Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Colour:
Image not available

 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Athenais: The Life of Louis XIV's Mistress, the Real Queen of France [Hardcover]

Lisa Hilton (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Available from these sellers.


Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover --   -- --
Books Trade-In
Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Special Offer until June 30, 2013: Receive an additional £5 promotional Gift Certificate, when you trade-in at least £10 worth of books. Learn more.

Product details

  • Hardcover: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Little Brown and Company (Dec 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0316084905
  • ISBN-13: 978-0316084901
  • Product Dimensions: 24.3 x 16 x 3.1 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,351,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Lisa Hilton Page
Lisa Hilton
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

› Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

5 star
0
4 star
0
3 star
1
2 star
0
1 star
0
3.0 out of 5 stars
1 review
3.0 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Better as a novel - as a serious biography less appealing 15 July 2009
By Amelrode TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover
Lisa Hilton has re-created the Versailles of Louis XIV and the readers are soaked into the world of courtly luxury, glamour and intrigues of his reign. She follows the up and downs of King's mistress career. It is quite colourful, intriguing and an entertaining read.

But this book is supposed to be a serious biography. However, Mrs. Hilton's style of writing a quite bit to novel-like for a serious biography. It seems as if she could not decide what she is wants to write.

Furthermore, she is far to one-sided and really tries to whitewash Madame de Montespan. Trashing others personalities - and often she is right with pointing out the flaws of these personalities - seems to be no convincing argument for seeing La Montespan in a more favourable light. And stating that she was very much in line with the accepted codes of the time is no help either because one has to ask oneself why this sweeping statement does not apply to the others? And I doubt that this was really true.

The title The Real Queen of France" is rather odd as well and shows in my view a total misconception of Louis XIV and his concept of royalty. The Queen - Marie Therese of Austria, Infant of Spain, - was properly an unattractive and not very sexually appealing person and on top rather stupid, but she was a real princess and the most desirable of all princesses at the time. She was very much part of the King's "Gloire" and only she could bear the heirs to the throne. Madame de Montespan was not in her league and could never ever been queen. A "court star" is something complete different, even if she was mitresse en titre.

As a novel I would have found this book quite good, but as a serious biography it has far too many flaws.... Read more ›
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com: 2.8 out of 5 stars  16 reviews
31 of 34 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars The Publisher should have known better! 7 Jan 2004
By Jane Smith - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
I have been studying the Bourbon dynasty for many years, and am very familiar with the subject. Having just re-read Frances Mossiker's fabulous "Affair of the Poisons", I was intrigued when I spotted "Athenais" at a local bookstore. Over the course of 40 minutes I didn't read the whole thing, but certainly glanced over most of it, especially the sections dealing with the Poisons incident.

I was shocked to see that she had lifted whole passages from Mossiker, with the barest attemp at re-phrasing! I found Mossiker in the bibliography, but nowhere was she footnoted in the entire chapter!

Disgusted, I looked at the "Author"'s credentials too see who this lazy person was - a writer for VOGUE! What the F***?

The publisher couldn't even get the lingerie on the cover right! Why was the cover model in a VICTORIAN nightie?

I sincerely hope this book is not representative of the state of scholarship on this subject.

I give it one star for having given employment to the guys at the presses.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Athenais c'est mauvais 24 Feb 2003
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I found this book to be spectacularly unfulfilling. It had neither the depth to be considered as a scholarly work nor the level of characterization for a fictionalized history.

The main character remains, throughout the work unknown and undeveloped. Most of the information presented appears to be a fairly standard summation of previous works which is not assisted by the author's tendency to jump erratically from period to period with little regard for continuity.

In summary, not a book which could be recommended.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Athenais's true love is NOT Louis XIV, it's Lisa Hilton!!! 14 May 2005
By A. Masion - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
I've been fascinated with the decades of the Sun King's reign and the impact of his egomania on his country since I was 7 years old. Obviously, his women were a significant part of his life.

There are several things in Hilton's book that disturb me, not the least of which is her persistent effort to justify Athenais's worst personality traits as well as to either villify or ridicule her rivals. I mean, honestly, it's pushing it to depict Athenais as being "right" in abusing her friendships with the Queen and Louise de La Valliere (Louis's first mistress, who Athenais replaced) in order to "get closer" to the King and secure his "favor," only to turn around and depict Madame de Maintenon (who supplanted Athenais) as some sort of horned monstrous ingrate for "taking advantage of her benefactress to steal her love."

The reality of that era is that virtually the only person who had any real control over who he favored and slept with was Louis himself.

The speculation/conjecture about the Affairs of the Poisons, while perhaps not entirely unreasonable, still clings to the idea that Athenais was some sort of heroine ill-used and abused by the system of the times.

The book is not a total loss, but its extreme bias leaves me wondering if the author has first-hand experience of being the "other woman who got cheated on." Athenais is an intriguing figure in history, there was no need to canonize her less than admirable behavior at times. I would have had more respect for the work if there had been a little more objectivity to that point.
Were these reviews helpful?   Let us know
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

There's a problem loading this menu at the moment.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.

    Your Shopping Basket is empty.

    Give it purpose -- fill it with books, DVDs, clothes, electronics and more.

    If you already have an account, sign in.

    There's a problem previewing your shopping basket at the moment.

    Check your Internet connection and go to your cart, or try again.

    View Shopping Basket (0 items)

      Customer Discussions

      This product's forum
      Discussion Replies Latest Post
      No discussions yet

      Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
      Start a new discussion
      Topic:
      First post:
      Prompts for sign-in
       


      Active discussions in related forums
      Search Customer Discussions
      Search all Amazon discussions
         
      Related forums

      Listmania!

      Create a Listmania! list

      Look for similar items by category

      Feedback