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Mistress of the Sun
The author of the internationally acclaimed Josephine Bonaparte trilogy returns with another irresistible historical novel, this one based on the life of Louise de la Vallière, who, against all odds, became one of the most mysterious consorts of France's Louis XIV, the charismatic Sun King.
Set against the magnificent decadence of the seventeenth-century French court, Mistress of the Sun begins when an eccentric young Louise falls in love with a wild white stallion and uses ancient magic to tame him. This one desperate action of her youth shadows her throughout her life, changing it in ways she could never imagine.
Unmarriageable, and too poor to join a convent, Louise enters the court of the Sun King, where the king is captivated by her. As their love unfolds, Louise bears Louis four children, is made a duchess, and reigns unrivaled as his official mistress until dangerous intrigue threatens her position at court and in Louis's heart.
A riveting love story with a captivating mystery at its heart, Mistress of the Sun illuminates both the power of true and perfect love and the rash actions we take to capture and tame it.
Set against the magnificent decadence of the seventeenth-century French court, Mistress of the Sun begins when an eccentric young Louise falls in love with a wild white stallion and uses ancient magic to tame him. This one desperate action of her youth shadows her throughout her life, changing it in ways she could never imagine.
Unmarriageable, and too poor to join a convent, Louise enters the court of the Sun King, where the king is captivated by her. As their love unfolds, Louise bears Louis four children, is made a duchess, and reigns unrivaled as his official mistress until dangerous intrigue threatens her position at court and in Louis's heart.
A riveting love story with a captivating mystery at its heart, Mistress of the Sun illuminates both the power of true and perfect love and the rash actions we take to capture and tame it.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
67 people are currently reading
3501 people want to read
About the author
Sandra Gulland
34 books840 followersI'm the author of the JOSEPHINE B. TRILOGY, the internationally best-selling novels based on the life of Josephine Bonaparte, Napoleon's wife. The Trilogy has been published in 17 countries.
The Trilogy was followed by MISTRESS OF THE SUN and then THE SHADOW QUEEN, a "sister" novel. Both novels are set in the Court of Louis XIV, the Sun King.
THE GAME OF HOPE, a Young Adult novel about Josephine Bonaparte's daughter (and Napoleon's stepdaughter), has been published in Canada and the US.
I am now writing another Young Adult historical novel about a young falconer in Elizabethan England.
An American-Canadian, I was born in Miami, Florida, and lived in Rio de Janeiro, Berkeley and Chicago before immigrating to Canada in 1970 to teach in an Inuit village in northern Labrador.
Settling in Toronto, I worked as a book editor for a decade before moving with my husband and two children to a log house in northeastern Ontario, where, in 1985, I began writing full-time.
Our two children grown, my husband and I now live half the year in Ontario, and half in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
For more information about me, my research and work, go to my website at www.sandragulland.com. I also write a blog, and can be found on the Net in a number of locals:
Website: http://www.sandragulland.com/
Blog: http://sandragulland.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://bit.ly/sgullandFacebook
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Sandra_Gulland
The Trilogy was followed by MISTRESS OF THE SUN and then THE SHADOW QUEEN, a "sister" novel. Both novels are set in the Court of Louis XIV, the Sun King.
THE GAME OF HOPE, a Young Adult novel about Josephine Bonaparte's daughter (and Napoleon's stepdaughter), has been published in Canada and the US.
I am now writing another Young Adult historical novel about a young falconer in Elizabethan England.
An American-Canadian, I was born in Miami, Florida, and lived in Rio de Janeiro, Berkeley and Chicago before immigrating to Canada in 1970 to teach in an Inuit village in northern Labrador.
Settling in Toronto, I worked as a book editor for a decade before moving with my husband and two children to a log house in northeastern Ontario, where, in 1985, I began writing full-time.
Our two children grown, my husband and I now live half the year in Ontario, and half in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
For more information about me, my research and work, go to my website at www.sandragulland.com. I also write a blog, and can be found on the Net in a number of locals:
Website: http://www.sandragulland.com/
Blog: http://sandragulland.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://bit.ly/sgullandFacebook
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Sandra_Gulland
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 368 reviews
October 10, 2020
I had never read a book by Sandra Gulland before but after reading
I was curious to learn about more Louis XIV first mistress Louise de Valliere, the daughter of an impoverished knight.
I was pleasantly surprised by Gulland's ability to bring to life the time and place of this era. I was soon engrossed as I read about de Valliere's childhood in the French countryside.
All was going well until Gulland introduced the wild white stallion that Louise fell in love with as a child and her foray into ancient dark magic to tame said horse and which broke the beautiful reverie I was experiencing.
Finally the story moves on from the above mentioned magical white stallion and I was delighted to continue reading the rags to riches story of de Valliere.
Just when I was completely absorbed into Louise's life at the court of the Sun King that darn magic white stallion would suddenly turn up yet again making Louise sad as she longed to ride her childhood horse. Maybe I'm not a horse lover because I found the detailed horse training experience boring.
This so called magical horse sure did have a long life span too.
Other than that horse I enjoyed learning about the life of Louise and I felt a lot of sympathy for her predicament; she certainly lead a fascinating life.
My next book to read will be Gulland's take on Athenais de Montespan
another mistress of the Sun King. I'm happy to have discovered this talented author and recommend her books to anyone interested in this era of history.
For those interested this book didn't contain vulgar love scenes.
If not for that horse I would've given this book a 5 star rating instead of 4.
I was curious to learn about more Louis XIV first mistress Louise de Valliere, the daughter of an impoverished knight.I was pleasantly surprised by Gulland's ability to bring to life the time and place of this era. I was soon engrossed as I read about de Valliere's childhood in the French countryside.
All was going well until Gulland introduced the wild white stallion that Louise fell in love with as a child and her foray into ancient dark magic to tame said horse and which broke the beautiful reverie I was experiencing.
Finally the story moves on from the above mentioned magical white stallion and I was delighted to continue reading the rags to riches story of de Valliere.
Just when I was completely absorbed into Louise's life at the court of the Sun King that darn magic white stallion would suddenly turn up yet again making Louise sad as she longed to ride her childhood horse. Maybe I'm not a horse lover because I found the detailed horse training experience boring.
This so called magical horse sure did have a long life span too.
Other than that horse I enjoyed learning about the life of Louise and I felt a lot of sympathy for her predicament; she certainly lead a fascinating life.
My next book to read will be Gulland's take on Athenais de Montespan
another mistress of the Sun King. I'm happy to have discovered this talented author and recommend her books to anyone interested in this era of history.For those interested this book didn't contain vulgar love scenes.
If not for that horse I would've given this book a 5 star rating instead of 4.
June 18, 2011
When I finished the book, I sat and stared out the window, and just replayed the whole story in my head. Gulland's writing really made me connect to the character, Petite, or Mademoiselle de la Valliere. I love this book so much, and I fell in love with Petite, her morals and strength, characteristics I want to remember and try to live up to.
The story follows the life of Louise, a mistress of King Louis XIV. From her childhood where she demonstrated her courageous character through her passion for horses, to her youth where she was caught between her love for Louis and her own guilt of sin regarding this forbidden love, and ending with the complex emotions and thoughts she had to endure as Louis took up his second mistress (also Louise's close friend).
