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Marianne #6
Marianne and the Crown of Fire
vg 1st Pan 1979 paperback book In stock shipped from our UK warehouse
380 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
2 people are currently reading
82 people want to read
About the author
Juliette Benzoni
304 books154 followersJuliette Benzoni, (Andrée-Marguerite-Juliette) was a French author and international bestseller in several genres, including historical romance, historical fiction, mystery and screenwriting. Named by the Media as the « Queen of History Novels » and « Daughter of Alexander Dumas».
Born 1920 in Paris and growing up in an upper-middle-class family. At the age of nine, she discovered her passion for history while looking at a photo of ‘Joan of Arc’. Benzoni studied at the Institut Catholique de Paris’, philosophy, law and literature. At the age of fifteen, her parents moved to Saint-Mandé where she lived until her death.
In 1941, she married a doctor from Dijon, and was soon mother of two children. During that period, she studied at the libraries of Dijon the History of the Dukes of Burgundy, where she stumbled on the Legend of the Order of the Golden Fleece, which would later inspire her for her Catherine series.
In 1950, her husband died and she went to Morocco, visiting relatives of her late husband and joined the editorial staff at a radio station and met her future husband, Colonel Count André Benzoni di Conza. They married in 1953, but because of the unstable political situation, she returned to Paris, while her husband was to join the 6th Regiment of Moroccan Spahis in Hué.
Back in Paris, she launched into journalism and worked for various Newspapers, Magazines and wrote for ‘Confidences’ historical articles and interviewed celebrities such as Jean Cocteau, Jean Marais, Erich von Stroheim and Maurice Chevalier.
In 1959, Gérald Gauthier, director of the Press Agency at Opéra Mundi, watched her in a popular television Quiz show and impressed by her historical knowledge about the Italian Renaissance asked her if she were able to write a historical romance series
in the style of Anne Golon's ‘Angélique’.
Benzoni affirmed, remembering her fascination for the ‘Order of the Golden Fleece’. Her research for that soon-to-become Bestseller took up three years and in 1963, 'Catherine, Il suffit d’un amour’ was published. The success was enormous and there followed in 1965, a Song called ‘Catherine, ma mie’ composed by Paul Amar, text by Juliette Benzoni.
The Catherine series was translated into 26 languages. Benzoni's Works includes: 3 Single Novels, 17 series, 18 self-contained short stories; 55 million Readers and 300 million books sold Worldwide. She was a huge fan of the books by Agatha Christie, Anne Perry and Ken Follet. In 1978 she received from the White House a letter by President ‘Ronald Reagan’ for the way she described in her Novel ‘The Lure of the Falcon’ the Independence War!
Four of her Bestsellers the ‘Catherine, Marianne, Le Gerfaut and La Florentine’ series were filmed for French television, for which she wrote the Screenplay, together with Jean Chatenet. Although her later works were not widely translated, in 1984, she was one of the top ten female French writers whose works were translated into English. Two weeks before her death in 2016, her last book ‘Le Vol du Sancy: Des carats pour Ava’? was published. It was the 15th adventure of her favourite hero Prince Aldo Morosini, a mystery series.
Her Awards and Honours:
1973 the Alexandre Dumas Prix, for the Catherine and Marianne series.
1988, the Prix Littéraire « Louis Barthou » Silver Medal from the Académie Française for Felicia au soleil couchant.
1998, the Chevalier of the National Order of Merit Medal, by Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.
Born 1920 in Paris and growing up in an upper-middle-class family. At the age of nine, she discovered her passion for history while looking at a photo of ‘Joan of Arc’. Benzoni studied at the Institut Catholique de Paris’, philosophy, law and literature. At the age of fifteen, her parents moved to Saint-Mandé where she lived until her death.
In 1941, she married a doctor from Dijon, and was soon mother of two children. During that period, she studied at the libraries of Dijon the History of the Dukes of Burgundy, where she stumbled on the Legend of the Order of the Golden Fleece, which would later inspire her for her Catherine series.
In 1950, her husband died and she went to Morocco, visiting relatives of her late husband and joined the editorial staff at a radio station and met her future husband, Colonel Count André Benzoni di Conza. They married in 1953, but because of the unstable political situation, she returned to Paris, while her husband was to join the 6th Regiment of Moroccan Spahis in Hué.
Back in Paris, she launched into journalism and worked for various Newspapers, Magazines and wrote for ‘Confidences’ historical articles and interviewed celebrities such as Jean Cocteau, Jean Marais, Erich von Stroheim and Maurice Chevalier.
