Each of the participants in the case is brought vividly to life through use of memoirs and contemporary accounts.

The reader will laugh out loud at Jeanne de Motte's outrageous scheming and bold lying. Cardinal Rohan's gullibility and naivety will cause head shaking incredulity. Each person involved has their life described in full, so that one can understand how they came to be involved in this historical theft and fraud.

A unique addition to this story was the author's inclusion of many references to literature of the time. The analysis of popular art and novels gave an additional insight to what each of the people in this case may have been thinking. Jeanne is described as believing that history is whatever people believe, and is she ever convincing in her lies!

A thorough and enjoyable discussion of the Diamond Necklace Affair, this book is a great addition to any personal French history library.

[Herman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather academic language, as I read this over in my mind I was thinking the author must have been thinking at some point "Just give me my PHD already so I can go and earn a living teaching french history at some university." It feels like a dissertation, and the language well there were a whole lot of words that I added to my vocabulary "Parsimonious," "costive," "compendium," "Piquancy," "cowbarring," to name just a few. So I learn some things while the general thrust of the story that the comtesse La Motte-Valois was a thief and liar, probably a deeply troubled narcissist someone who destroyed norms and rules and thought only of themselves only of the moment, (sounds like a certain President I know of). The Cardinal Rohan was a spoiled rich kid that wasn't all that smart and Maria Antoinette so hated Cardinal Rohan that she allowed this scandal to under mind the royal institution a fatal mistake as it turned out. Actually that is like three aspects of our current Presidential personality now that I think about it, Hope it works out for him better than it did for Her (No not really actually I would most OK with seeing that tyrant loss everything from the neck up as well but I digress). Who cares really, but its a interesting historical story wasn't all that much fun to read at times what makes it a successful academic paper makes it also somewhat dry and boring to read.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the Diamond Necklace Affair may go down as a footnote in many histories of the French Revolution, it does deserve further inspection. Beckman presents a case for the necklace affair to play a larger role in the public understanding of French royalty. He shows how in some ways the case "humanized" and demonized the Queen to a degree that allowed the public to pull her down from her royal pedestal. Again and again, I think the Queen was caught in wave a history and a public mob that treated her very unfairly. Perhaps too inexperience as a monarch to strongly deal with the issues of her day, she from start to finish she was treated rather unfairly by the French upper and lower classes.

[Desirae · Rating 4 out of 5]

The diamond necklace affair is the whole of this book, so there are many minor figures that take a much more prominent role here. I have to confess that I did not know a lot about Jane, or her Valois connections.

Absolutely fascinating.

[Eva Müller · Rating 4 out of 5]

If there was a less cliched way to describe the Affair of the Diamond Necklace I would but it's simply a story you couldn't make up. A Jeanne La Motte, a countess who is a close confidant of Marie Antoinette, approaches Cardinal Rohan and asks him to purchase an expensive diamond necklace in the name of the queen. Rohan was only to eager to oblige as this meant he was back in favour with her. (Marie Antoinette strongly disliked him since he displeased her mother during his time at the Court of Vienna). He hoped that by helping the queen he would also help his own political ambitions.

However, things weren't that simple. Marie Antoinette didn't even know that Jeanne existed, let alone consider her a friend. She had never asked her to find somebody to purchase the necklace for her and had no interest in it.
Jeanne had taken advantage from the fact that Rohan was desperate to get back in favour with the queen and had spun a complex web of deceit around him. It involved countless forged letters, supposedly from Marie Antoinette and even a meeting between Rohan and the queen - played by a prostitute who looked a bit like her. Once Rohan had given the necklace to Jeanne she and her husband tried to sell the single diamonds.

Of course the jewelers noticed that no payment from the queen was forthcoming and the whole plot unraveled. As Jeanne hadn't been to subtle about her newfound wealth she was soon discovered and arrested. And so was Rohan - on the basis that nobody could be as stupid as he claimed to have been and so must have been a co-conspirator. But in the subsequent trial he was acquitted, while Jeanne and her husband were found guilty.

How to Ruin a Queen tells not only this story but also discusses the consequences the whole affair had. The court also found Marie Antoinette innocent from any knowledge of the plot but her hatred for Rohan was well-known. People suspected that she was behind the whole thing in an attempt to get rid of Rohan. Sympathies for the queen began to chill considerably afterwards and most historians assumed that without the affair the French Revolution might have ended less tragic for the French Royals.
Jonathan Beckman gives a good description of the affair itself but also doesn't forget to discuss the consequences. In less detail of course but enough to understand why it was such a big deal.

The book is well-researched, in so far this is possible. Obviously none of the people involved was too keen on keeping anything that might implicate them so many documents were destroyed.
That leaves the author with accounts from people that weren't directly involved (who also might not know the truth) or things like Jeanne's memoirs. In which she was also more than economical with the truth and tried very much to paint herself as a victim.
Beckmann does point that out and most of the time he puts them into perspective but on some occasions I found he was not clear enough on which claims were to be taken with a grain of salt and which might have been true.
Somewhere in the middle were also two chapters that didn't bring much new information. Instead they discussed Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Twelfth Night and The Marriage of Figaro and speculated on whether any of the people involved had read or seen them and match the characters from the stories with the real ones involved in the affair. If that was (at that length) really necessary is questionable but that doesn't take much away.
If you're interested in French history that book is definitely reccomended.

[Mary Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are quite a few books out there about the affair of the necklace and the damage that this scandal caused to the already floundering reputation of Marie Antoinette. Nine stories, to be exact. The first book was written as early as 1837 by Thomas Carlyle. Even Alexandre Dumas took a crack at it in 1848. There are also two movies on the subject, the most recent movie starring Hillary Swank and titled The Affair of the Necklace.

http://www.warnerbros.com/affair-neck...

My husband and I watched this movie many years ago and I remember being quite fascinated with this true story of deceit and intrigue. The movie isn't great but it's not bad. If you want to know the true facts, Jonathan Beckman's book is wonderful and does not disappoint. All the details are here and Beckman's research is phenomenal. If you love history, this is a MUST!!

Thanks to NetGalley and and Perseus Books Group, Da Capo Press for sharing this wonderful DRC with me. Brilliant!

[SB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent overview of the story but also not a book I'd recommend.
Wow this review is a lot longer than I thought it would be so quick recap: my biggest problem with this book is the underlying misogyny.

One of the major critiques in reviews on this book is that Beckman's writing style is 'too academic', honestly I think it's 'trying too hard to be academic'. The majority of the time the style is fine, it comes apart when he meshes vivid imagery, storytelling imagery, with words that definitely came out of a thesaurus. It feels like an attempt to write for the general public from someone who's used to writing for their professors.
Another critique I’ve seen is that there's too much detail. In some ways that's true. If you look at the bibliography clearly a lot of research went into this project, but the amount of detail overwhelms the fact that this feels like a very surface reading of what happened. There almost isn't enough detail to make it interesting in a humanizing way.

My major critique of this book doesn't seem to have come up in the reviews yet, which shocks me a bit. For a book about women, their agency, their reputations, their aspirations, this book is really all about the men. It's delicately misogynistic, and in defence of the author very likely unintentionally so. But it is.
Jeanne is cast as one of the main characters of the story, and despite giving her a full background and generating sympathy for her past and character, is certainly the villain to Rohan's dupe. Rohan is treated as a poor victim throughout, and he may very well have been, but I saw no convincing evidence in Beckman’s writing, or footnotes, to indicate the surviving sources support that conclusion the way Beckman has laid it out.
Throughout Jeanne is portrayed as a cunning whore who will sleep with men to get what she needs, again possible, but seduction is a claim that shifts agency away from the seduced to the seducer based entirely on sex. Beckman falls into the same trap as Jeanne’s contemporaries throughout, if she secured favours from a man she possibly, or probably, slept with him. Beckman isn’t saying she did, but it is a constant litany of ‘she could have.’
Her relationship with the one man she was actually committed to is barely explored, her husband. It’s established early on that their marriage was contentious and they both took lovers, but despite being free in England during the trial he tried to help Jeanne, he is also the first person she goes to after her escape from prison, at different time in their marriage Jeanne threatens to kill herself (not him) in several rows over his infidelity, and they are accomplices in schemes throughout the book sharing in risks and rewards. This isn’t to say they were a great love story, but there was certainly more of a relationship there than Beckman probed. Many of the relationships in this book undergo a similar treatment and the book is poorer for having missed that human element of history.
In contrast to Jeanne Marie Antoinette is idealized. She is a supporting character in this story, which is fair, it’s about her reputation not her, but she rises above all the intrigue as totally ignorant of the incident, frustrated and saddened during and after its outcome, and only as an active figure during the revolution where she is the ideal mother protecting her son’s interests. Throughout most of the book she fulfills the idealized roles of the innocent, the perfect mother, and the kind of woman who when attacked abnegates responsibility to the men in her life including to her husband. She only becomes an active figure in the narrative after she has aged (if not past the point of having children than portrayed as so) and her husband is incapable of acting. She remains the ideal mother and acts boldly to save her family, defends herself eloquently in court, and meekly goes to her execution.
All of these things are in some way true of Marie Antoinette, Beckman isn’t making them up. He’s just decided to write non-fiction in a way where the two most prominent women of this story fit perfectly into the Madonna/Whore dichotomy.
There is explicit sympathy for some of the supporting women of the narrative including Caligostro’s wife, who really deserves it considering what she had to go through, as well d’Oliva (who is forever referred to by the name Jeanne gave her rather than her own).
However what really bothered me is a throwaway line in Chapter 24:

“Costa taught Italian and French in the households of grandees, and had a tinderbox temper: once, he told Georges, in a jealous rage he had soaked a mistress in nitric acid.”

The next sentence is innocuous, Jeanne’s husband, Nicolas, hires Costa for language lessons but really hires him to give him news from France, and the following few pages have Costa working for the French to bring Nicolas back for trial. Nothing more is mentioned of this aside, and the impression I was left with was that Costa wasn’t really that bad of a crook except for that one little thing about his temper demonstrated by something he told someone he did. Except, soaking someone in nitric acid isn’t something you do in a fit of temper, it has to be planned, it horrifying, and as a descriptor of someone’s character it’s an event that warrants more than a throwaway line.
It’s the kind of detail that’s not only interesting to go into but important for the reader to understand why the author brought it up, and why it’s important narratively. Beckman drops the ball on details in this way consistently throughout the book, making it a the final product a bit bland.
It's also a history that reads with the sources rather than against the grain. I'm not familiar with the historiography of the subject but nothing in this treatment felt new or particularly insightful.

[Kirsti · Rating 4 out of 5]

A con artist who becomes so upset that he takes to his bed and refuses to eat anything but cheese! A scheme to grow little diamonds into bigger, plumper ones! These are just two of the many fascinating details in this scrupulously researched yet delightfully gossipy book. A young woman's audacious scandal puts a queen and a religious leader in jeopardy.

[Louis A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully researched and very detailed effort to understand the murky affair of the necklace.

[Pat MacEwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shades of the Three Musketeers! I say that because this historical study also concerns a diamond necklace and a queen at odds with her husband, and of course a conniving cardinal. The scheming con artist at the heart of it, however, is not the heartless Mme de Winter but an impecunious member of the royal house of Valois (which preceded the Bourbon dynasty). The necklace in question? This time it's a monstrous 2,800-carat construction repeatedly offered to Marie Antoinette. She, however, thought it incredibly ugly and refused to even consider buying it. So who then forged the queen's signature to obtain the most expensive piece of jewelry in Europe? What became of the diamonds? Was the cardinal guilty, or just unbelievably gullible? What on earth did the self-named fakir 'Count Cagliostro,' arguably the Most Interesting Man in Europe at that time, have to do with any of it? The trial of the parties involved took place only 4 years before the French Revolution was kicked off by the storming of the Bastille, and the scandal so tainted the queen's reputation that it was a major factor in her own trip to the guillotine. It seems as fanciful as Dumas's tangled tale of swordplay and cavalier intrigue, but all of it really happened (and so, by the way, did the incident at the heart of the Three Musketeers!). Highly recommended.

[Noble Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

The actions of one or two people can change the course of events in history and furthermore they do not need to be King or Queen. How to Ruin a Queen: Marie Antoinette and the Diamond Necklace Affair by Jonathan Beckman sends readers into Pre-Revolutionary France, a world soon to change and one of the most well-known period in French history.

How To Ruin A Queen is a fascinating story of a 647 stone, 2,800 carat necklace that never adorned the neck of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, but cemented an image and reputation that is to last for centuries. A plot to steal, a costume to deceive, a signature to convince and the gullibility and carnal temptations - brings this story to life. Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Remy conceived a plan that was to bring her wealth, distinction and possibly power ... and a necklace worth 2 million livres was for her, the way to attain it. A Cardinal who had fallen out of grace with the Queen tries to win back her favor, a secret meeting, a prostitute who became the Queen of France for a night, a pair of jewellers (Boehmer and Bassenge) who desperately wished this sell to be a success and a Freemason named Cagliostro who became embroiled in this scandal, would all play a role that would come to haunt France in the years to come.

Beckman's telling of this part of history is both well-written and intriguing. While many can point to various events that led up to the French Revolution, does Beckman's book, "How To Ruin A Queen" demonstrate that a girl of roughly 29 years of age, caused the blade of the guillotine to be sharpened in the year 1785?

4/5 stars

[Victoria Schreiber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredibly well-written and certainly one of the most interesting historical non-fiction books I‘ve ever read. Since it delves into one of the lesser-known aspects of Marie- Antoinette‘s life, it was fascinating to read even for someone who already knows a lot about her/ the French Revolution. But the topic is also always related back to the greater themes and happenings of that time, which makes the book even better. I can only recommend this to everyone who likes to read about history!

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall relatively interesting, but I think I prefer English history in general. The author goes on a few tangents about letter writing and forms of literature that I think were more for his own benefit than to add a lot to the story. Glad I listened to the audiobook, because I doubt I would have been able to pronounce all of those names. I confused half of them anyway, but that's alright. I knew the major players.

[Sonja Geracsek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely incredible read. As far as historical accounts go, this book is incredibly thorough, always cites from sources where possible and is transparent where reliable information isn’t available. The story is written well, captivating and keeps you engaged throughout the entangled mess of history and characters. Would recommend to anyone who is interested in historical books, books about the French Revolution and political dramas in general.

[Ed DeLoach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read on an important event in history.

Well documented and sourced, this is an interesting read about the “Diamond Necklace Affair”, that some say played a part in undermining the French concept of royalty just prior to the Revolution. Well worth it if you are into history.

[Cathy Cabrices De DeCastro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written and well researched. What I liked the most was the sort of psychological profile depicted from the main historical characters and (what seemed to me) the author’s unbiased and unexpected opinion about the events. A complete delight to read. I will definitely read more from this author!