What is amazing is the way Gulland told this story of Louise without having Louise directly express her thoughts and feelings, but other descriptive ways. One could really feel the passion and the pain experienced by Louise herself.
As someone that tends to skip atmospheric descriptions in novels, I enjoyed Gulland's writing, and the length of these scene setups were perfect. Just as I was starting to yearn for actions and events, she gave me that.
I also loved how realistically Gulland set up the culture and society. From the religious to the medicinal perspectives, she really provided enough information about the time period for her readers to imagine how it could have felt to live in that time period. The multiple mentions of the fear of the Devil and his demons gave a sense of where religion stood at the time and exactly how great of a role it played in these people's lives.
I absolutely loved this book, and I cannot wait to read it again in the near future.
The story follows the life of Louise, a mistress of King Louis XIV. From her childhood where she demonstrated her courageous character through her passion for horses, to her youth where she was caught between her love for Louis and her own guilt of sin regarding this forbidden love, and ending with the complex emotions and thoughts she had to endure as Louis took up his second mistress (also Louise's close friend).
What is amazing is the way Gulland told this story of Louise without having Louise directly express her thoughts and feelings, but other descriptive ways. One could really feel the passion and the pain experienced by Louise herself.
As someone that tends to skip atmospheric descriptions in novels, I enjoyed Gulland's writing, and the length of these scene setups were perfect. Just as I was starting to yearn for actions and events, she gave me that.
I also loved how realistically Gulland set up the culture and society. From the religious to the medicinal perspectives, she really provided enough information about the time period for her readers to imagine how it could have felt to live in that time period. The multiple mentions of the fear of the Devil and his demons gave a sense of where religion stood at the time and exactly how great of a role it played in these people's lives.
I absolutely loved this book, and I cannot wait to read it again in the near future.
October 15, 2008
THIS REVIEW WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW:
In her first novel in eight years (following the international success of her Josephine B. trilogy) Sandra Gulland has chosen an enigmatic figure—Louise de la Vallière, mistress to Louis XIV and mother of four children by him. Louise has been overshadowed in history by her more glamorous successors and the flamboyance that characterized the later years of Louis’s reign, but in her captivating jewel of a novel Gulland offers an absorbing account of a woman who reluctantly became a royal mistress and paid the price. Gulland’s Louise has a fey spirit with the ability to enchant horses. In a desperate act of magic to save a feral stallion’s life she sets the course for her own destiny, one that will bring her equal measures of sorrow and joy. Uneasy with the cruel sycophantism of court, caught between her innate spiritual introspection and an impoverished lineage that compels her to noble servitude, Louise eventually catches the young king’s eye. Louis is handsome and vital, poised to assume his later embodiment as the Sun King; in Louise, he discovers incorruptible innocence and their romance flourishes under a secrecy that continues for years, even as he grows in stature and she wrestles with her conscience and the degradation of her illusions. Scandal ensues when Louise is brought into the open as Louis’s lover; this fateful moment also sets the stage for her decline. Fascinating details of life at the French court sparkle throughout the narrative, evidence of Gulland’s dedication to research; and while Louise may not be as ambitious or clever as those who followed in her footsteps, she imbues an unforgettable authenticity that gives credence to the belief that she was Louis XIV’s only true love.
In her first novel in eight years (following the international success of her Josephine B. trilogy) Sandra Gulland has chosen an enigmatic figure—Louise de la Vallière, mistress to Louis XIV and mother of four children by him. Louise has been overshadowed in history by her more glamorous successors and the flamboyance that characterized the later years of Louis’s reign, but in her captivating jewel of a novel Gulland offers an absorbing account of a woman who reluctantly became a royal mistress and paid the price. Gulland’s Louise has a fey spirit with the ability to enchant horses. In a desperate act of magic to save a feral stallion’s life she sets the course for her own destiny, one that will bring her equal measures of sorrow and joy. Uneasy with the cruel sycophantism of court, caught between her innate spiritual introspection and an impoverished lineage that compels her to noble servitude, Louise eventually catches the young king’s eye. Louis is handsome and vital, poised to assume his later embodiment as the Sun King; in Louise, he discovers incorruptible innocence and their romance flourishes under a secrecy that continues for years, even as he grows in stature and she wrestles with her conscience and the degradation of her illusions. Scandal ensues when Louise is brought into the open as Louis’s lover; this fateful moment also sets the stage for her decline. Fascinating details of life at the French court sparkle throughout the narrative, evidence of Gulland’s dedication to research; and while Louise may not be as ambitious or clever as those who followed in her footsteps, she imbues an unforgettable authenticity that gives credence to the belief that she was Louis XIV’s only true love.
August 8, 2010
“The astrologer present at Petite’s birth had written…that her ‘affective sensibility tended to overheat,’ concluding with the warning that her mild manner veiled a voraginous passion. Petite had yet to discover what voraginous meant, but because of a line in the Aeneid (“Neptune came upon them, with all his vorages and his waves full of scum”), she thought it might have something to do with a whirlpool.” (Chapter Eight)
Mistress of the Sun, by Sandra Gulland, was published in the spring of 2008. I first read and loved Gulland’s Josephine Bonaparte series last year upon the recommendation of a friend, and couldn’t wait to read Mistress. Lately, I’ve been meandering through other genres, straying from my true love, historical fiction. Mistress marked my return to the past, and it was a wholly absorbing, fascinating, and gratifying journey.
Mistress of the Sun tells the story of Louise de la Valliere, or “Petite”, as she is nicknamed because of her diminutive, pixie-like physique. From the beginning, it’s clear that in spite of her angelic countenance, Petite has a wild streak in her–a characteristic that she tries to tame like the horses she cares for. This passion leads her to great joys and terrible sorrows as mistress of Louis the XIV, “The Sun King.”
I can’t praise this book enough. Gulland has a particular talent for endearing her protagonists to the reader. She perfectly balances history and fiction, and creates complicated, multi-layered characters. Themes of inner struggle over good and evil are prevalent throughout, and come to a satisfying conclusion. I hated when the book ended, and was pleased to read that Gulland will continue to write about the court of The Sun King, and that Petite will show up, often, in her future works.
I often measure how much I enjoy a book by how quickly I read it, how much sleep I lose over it, and if it sends me searching the internet for more information about its characters or the author. I read Mistress of the Sun in three days, and spent an hour online after completing it, very late at night. Gulland has made a devoted fan of me. I will always buy her books.
Mistress of the Sun, by Sandra Gulland, was published in the spring of 2008. I first read and loved Gulland’s Josephine Bonaparte series last year upon the recommendation of a friend, and couldn’t wait to read Mistress. Lately, I’ve been meandering through other genres, straying from my true love, historical fiction. Mistress marked my return to the past, and it was a wholly absorbing, fascinating, and gratifying journey.
Mistress of the Sun tells the story of Louise de la Valliere, or “Petite”, as she is nicknamed because of her diminutive, pixie-like physique. From the beginning, it’s clear that in spite of her angelic countenance, Petite has a wild streak in her–a characteristic that she tries to tame like the horses she cares for. This passion leads her to great joys and terrible sorrows as mistress of Louis the XIV, “The Sun King.”
I can’t praise this book enough. Gulland has a particular talent for endearing her protagonists to the reader. She perfectly balances history and fiction, and creates complicated, multi-layered characters. Themes of inner struggle over good and evil are prevalent throughout, and come to a satisfying conclusion. I hated when the book ended, and was pleased to read that Gulland will continue to write about the court of The Sun King, and that Petite will show up, often, in her future works.
I often measure how much I enjoy a book by how quickly I read it, how much sleep I lose over it, and if it sends me searching the internet for more information about its characters or the author. I read Mistress of the Sun in three days, and spent an hour online after completing it, very late at night. Gulland has made a devoted fan of me. I will always buy her books.
February 25, 2009
I have to admit, I was actually somewhat disappointed with this book. I really enjoyed the Josephine B. trilogy, and have read it a few times, and had really expected more from Sandra Gulland's second work. I felt that the characters were rather undeveloped --many of the characters felt very one-dimensional, despite opportunities to really flesh them out.
Also, the plot felt very patchy and unevenly paced. I didn't really care for the entire first section of the book, where I think the character development of Petite and her relationships with her various family members was especially lacking. It felt like a rather awkward set up for the rest of the story. Throughout the rest of the book plot themes from the very beginning would go unmentioned for chapters, and then suddenly make a rather sudden and unexpected appearance, only to disappear again and later abruptly reappear. Some major plot threads could have been more developed, especially a one that appeared near the end, which probably could have been tied in better throughout the rest of the story.
I realize that when writing about actual historical figures and events, there is only a certain amount of leeway that can be allowed, but I think a little more literary license would have gone a long way here--even more so than Ms. Gulland admits to have taken. This was a fascinating time and an interesting take on the court of the Sun King, but I felt that it could have gone a lot further into that world. The overall feel of the book was much more romantic drama and much less sweeping saga--I would have preferred a little more sweeping saga. Still, it did entertain
Also, the plot felt very patchy and unevenly paced. I didn't really care for the entire first section of the book, where I think the character development of Petite and her relationships with her various family members was especially lacking. It felt like a rather awkward set up for the rest of the story. Throughout the rest of the book plot themes from the very beginning would go unmentioned for chapters, and then suddenly make a rather sudden and unexpected appearance, only to disappear again and later abruptly reappear. Some major plot threads could have been more developed, especially a one that appeared near the end, which probably could have been tied in better throughout the rest of the story.
I realize that when writing about actual historical figures and events, there is only a certain amount of leeway that can be allowed, but I think a little more literary license would have gone a long way here--even more so than Ms. Gulland admits to have taken. This was a fascinating time and an interesting take on the court of the Sun King, but I felt that it could have gone a lot further into that world. The overall feel of the book was much more romantic drama and much less sweeping saga--I would have preferred a little more sweeping saga. Still, it did entertain
December 30, 2017
Loved this book, I was a bit wary in the beginning but it did have me hooked. Was very excited as I realized towards the end how it relates to the TV series Versailles which is one of my favorites. Great read.
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August 15, 2021,,In Iubirea secreta a Regelui Soare",începem cu o Louise foarte tânără, de doar patru sau cinci ani și o urmăm de-a lungul vieții. Este fiica unui cavaler din mica nobilime. Este o fiică ascultătoare, plină de spiritualitate și veselă. Cu toate acestea, când tatăl ei moare misterios și calul pe care Louise îl antrena Diablo dispare, viața ei ia un alt curs. Mama lui Louise se căsătorește cu un marchiz, ridicând puțin statutul familiei, iar Louise devine domnișoară de companie pentru prințesa Margherite, una dintre verișoarele regelui Ludovic.Când însăși Margherite se căsătorește, Louise este angajată de prințesa Henriette, cumnata regelui.
Se răspândesc zvonuri conform cărora regele Ludovic și cumnata sa sunt mult mai intimi decât ar trebui să fie. Louise, fiind castă și umilă, încearcă să nu acorde prea multă atenție acestor lucruri, până când află că regele și Henriette au conceput un plan în care regele se va preface că-i place de Louise. În acest fel o poate vedea pe Henriette tot timpul dar toată lumea va crede că vrea doar să o vadă pe servitoarea ei. Acest lucru o supără foarte mult pe Louise pentru că este folosită în acest fel. După o confruntare neașteptată, Louise descoperă că regele este îndrăgostit de ea și își amintește că a mai văzut-o într-o poiană când încerca să prindă un cal care a fugit de la grajduri.
Și astfel începe o lungă relație între Louise și regele Ludovic, amândoi atât de îndrăgostiți unul de celălalt. Louise știe că ceea ce face este greșit dar nu se poate abține. S-a îndrăgostit de un rege deși își dorește ca cei doi să fie doar oameni obișnuiți. Louise nu are niciun interes în favoruri regale, bogăție sau putere. Pur și simplu vrea să fie cu regele. Au avut împreună 4 copii dintre care doar 2 au supraviețuit.
Dar așa cum se întâmpla în acele vremuri, amantele regilor nu erau pentru totdeauna, iar Louise se vede trădată și rănită în cele din urmă, chiar de cea mai bună prietenă care reușește să intre în grațiile regelui și să i devină amantă favorită.
Acest roman a fost uimitor! Mi-a plăcut de la început până la sfârșit. Cred că ceea ce m-a prins cu adevărat a fost personajul Louisei. De obicei, amantele regilor sunt stereotipate ca „acea altă femeie”, „prostituată”, „curvă” etc. Este, de obicei, cineva cu farmec seducător și are unele abilități de manipulare și intrigă. Louise este opusul. Nu este chiar naivă, crede în dragostea adevărată și îl iubește cu adevărat pe regele Ludovic. Una dintre citatele pe care mi le amintesc este că a spus că îl iubește pe Ludovic, dar nu-l iubește pe rege. Faptul că Louise se află în această relație cu Ludovic pur și simplu din dragoste este atât de sfâșietor când ai în vedere ramificațiile sociale din acea perioadă de timp. Trebuie să sacrifice multe pentru el.
Din acest roman, simt că și regele a fost profund îndrăgostit de Louise. Și când a fost cu ea în primii patru sau cinci ani, îi era destul de loial (cu excepția momentului în care trebuia să-și îndeplinească datoria cu regina sa). El a fost cu adevărat generos și cu ea, făc��nd-o ducesă și recunoscând public relația și pe cei doi copii rezultați din relația lor extraconjugală iar că rămas bun i- a dăruit un ducat.
Când a părăsit-o pe Louise, am simțit o tristețe mare deoarece ea era probabil singura persoană care îl iubea pe el și nu pentru că era un rege puternic.
Mi-a plăcut foarte mult și episodul fictiv cu Louise și calul ei Diablo deoarece a fost un mod interesant de a arăta ,,demonii Louisei și păcatele ei".
Aceasta a fost o carte minunată pe care o recomand din toată inima!
Se răspândesc zvonuri conform cărora regele Ludovic și cumnata sa sunt mult mai intimi decât ar trebui să fie. Louise, fiind castă și umilă, încearcă să nu acorde prea multă atenție acestor lucruri, până când află că regele și Henriette au conceput un plan în care regele se va preface că-i place de Louise. În acest fel o poate vedea pe Henriette tot timpul dar toată lumea va crede că vrea doar să o vadă pe servitoarea ei. Acest lucru o supără foarte mult pe Louise pentru că este folosită în acest fel. După o confruntare neașteptată, Louise descoperă că regele este îndrăgostit de ea și își amintește că a mai văzut-o într-o poiană când încerca să prindă un cal care a fugit de la grajduri.
Și astfel începe o lungă relație între Louise și regele Ludovic, amândoi atât de îndrăgostiți unul de celălalt. Louise știe că ceea ce face este greșit dar nu se poate abține. S-a îndrăgostit de un rege deși își dorește ca cei doi să fie doar oameni obișnuiți. Louise nu are niciun interes în favoruri regale, bogăție sau putere. Pur și simplu vrea să fie cu regele. Au avut împreună 4 copii dintre care doar 2 au supraviețuit.
Dar așa cum se întâmpla în acele vremuri, amantele regilor nu erau pentru totdeauna, iar Louise se vede trădată și rănită în cele din urmă, chiar de cea mai bună prietenă care reușește să intre în grațiile regelui și să i devină amantă favorită.
Acest roman a fost uimitor! Mi-a plăcut de la început până la sfârșit. Cred că ceea ce m-a prins cu adevărat a fost personajul Louisei. De obicei, amantele regilor sunt stereotipate ca „acea altă femeie”, „prostituată”, „curvă” etc. Este, de obicei, cineva cu farmec seducător și are unele abilități de manipulare și intrigă. Louise este opusul. Nu este chiar naivă, crede în dragostea adevărată și îl iubește cu adevărat pe regele Ludovic. Una dintre citatele pe care mi le amintesc este că a spus că îl iubește pe Ludovic, dar nu-l iubește pe rege. Faptul că Louise se află în această relație cu Ludovic pur și simplu din dragoste este atât de sfâșietor când ai în vedere ramificațiile sociale din acea perioadă de timp. Trebuie să sacrifice multe pentru el.
Din acest roman, simt că și regele a fost profund îndrăgostit de Louise. Și când a fost cu ea în primii patru sau cinci ani, îi era destul de loial (cu excepția momentului în care trebuia să-și îndeplinească datoria cu regina sa). El a fost cu adevărat generos și cu ea, făc��nd-o ducesă și recunoscând public relația și pe cei doi copii rezultați din relația lor extraconjugală iar că rămas bun i- a dăruit un ducat.
Când a părăsit-o pe Louise, am simțit o tristețe mare deoarece ea era probabil singura persoană care îl iubea pe el și nu pentru că era un rege puternic.
Mi-a plăcut foarte mult și episodul fictiv cu Louise și calul ei Diablo deoarece a fost un mod interesant de a arăta ,,demonii Louisei și păcatele ei".
Aceasta a fost o carte minunată pe care o recomand din toată inima!
June 27, 2012
Clearly I'm in the minority but I do not get all the hype. The author has stuck so many little details of 18C life (factual? I don't know) that in no way move the story along and it became quite irritating. Very slow paced, I gave up at page 200 and L&L are barely getting better acquainted. IMO you're better off reading Dumas' take on Louise and skip this. I wish I had.
July 7, 2019
Despite a main character that leaves much to be desired, this book still holds strong with a fantastic setting and story and secondary characters that shine. It inspired me even more to want to read more from this timeframe.
December 1, 2021
I love this book like no other book before. I am always afraid to read novels like this because I’m sure they’ll either consist entirely of steamy, ridiculous sex scenes or clinical, dull writing worthy of the dryest of history books. This one was nothing like either! It was actually very demure concerning sex scenes despite focusing on the life of a mistress of King Louis XVI. And the novel itself was highly interesting. I loved the beginning as it reflected on bone magic and other rituals/superstitions common in that time period.
I was last exposed to (fictionalized) details of this time period via the Canal+ TV show “Versailles,” which took place after Petite’s time in court. So this was a refreshing look at the rule of Louis XVI. And Louise de la Vallière, or Petite, was just plain cool, for lack of a better term. I loved her fierce spirit and her sort of rags-to-riches story. She was treated with respect over her hunting skills instead of with contempt, and her passion for horses was what helped her connect with Louis XVI. She never let her limp, caused by a childhood riding accident, dissuade her from her interests.
I suppose I do have two complaints: (1) the many ways in which characters are referred and (2) multiple points of view. Characters are referred to by ever-changing titles, nicknames, middle names, etc. It was difficult to keep track of the many names of any individual. Also, my dislike of poorly executed multiple POVs rears its ugly head yet again! Most of this book was told through Petite’s POV, and it was jarring whenever it shifted, usually abruptly and for a section only a few paragraphs long. I wish it had just stuck with telling the story through Petite.
Verdict
I read about 100+ pages in one day at one point. This is a quick, enjoyable read.
So, who would enjoy this book?
Historical fiction lovers who won’t be too upset over a novel focusing on a consort but containing very little focus on sex scenes. Those who might not enjoy reading depictions of occult-linked rituals or superstitions may want to proceed with caution. (My sister is inexplicably sensitive about such topics and won’t even dare to look at the artwork of tarot cards! She was very upset after reading the first third of this book.) So if you have the same sensitivity regarding such depictions, this book isn’t for you.
I was last exposed to (fictionalized) details of this time period via the Canal+ TV show “Versailles,” which took place after Petite’s time in court. So this was a refreshing look at the rule of Louis XVI. And Louise de la Vallière, or Petite, was just plain cool, for lack of a better term. I loved her fierce spirit and her sort of rags-to-riches story. She was treated with respect over her hunting skills instead of with contempt, and her passion for horses was what helped her connect with Louis XVI. She never let her limp, caused by a childhood riding accident, dissuade her from her interests.
I suppose I do have two complaints: (1) the many ways in which characters are referred and (2) multiple points of view. Characters are referred to by ever-changing titles, nicknames, middle names, etc. It was difficult to keep track of the many names of any individual. Also, my dislike of poorly executed multiple POVs rears its ugly head yet again! Most of this book was told through Petite’s POV, and it was jarring whenever it shifted, usually abruptly and for a section only a few paragraphs long. I wish it had just stuck with telling the story through Petite.
Verdict
I read about 100+ pages in one day at one point. This is a quick, enjoyable read.
So, who would enjoy this book?
Historical fiction lovers who won’t be too upset over a novel focusing on a consort but containing very little focus on sex scenes. Those who might not enjoy reading depictions of occult-linked rituals or superstitions may want to proceed with caution. (My sister is inexplicably sensitive about such topics and won’t even dare to look at the artwork of tarot cards! She was very upset after reading the first third of this book.) So if you have the same sensitivity regarding such depictions, this book isn’t for you.
February 1, 2020
17th century France is a time period that I'm very much interested in learning more about, hence why I decided to pick up this novel. Unfortunately, the writing style was a little bit too broken up and "jumpy" for me - too many short paragraphs in different POVs - and I never really settled into the novel.
Plus, having Louise referred to as "Petite" all the time very quickly became annoying.
Plus, having Louise referred to as "Petite" all the time very quickly became annoying.
November 13, 2015
Deserted Island Book Rating System --
4 stars: Reread but only because there are no libraries on deserted islands.
I loved the main character for her morals, her drive, basically everything about her. I don't think there was a single other character I liked though. I felt that all characters aside from Petite herself really lacked depth, though they easily could have been fleshed out.
The pacing of this book felt so incredibly lopsided to me. So much time is spent telling us all about Petite's childhood in incredible detail - much of it unnecessary, in my humble opinion. And then when we get to the time in her life when she serves as a waiting maid to the Sun King's sister in law, great leaps of time lapse between chapters which, I believe, lead to my next problem...
I thought this book was about Petite's life in regard to her relationship with the king. It certainly covered her life but as for her relationship with the king, we see very little of it. The king visits, he leaves. She bears him a child, the child is sent away. We see very few snippets of their conversations and time together so in the end the effect is that we're told they're in love but never shown it.
I still really enjoyed this book despite the issues I've listed here, thus 4 stars and my willingness to reread it if I were stranded on a deserted island.
4 stars: Reread but only because there are no libraries on deserted islands.
I loved the main character for her morals, her drive, basically everything about her. I don't think there was a single other character I liked though. I felt that all characters aside from Petite herself really lacked depth, though they easily could have been fleshed out.
The pacing of this book felt so incredibly lopsided to me. So much time is spent telling us all about Petite's childhood in incredible detail - much of it unnecessary, in my humble opinion. And then when we get to the time in her life when she serves as a waiting maid to the Sun King's sister in law, great leaps of time lapse between chapters which, I believe, lead to my next problem...
I thought this book was about Petite's life in regard to her relationship with the king. It certainly covered her life but as for her relationship with the king, we see very little of it. The king visits, he leaves. She bears him a child, the child is sent away. We see very few snippets of their conversations and time together so in the end the effect is that we're told they're in love but never shown it.
I still really enjoyed this book despite the issues I've listed here, thus 4 stars and my willingness to reread it if I were stranded on a deserted island.
April 16, 2016
4 stars, by Sandra Gulland. This book is the sister companion to The Shadow Queen, and I honestly loved them both. I am a great lover of historical fiction, and this one was no exception. It was a delight through and through. I wish I had reviewed it before reading Queen of the Night, as they are now getting conflated together. But as this is my first time posting reviews on Goodreads, I am now going for the last 5 or 6, and that is a shame. Particularly for this book. I remember parts of it that shine, including the main characters' love, pure love for Louis VIIi (?). I am now recalling it - the white stallion, the neglecting mother, the jousting brother, her station in the place, the children, the losses, the bone curse. I love books with a little bit of magic and fate entwined, and this one captivated through and through. Great Shelfari recommendation, now followed through on Goodreads.
June 2, 2008
I just finished this very good work of historical fiction. Here are the links to my review:
Amazon.ca (Please vote if you feel so inclined):
http://tinyurl.com/6pf4oq
My Blog (I would love to hear about the books you have read on this
topic or books by Sandra Gulland):
http://tinyurl.com/3ut8wu
Teddy
So Many Precious Books, So Little Time
http://teddyrose.blogspot.com/
Amazon.ca (Please vote if you feel so inclined):
http://tinyurl.com/6pf4oq
My Blog (I would love to hear about the books you have read on this
topic or books by Sandra Gulland):
http://tinyurl.com/3ut8wu
Teddy
So Many Precious Books, So Little Time
http://teddyrose.blogspot.com/
May 14, 2012
I bought this after reading Gulland's Josephine B trilogy which I loved! This one did not cut it for me though. There were so many times where I just wanted to toss it away and wipe my hands of the whole thing. I persevered though, barely.
September 29, 2021
In Mistress of the Sun, Sandra Gulland, author of the outstanding Josephine Bonaparte trilogy, takes the reader to the court of the Sun King, Louis XIV. She tells the story of the young Louis XIV’s first mistress, Louise de la Vallière. If today’s readers know about Louise de la Vallière at all, they probably know of her through Alexandre Dumas’ novel of the same name, one of the sequels to The Three Musketeers, which, of course, is a highly fictionalized account. I have also heard she is a character in the recent television series Versailles, but I have never seen the series, so I don’t know how much of a role she plays.
Gulland brings Louise to life, and makes her a highly sympathetic character. Louise is the daughter of an impoverished minor nobleman living in the countryside near Tours, France. When she is six years old, she uses “bone magic,” a form of ancient magic, to tame a wild white stallion named Diablo—a horse no one else has been able to tame. Whether the magic really works or whether the horse just develops a bond with Louise, who always has a way with horses, is left up to the reader, but Louise believes she has let the Devil in, and a series of disasters follows. She tries to atone for this mistake for the rest of her life.
Louise’s father dies shortly after he sees her riding the horse, and she thinks she caused his death. When her widowed mother marries a pompous, much-older Marquis, Louise becomes a lady-in-waiting to Louis XIV’s cousin, Princess Marguerite, who is supposed to marry the king. Instead, Louis marries a Spanish princess as part of a peace treaty between France and Spain, and the heartbroken Marguerite goes to Florence to marry the Grand Duke of Tuscany. She is not allowed to take her French ladies with her, and so Louise ends up as a lady-in-waiting to another royal relative, Henriette, daughter of Charles I of England and wife of Louis’ brother Philippe.
Louise meets Louis for the first time when she goes into the forest to find a runaway horse and encounters a handsome young man she mistakes for a poacher. This is, of course, the king traveling incognito. They are instantly attracted to each other, but their relationship takes a while to develop once Louise realizes the “poacher” is the king. At first, Louis pretends to court her when his real object is his sister-in-law Henriette. Louise is furious at the deception, but eventually she and Louis realize they have much in common: both love horses and hunting, both are excellent dancers (even though Louise has one leg shorter than the other because of a childhood riding accident), and both are great readers, especially of ancient literature and philosophy. The two begin an affair, which Louise feels terribly guilty about at first, because she is very religious and had wanted to become a nun before she met Louis, even though her family didn’t have enough money to allow her to join a convent. But her strong love for Louis overcomes her guilt.
The two lovers must keep their affair a secret because Louis doesn’t want to offend his wife and mother, and Louise doesn’t want her family to find out. Her mother has not given up hope of finding a noble husband for her, even though the family cannot afford a dowry, and Louise is afraid her mother will disown her when she finds out she has been “ruined” by her affair with the king. Over the years, Louise gives birth to four children by the king. Sadly, the first two die in early childhood. The finance minister, Colbert, helps her find a secret place where she can give birth, and he and his wife help to raise the children.
Of course, the secret cannot be kept for very long, and most people at court have some knowledge of it, even though they do their best not to let the queen, the queen mother, and Louise’s family know. When Louise’s brother discovers that he owes his promotion in the army to his sister’s relationship with the king, it all comes out into the open, and her mother disowns her at first, even though they reconcile later. Louis acknowledges Louise’s two surviving children as his own and legitimizes them, but they cannot be heirs to the throne. He makes her a duchess, which means she outranks her own mother and many ladies of the court.
After Louise becomes the official mistress, she is the object of jealousy and intrigues at court, and her relationship with Louis has its ups and downs as Louis becomes more the absolute monarch instead of the young man with whom Louise fell in love. As Gulland notes, of all Louis XIV’s mistresses, Louise was the only one who really loved the man instead of the king. As the king takes over from the man, the relationship begins to break apart. Louise is devastated when she realizes that her best friend, Madame de Montespan, has also become the king’s mistress.
Louis orders that the two women live in adjoining rooms, so he can visit them both. Needless to say, this arrangement is extremely uncomfortable for both of them. Louise begins to suffer from frequent ill health, and Madame de Montespan becomes more and more unhinged, and one night she tries to stab Louise, even though Louis convinces her that her rival would have held herself back in the end. One by one, Louise’s belongings go missing, and she suspects her rival of stealing them. A search of Madame de Montespan’s bedchamber proves her right, and Louise also finds objects of witchcraft and believes her rival has used sorcery to captivate the king. As with the “bone magic,” Gulland leaves it up to the reader to decide whether the magic actually works or not. Soon Louise has a choice before her: whether to stay with the king whose affections have strayed, or to join a convent.
Gulland does a wonderful job of conveying the details of life at the court of Louis XIV, with its elaborate rituals and etiquette. She makes readers feel they are present at the court entertainments: pageants, balls, operas, plays, ballets, and banquets. Louis’ royal residences in Paris, Fontainebleau, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and, of course, Versailles, are described in detail, but the reader should note that these are the very early days of Versailles. It began as a hunting lodge, and throughout the novel it is given its older spelling of Versaie. Louis and Louise share a love of the place, and Louis spends more and more time there because it is a place where he and Louise can be together. We see the beginning of its transformation into the grand palace it later became, but Louise was no longer at court to see that transformation to the end, and in her time it is not yet the court’s official residence. Readers expecting details of life at the palace of Versailles might be disappointed, but Gulland’s account of the early years of Louis XIV’s court should make up for that.
Above all, Gulland has created an engaging heroine in Louise de la Vallière. She is, in many ways, an unlikely person to be a royal mistress: painfully shy, very religious, and physically awkward. As mentioned, Louise walks with a limp because one leg is shorter than the other. She is also very short, and is called by her childhood nickname of “Petite.” One thing that attracts Louis to her is her difference from the sophisticated court ladies. The reader keeps hoping that Louise’s and Louis’ love will last, even though history tells us that was not to be. Also, Gulland has a wonderful job of writing about the belief in magic in 17th century France. It was a society where the Catholic Church was very powerful, but, at the same time, people believed in magic that went back to pre-Christian times, and didn’t see those two beliefs as a contradiction. Certainly, Louise does not. She has a strong Catholic faith, but thinks that her childhood dabbling in magic was responsible for the misfortunes in her life. How she reconciles these two systems of belief is a very important part of the novel. This is a wonderful historical novel with an unforgettable heroine.
Gulland brings Louise to life, and makes her a highly sympathetic character. Louise is the daughter of an impoverished minor nobleman living in the countryside near Tours, France. When she is six years old, she uses “bone magic,” a form of ancient magic, to tame a wild white stallion named Diablo—a horse no one else has been able to tame. Whether the magic really works or whether the horse just develops a bond with Louise, who always has a way with horses, is left up to the reader, but Louise believes she has let the Devil in, and a series of disasters follows. She tries to atone for this mistake for the rest of her life.
Louise’s father dies shortly after he sees her riding the horse, and she thinks she caused his death. When her widowed mother marries a pompous, much-older Marquis, Louise becomes a lady-in-waiting to Louis XIV’s cousin, Princess Marguerite, who is supposed to marry the king. Instead, Louis marries a Spanish princess as part of a peace treaty between France and Spain, and the heartbroken Marguerite goes to Florence to marry the Grand Duke of Tuscany. She is not allowed to take her French ladies with her, and so Louise ends up as a lady-in-waiting to another royal relative, Henriette, daughter of Charles I of England and wife of Louis’ brother Philippe.
Louise meets Louis for the first time when she goes into the forest to find a runaway horse and encounters a handsome young man she mistakes for a poacher. This is, of course, the king traveling incognito. They are instantly attracted to each other, but their relationship takes a while to develop once Louise realizes the “poacher” is the king. At first, Louis pretends to court her when his real object is his sister-in-law Henriette. Louise is furious at the deception, but eventually she and Louis realize they have much in common: both love horses and hunting, both are excellent dancers (even though Louise has one leg shorter than the other because of a childhood riding accident), and both are great readers, especially of ancient literature and philosophy. The two begin an affair, which Louise feels terribly guilty about at first, because she is very religious and had wanted to become a nun before she met Louis, even though her family didn’t have enough money to allow her to join a convent. But her strong love for Louis overcomes her guilt.
The two lovers must keep their affair a secret because Louis doesn’t want to offend his wife and mother, and Louise doesn’t want her family to find out. Her mother has not given up hope of finding a noble husband for her, even though the family cannot afford a dowry, and Louise is afraid her mother will disown her when she finds out she has been “ruined” by her affair with the king. Over the years, Louise gives birth to four children by the king. Sadly, the first two die in early childhood. The finance minister, Colbert, helps her find a secret place where she can give birth, and he and his wife help to raise the children.
Of course, the secret cannot be kept for very long, and most people at court have some knowledge of it, even though they do their best not to let the queen, the queen mother, and Louise’s family know. When Louise’s brother discovers that he owes his promotion in the army to his sister’s relationship with the king, it all comes out into the open, and her mother disowns her at first, even though they reconcile later. Louis acknowledges Louise’s two surviving children as his own and legitimizes them, but they cannot be heirs to the throne. He makes her a duchess, which means she outranks her own mother and many ladies of the court.
After Louise becomes the official mistress, she is the object of jealousy and intrigues at court, and her relationship with Louis has its ups and downs as Louis becomes more the absolute monarch instead of the young man with whom Louise fell in love. As Gulland notes, of all Louis XIV’s mistresses, Louise was the only one who really loved the man instead of the king. As the king takes over from the man, the relationship begins to break apart. Louise is devastated when she realizes that her best friend, Madame de Montespan, has also become the king’s mistress.
Louis orders that the two women live in adjoining rooms, so he can visit them both. Needless to say, this arrangement is extremely uncomfortable for both of them. Louise begins to suffer from frequent ill health, and Madame de Montespan becomes more and more unhinged, and one night she tries to stab Louise, even though Louis convinces her that her rival would have held herself back in the end. One by one, Louise’s belongings go missing, and she suspects her rival of stealing them. A search of Madame de Montespan’s bedchamber proves her right, and Louise also finds objects of witchcraft and believes her rival has used sorcery to captivate the king. As with the “bone magic,” Gulland leaves it up to the reader to decide whether the magic actually works or not. Soon Louise has a choice before her: whether to stay with the king whose affections have strayed, or to join a convent.
Gulland does a wonderful job of conveying the details of life at the court of Louis XIV, with its elaborate rituals and etiquette. She makes readers feel they are present at the court entertainments: pageants, balls, operas, plays, ballets, and banquets. Louis’ royal residences in Paris, Fontainebleau, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and, of course, Versailles, are described in detail, but the reader should note that these are the very early days of Versailles. It began as a hunting lodge, and throughout the novel it is given its older spelling of Versaie. Louis and Louise share a love of the place, and Louis spends more and more time there because it is a place where he and Louise can be together. We see the beginning of its transformation into the grand palace it later became, but Louise was no longer at court to see that transformation to the end, and in her time it is not yet the court’s official residence. Readers expecting details of life at the palace of Versailles might be disappointed, but Gulland’s account of the early years of Louis XIV’s court should make up for that.
Above all, Gulland has created an engaging heroine in Louise de la Vallière. She is, in many ways, an unlikely person to be a royal mistress: painfully shy, very religious, and physically awkward. As mentioned, Louise walks with a limp because one leg is shorter than the other. She is also very short, and is called by her childhood nickname of “Petite.” One thing that attracts Louis to her is her difference from the sophisticated court ladies. The reader keeps hoping that Louise’s and Louis’ love will last, even though history tells us that was not to be. Also, Gulland has a wonderful job of writing about the belief in magic in 17th century France. It was a society where the Catholic Church was very powerful, but, at the same time, people believed in magic that went back to pre-Christian times, and didn’t see those two beliefs as a contradiction. Certainly, Louise does not. She has a strong Catholic faith, but thinks that her childhood dabbling in magic was responsible for the misfortunes in her life. How she reconciles these two systems of belief is a very important part of the novel. This is a wonderful historical novel with an unforgettable heroine.
June 5, 2009
This book is set in one of my all time favorite historical eras; the court of the Sun King. I was immediately attracted to the main female character, Louise de la Valliere or as she's better known as, Petite. The book follows the life and the loves of Petite, which is constantly changing except for two things ... her infatuation of horses and her fear of the devil.
I absolutely fell in love with Mistress of the Sun. The characters are so well portrayed that you cannot help but become intertwined with their lives. However this can turn out to be a bad thing, because when Sandra Gulland says she does not like happy endings she isn't kidding. I became so involved in the story I had to force my self to turn the page because I was too afraid to read what would happen to my beloved Petite next. And of course, just like Petite, I fell in love with the Sun King himself ... which made the ups and downs of their affair even more painful to read. I look forward to reading this book again in the future and plan on buying Sandra Gulland's Josephine trilogy very soon.
I would definitely recommend Mistress of the Sun to anyone who enjoys reading. It is not just another historical fiction book, it is also a love story and has a bit of paranormal activity thrown in. The reader does not have to possess any knowledge of the time period before starting this book because Sandra Gulland has added wonderful extras including: a map of France at the time of the Sun King, an abbreviated genealogy of the royal families and a glossary of terms. It would also be a great read for long time lovers of historical fiction because Petite is not a "popular" historical female, so there are not many books about her life and for many people this will be their fist time reading about her.
I absolutely fell in love with Mistress of the Sun. The characters are so well portrayed that you cannot help but become intertwined with their lives. However this can turn out to be a bad thing, because when Sandra Gulland says she does not like happy endings she isn't kidding. I became so involved in the story I had to force my self to turn the page because I was too afraid to read what would happen to my beloved Petite next. And of course, just like Petite, I fell in love with the Sun King himself ... which made the ups and downs of their affair even more painful to read. I look forward to reading this book again in the future and plan on buying Sandra Gulland's Josephine trilogy very soon.
I would definitely recommend Mistress of the Sun to anyone who enjoys reading. It is not just another historical fiction book, it is also a love story and has a bit of paranormal activity thrown in. The reader does not have to possess any knowledge of the time period before starting this book because Sandra Gulland has added wonderful extras including: a map of France at the time of the Sun King, an abbreviated genealogy of the royal families and a glossary of terms. It would also be a great read for long time lovers of historical fiction because Petite is not a "popular" historical female, so there are not many books about her life and for many people this will be their fist time reading about her.
August 5, 2009
I finished this a couple of days ago and decided to hold off on my review because I wasn't quite sure what I thought about it. After some time away from the book and some time to mull over my opinion, I have to say that I didn't hate it, but I didn't absolutely adore it either.
I found the plot would speed up and slow down repeatedly which made the entire book read very choppily.
It's hard to review historical fiction when it's based on people who actually existed. You've got Louis XIV and Louise de la Vallière who lived lives and although the author has the flexibility to deviate from the historical time line, she can't make it too different without labelling her work as "alternate universe." So there were things that bugged me about the *people* in the books and there was nothing I could do about it.
Okay, yeah, I get that this is historical *fiction* and I shouldn't be taking it at face value. But like, there comes a point when you just want to say "Louis give up your crown and run away with Petite!" but you know that he can't because he's the king of France. The Sun King. Someone noteworthy.
In any case, Gulland didn't really make me love these characters. And that's the job of a historical fiction writer. Is to make these real people someone I *want* to know about.
It wasn't necessarily a bad story. I read it until the end and there were parts I quite enjoyed, but I didn't absolutely love it.
I found the plot would speed up and slow down repeatedly which made the entire book read very choppily.
It's hard to review historical fiction when it's based on people who actually existed. You've got Louis XIV and Louise de la Vallière who lived lives and although the author has the flexibility to deviate from the historical time line, she can't make it too different without labelling her work as "alternate universe." So there were things that bugged me about the *people* in the books and there was nothing I could do about it.
Okay, yeah, I get that this is historical *fiction* and I shouldn't be taking it at face value. But like, there comes a point when you just want to say "Louis give up your crown and run away with Petite!" but you know that he can't because he's the king of France. The Sun King. Someone noteworthy.
In any case, Gulland didn't really make me love these characters. And that's the job of a historical fiction writer. Is to make these real people someone I *want* to know about.
It wasn't necessarily a bad story. I read it until the end and there were parts I quite enjoyed, but I didn't absolutely love it.
February 12, 2008
Man, I am a sucker for historical fiction.
And I am super lucky that as I librarian I get to review books for Library Journal. My editor Wanda, sends me about 6 historical fiction books a year, and I get to read them. This was the latest.
While in the past I have mostly been enamored of Tudor history, I have read a few on the French Court. This particular book was one of the mistresses of Louis XIV, better known as the Sun King. This is the king who built Versailles, and made France the greatest kingdom in the world.
Louise de Vallieres was a young girl who came to court while Louis was still a young, vibrant man. Petite (As she is affectionately known) was a great horsewoman and she caught the king's attention with her skills on horseback. Their secret was an affair for many years, and she bore him 4 children, 2 of whom survived.
While the plot of this book was rather quiet for a story of the intrigues of court, I loved the inner world of Petite that was created by the author.
I hope someone writes novels about other famous mistresses, like Madame du Barry, or Madame Pompadour.
Bring it on.
And I am super lucky that as I librarian I get to review books for Library Journal. My editor Wanda, sends me about 6 historical fiction books a year, and I get to read them. This was the latest.
While in the past I have mostly been enamored of Tudor history, I have read a few on the French Court. This particular book was one of the mistresses of Louis XIV, better known as the Sun King. This is the king who built Versailles, and made France the greatest kingdom in the world.
Louise de Vallieres was a young girl who came to court while Louis was still a young, vibrant man. Petite (As she is affectionately known) was a great horsewoman and she caught the king's attention with her skills on horseback. Their secret was an affair for many years, and she bore him 4 children, 2 of whom survived.
While the plot of this book was rather quiet for a story of the intrigues of court, I loved the inner world of Petite that was created by the author.
I hope someone writes novels about other famous mistresses, like Madame du Barry, or Madame Pompadour.
Bring it on.
June 24, 2017
I probably love this book for two reasons. One the story is brillantly written and the emotion of the mistress, Louise, is channeled perfectly, almost as if she herself had written this tale. The other reason I love this book is it was the book I was reading during my move away from home and during the part of the story where Louise moves away really touched me during the upheaval of my life.
The story is about Louise de la Valliere who was one of the many mistresses to Louis XIV of France, the Sun King. She was one of the most interesting of his mistresses and the predecessor of the more famous Madame de Montespan. It chronicals her life from child, to maid to lesser royals to being the mistress to the king, and there after. Louise's emotions are brillantly portrayed with her love for the king and her love for god, and fear of the devil. Louise isn't the ideal royal mistress with her fire for god and being stubborn, but she definitely was one who had more of a heart than so many others in the halls of history. This is a definite read of French fans.
The story is about Louise de la Valliere who was one of the many mistresses to Louis XIV of France, the Sun King. She was one of the most interesting of his mistresses and the predecessor of the more famous Madame de Montespan. It chronicals her life from child, to maid to lesser royals to being the mistress to the king, and there after. Louise's emotions are brillantly portrayed with her love for the king and her love for god, and fear of the devil. Louise isn't the ideal royal mistress with her fire for god and being stubborn, but she definitely was one who had more of a heart than so many others in the halls of history. This is a definite read of French fans.
March 1, 2012
I read Sandra Gulland's Josephine Bonaparte trilogy and was totally in love with it, so I went for Mistress of the Sun imagining it to be as great as the trilogy but...no.
I recognize the hard researching work Gulland had to do for this book and I am in no way saying that I hated the novel. I managed to finish it, so it couldn't be too bad. But it was just such a disappointment.
I liked Gulland because she wrote about strong women and the Josephine books were full of them. But in Mistress of the Sun we follow the life of a girl who falls obsessively in love with a king and becomes his mistress, and even though he seems to like her at first, he turns to also humiliate and mistreat her but she doesn't manage to leave him. When she finally does she becomes a nun.
Sorry but how much worse can a story get? So, this girl becomes the sexual object of a man but as soon as he doesn't want you anymore the only way out is to isolate yourself and marry Jesus? (No offense to Jesus, of course)
No. No, thanks.
I recognize the hard researching work Gulland had to do for this book and I am in no way saying that I hated the novel. I managed to finish it, so it couldn't be too bad. But it was just such a disappointment.
I liked Gulland because she wrote about strong women and the Josephine books were full of them. But in Mistress of the Sun we follow the life of a girl who falls obsessively in love with a king and becomes his mistress, and even though he seems to like her at first, he turns to also humiliate and mistreat her but she doesn't manage to leave him. When she finally does she becomes a nun.
Sorry but how much worse can a story get? So, this girl becomes the sexual object of a man but as soon as he doesn't want you anymore the only way out is to isolate yourself and marry Jesus? (No offense to Jesus, of course)
No. No, thanks.
Read
September 21, 2020To describe Louis XIV as flamboyant would be putting it mildly. What, then, did he see in the reserved and pious little girl that Louise de la Valliere seems to have been? That is one of the questions Sandra Gulland sets out to answer in this absorbing bio-fiction.
I've read and reread both of the novels Gulland has penned about the Sun King's busy love life (the other is The Shadow Queen), and though Gulland's absorbed with other historical eras these days I can't help hoping she will someday complete a Louis cycle with stories about the young king's first love Marie Mancini and his long-suffering and always adoring Queen Marie-Therese.
I've read and reread both of the novels Gulland has penned about the Sun King's busy love life (the other is The Shadow Queen), and though Gulland's absorbed with other historical eras these days I can't help hoping she will someday complete a Louis cycle with stories about the young king's first love Marie Mancini and his long-suffering and always adoring Queen Marie-Therese.
March 20, 2021
The court of a young Louis XIV is a fascinating setting I can't get enough of (which reminds me that I really need to re-watch Versailles, but I digress). It's clear that a lot of diligent, detailed research went into this historical novel about one of the Sun King' s most prominent mistresses, Louise de la Vallière. Unfortunately, the pace just dragged, and entirely too much time is spent on Louise's not all that interesting childhood and bonding with a fictional horse - which I might have enjoyed more had I the slightest interest in stories about little girls and their horses. The relationship between her and Louis, while very much based on historical fact, was often painful to read, and through it all I felt I never really got a full grasp of anyone's personalities in this book.
May 21, 2021
I have previously read the Josephine Bonaparte trilogy and that is how I have come across Sandra Gulland. I was indeed struck by the impressive style of writing of this writer. So, I decided to start this book of hers written after the glorious fame of the trilogy. I was expecting it to be worse or repetitive compered to the Josephine novels. On the other hand, it has confirmed to me that Sandra Gulland is indeed a very skilled writer. The plot of the story is intriguing and it gets better as you go on. From me it gets a 5 star! I recommend it from people of their older teen years and so on. Due to the very intimate scenes in the book, I do not think it would be appropriate for very young teens or children.
July 19, 2011
Well this was my first book to read after two months of studying for the my first part of the CPA exam. I enjoyed its simplicity. The constant references to witchcraft were interesting. I enjoyed learning about Versailles, especially since I am traveling to Paris in August and hope to convince my hubby to visit the palace with me!! Anyway a pretty good book... I will continue to read French Historical Fiction until I visit on August 15th.. Any suggestions anyone?!?! I have some lined up but will gladly take suggestions!! Happy reading everyone and glad to be back even if just for a little while!
May 24, 2010
If you have not read Sandra Gulland's historical fiction trilogy about Josephine Bonaparte, you NEED to read it. It's amazing. I loved it so much that John bought it for me as a gift a few years back (which I HOPE I still have, come to think of it). And not only are they amazing, but Sandra Gulland is a local writer! I am really looking foward to reading this newer title from her!
UPDATE:
DONE! Great read! I still love her Josephine trilogy more, but this was quite good too...
UPDATE:
DONE! Great read! I still love her Josephine trilogy more, but this was quite good too...
June 26, 2019
I rather enjoyed this story of Louise de la Valliere, a low-born noblewoman with a penchant for horses who caught the eye of the young Sun King, ultimately becoming his acknowledged concubine. Sandra Gulland is as deft a writer as she is a historian and the tale she weaves with "Mistress of the Sun", while perhaps not wholly original, was certainly worth the time it took to read and ultimately left me feeling a little better informed about the era than when I started.
October 21, 2015
This book was pretty much everything I want in a lighter read. I'm not sure how Guilland managed to make a page-turner out of this plot, but she did. And the writing was strong enough that I didn't feel like my verbal skills were actively diminishing as I read.
The tropes around Petite as a "cool girl" (is that the right reference? Gone Girl?) were tired and got obnoxious, but like I said, sometimes you're just looking to be entertained without killing too many brain cells.
The tropes around Petite as a "cool girl" (is that the right reference? Gone Girl?) were tired and got obnoxious, but like I said, sometimes you're just looking to be entertained without killing too many brain cells.
December 22, 2020
While this book was well-researched, I just couldn't get into it and was bored the whole time. Petite (Louise) is mistress of Louis XIV. You'll read about her life in the court and her having five of his kids. But the book starts when she is six years old so nothing happens between Petite and Louis for 200 pages or so. Again, I was just bored and didn't like the writing style or plot of this book.
November 16, 2017
I like this author a lot and I've read widely about the court of the Sun King. (Don't be impressed - almost all fiction.) This is one of my favorites, next to Karleen Koen's books.
It moves quickly, it's interesting, and even though I thought I knew something about the subject there were a lot of things I didn't see coming.
It moves quickly, it's interesting, and even though I thought I knew something about the subject there were a lot of things I didn't see coming.
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