In 1959, Gérald Gauthier, director of the Press Agency at Opéra Mundi, watched her in a popular television Quiz show and impressed by her historical knowledge about the Italian Renaissance asked her if she were able to write a historical romance series
in the style of Anne Golon's ‘Angélique’.
Benzoni affirmed, remembering her fascination for the ‘Order of the Golden Fleece’. Her research for that soon-to-become Bestseller took up three years and in 1963, 'Catherine, Il suffit d’un amour’ was published. The success was enormous and there followed in 1965, a Song called ‘Catherine, ma mie’ composed by Paul Amar, text by Juliette Benzoni.
The Catherine series was translated into 26 languages. Benzoni's Works includes: 3 Single Novels, 17 series, 18 self-contained short stories; 55 million Readers and 300 million books sold Worldwide. She was a huge fan of the books by Agatha Christie, Anne Perry and Ken Follet. In 1978 she received from the White House a letter by President ‘Ronald Reagan’ for the way she described in her Novel ‘The Lure of the Falcon’ the Independence War!
Four of her Bestsellers the ‘Catherine, Marianne, Le Gerfaut and La Florentine’ series were filmed for French television, for which she wrote the Screenplay, together with Jean Chatenet. Although her later works were not widely translated, in 1984, she was one of the top ten female French writers whose works were translated into English. Two weeks before her death in 2016, her last book ‘Le Vol du Sancy: Des carats pour Ava’? was published. It was the 15th adventure of her favourite hero Prince Aldo Morosini, a mystery series.
Her Awards and Honours:
1973 the Alexandre Dumas Prix, for the Catherine and Marianne series.
1988, the Prix Littéraire « Louis Barthou » Silver Medal from the Académie Française for Felicia au soleil couchant.
1998, the Chevalier of the National Order of Merit Medal, by Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 26, 2021
This is the final entry in the Marianne series and with a background of Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, it's a riveting read. Marianne survives the burning of Moscow and the retreat through the Russian winter, as well as much else - assaults, duels, quarrels with Napoleon, and the usual drama with which her life abounds. There's the obligatory Godfather Reveal, as the Cardinal de Chazay turns up in Moscow and tries to give Napoleon some tough love advice - which turns out pretty much as you'd expect and causes major problems for Marianne. The whole series only takes Marianne from 17 to 20, so we're left to wonder what adventures befell her in the rest of her life, but Benzoni does give her a happy ending, so let's hope she lived peacefully ever after.
To my relief she ends up with her husband, Prince Sant'Anna, a recluse no more, now living openly on his Tuscan estates as a man of colour. My main criticism of the series, and of this book in particular, is that this relationship gets seriously short-changed compared to Marianne's crazy love for Jason or her fling with Napoleon. Jason abandons her at the first opportunity, so she spends much of the book in pursuit, but although she does finally ditch him to rejoin the Prince in the epilogue, it feels very rushed. Marianne and the Prince never really have a love scene - as I suspected, he was her random hook-up in Corfu, but she had no idea who he was at the time. Disappointing!
But overall, this is a magnificent, compelling roman-fleuve which takes the reader on a Grand Tour of Napoleonic Europe and introduces a host of fascinating historical characters along the way. It's available on Kindle in French but not English. Benzoni's Catherine series is available in English (I feel a re-read coming on) so hopefully Marianne will follow suit.
To my relief she ends up with her husband, Prince Sant'Anna, a recluse no more, now living openly on his Tuscan estates as a man of colour. My main criticism of the series, and of this book in particular, is that this relationship gets seriously short-changed compared to Marianne's crazy love for Jason or her fling with Napoleon. Jason abandons her at the first opportunity, so she spends much of the book in pursuit, but although she does finally ditch him to rejoin the Prince in the epilogue, it feels very rushed. Marianne and the Prince never really have a love scene - as I suspected, he was her random hook-up in Corfu, but she had no idea who he was at the time. Disappointing!
But overall, this is a magnificent, compelling roman-fleuve which takes the reader on a Grand Tour of Napoleonic Europe and introduces a host of fascinating historical characters along the way. It's available on Kindle in French but not English. Benzoni's Catherine series is available in English (I feel a re-read coming on) so hopefully Marianne will follow suit.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 26, 2022
This is actually a series review, since I went through all six books and figured I could say what I wanted in just one attempt, so it might as well be the finale.
First off, the whole series could have been one large volume or maybe two, as the story was dragged out way too long, with too much time wasted on descriptions, both indoors and out, that were hardly necessary. A good two or three hundred pages could have been saved. (I had heard that, back in Victorian times, part of the reason novels are so long because authors got paid by the word, which explains lengthy, boring descriptions. Maybe it was still that way in Europe when these books were written?) I found myself skimming through a lot of pages, which got pretty tedious.
The story of Marianne's adventures in France, Italy, the Ottoman Empire, wherever, were entertaining, though very far-fetched, too much political intrigue, imprisonments, narrow escapes, etc. to be believed, but of course, you don't read these kinds of books for realism. I especially liked her involvement with Napoleon, whom she thought for a time was her one true love. When she gave that honor to the American, Jason, the story lost its charm. For a supposed love to end all loves, this couple was (to use a phrase I heard in a British comedy series) "deadly, deadly dull". They had nothing in common besides sex, and none of their love scenes went into any detail, just talk of it. In fact, more attention was paid to her trysts with Napoleon, and, unfortunately, her abduction and rape by a madman. You soon become aware that Marianne's relationship with Jason was not all she thought it was, as for one reason or another, each seems to find reasons (excuses?) for being apart. Also, while they're together, Marianne succumbs to a seduction by a (at the time) anonymous man, when she went for a nude swim one evening, and would have done the same later (while attempting to rescue Jason from yet another prison sentence), if the man involved had not proved impotent. Both these times, she felt no guilt or shame on having cheated on Jason, which leads one to believe that her feelings for the man weren't all that deep. (She felt more guilty over having been raped, if that makes any sense.)
For Jason's part, he was one of those my-way-or-the-highway people that really get on my nerves, plus, being from the south at that time, his views on slavery were to be expected, though not appreciated. He also had a stodgy sense of duty and honor that made him see things in black and white, where there should have been a few gray shades. All in all, not someone to be admired.
I won't give away any details but will just say that the ending might surprise you and I have ambivalent feelings about it, for although it makes sense, it still stretches things a bit.
Read the series, but be prepared to do what I did, and skip a lot of stuff, you won't miss it.
First off, the whole series could have been one large volume or maybe two, as the story was dragged out way too long, with too much time wasted on descriptions, both indoors and out, that were hardly necessary. A good two or three hundred pages could have been saved. (I had heard that, back in Victorian times, part of the reason novels are so long because authors got paid by the word, which explains lengthy, boring descriptions. Maybe it was still that way in Europe when these books were written?) I found myself skimming through a lot of pages, which got pretty tedious.
The story of Marianne's adventures in France, Italy, the Ottoman Empire, wherever, were entertaining, though very far-fetched, too much political intrigue, imprisonments, narrow escapes, etc. to be believed, but of course, you don't read these kinds of books for realism. I especially liked her involvement with Napoleon, whom she thought for a time was her one true love. When she gave that honor to the American, Jason, the story lost its charm. For a supposed love to end all loves, this couple was (to use a phrase I heard in a British comedy series) "deadly, deadly dull". They had nothing in common besides sex, and none of their love scenes went into any detail, just talk of it. In fact, more attention was paid to her trysts with Napoleon, and, unfortunately, her abduction and rape by a madman. You soon become aware that Marianne's relationship with Jason was not all she thought it was, as for one reason or another, each seems to find reasons (excuses?) for being apart. Also, while they're together, Marianne succumbs to a seduction by a (at the time) anonymous man, when she went for a nude swim one evening, and would have done the same later (while attempting to rescue Jason from yet another prison sentence), if the man involved had not proved impotent. Both these times, she felt no guilt or shame on having cheated on Jason, which leads one to believe that her feelings for the man weren't all that deep. (She felt more guilty over having been raped, if that makes any sense.)
For Jason's part, he was one of those my-way-or-the-highway people that really get on my nerves, plus, being from the south at that time, his views on slavery were to be expected, though not appreciated. He also had a stodgy sense of duty and honor that made him see things in black and white, where there should have been a few gray shades. All in all, not someone to be admired.
I won't give away any details but will just say that the ending might surprise you and I have ambivalent feelings about it, for although it makes sense, it still stretches things a bit.
Read the series, but be prepared to do what I did, and skip a lot of stuff, you won't miss it.
November 26, 2017
Горькие и грустные впечатления от развязки любовной линии Язона и Марианны, хотя "корабль начал идти ко дну" еще в четвертой книге. И хорошо, что Бенцони не отправила её в Америку, ведь как уважать женщину выбравшую мужчину, а не своего ребенка?
September 17, 2010
The grand ride is over. Full review here, http://misfitandmom.wordpress.com/201...
December 28, 2011
L'ambiance de la campagne de Russie est bien retracée, mais j'avoue que les débats sentimentaux de l'héroïne sont parfois un peu trop langoureux.
November 18, 2013
Les tribulations de Marianne en Russie sont beaucoup trop longues et ennuyeuses à mon goût.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews