Marie-Therese: The Fate of Marie Antoinette's Daughter Paperback – July 14, 2009

I’ve read a lot of biographies in my day, but I don’t think any of them have moved me to actual tears the way this one did.When I read history, I’m often more interested in what happens after, or what happens before the Big Event. It’s interesting to me. World War II is a fascinating, horrible conflict, but I’m less interested in the actual war, and more interested in what happened that allowed a war like that to even be a possibility in the first place, if that makes sense, and I’m interested in how Europe picked up the pieces right after. This book is sort of like that. The French Revolution, as told through the eyes of someone who lived through the meat of it, and survived long after.This isn’t going to be one of my typical reviews, because I just can’t get this book out of my head.Marie-Therese was the eldest child of Marie-Antoinette and her husband, Louis XVI. She was born into a life of luxury in the infamous Versailles Palace. She learned at an early age how to perform in public, and keep her royal mask on until she was in private and could truly be herself. In some ways, I think this made her a rather divided person, and that shows up again and again in this book, with her obvious discomfort in situations, but powering through them anyway.When she was ten, the French Revolution really got going, and she and her family were moved out of Versailles forcefully (literally, lots of blood and guts, lots of things happening that were absolutely traumatizing to the children who witnessed them). They were moved into Paris, where the lived in an old, moldy palace surrounded by guards whose job was to watch them and report on everything that was said. Occasionally the family would be marched out for public events, or for trials where they would stand before a room full of people and have abuses heaped upon them. As a child, she’d have to stand there and stoically watch while her mother and father were dehumanized by a mob of angry French men and women.At ten, you can imagine how traumatic this must have been.Anyway, things happened. There was a failed escape attempt, and that was really when stuff went from bad to worse. This was when they were moved into a prison, when her father was beheaded, and the family was separated. And while I knew the outline of all these events, it was quite another thing to learn about it from the writings of a woman coming of age in the middle of all of this. And you know, I was fine… FINE… until I realized that the government forbid anyone from telling Marie-Therese that her mother was dead, and until I read about the absolutely horrible, awful conditions her brother lived in (that poor boy was abused in ways that nearly gave me nightmares), and how she was likewise unaware of his tragic, awful death despite the fact that he was kept in the room right below her.So, she spends about seven years of her life in lockdown, living in one prison or another. As a teenager, she refused to talk for over a year. At one point, when she was nearing the age of seventeen, the government started to negotiate a trade (Marie-Therese for twenty hostages) with Austria, they sent someone to Marie-Therese to get her used to talking again, and using her voice. This woman, who became like a family to this isolated teenager, couldn’t take holding the secret of her mother and brother’s deaths anymore, so after years in the case of Marie-Antoinette, and months for her ten-year-old brother, she finally learned that she was the last person in her immediate family alive, and it nearly broke her, I’m guessing.(Despite rumors that her brother had escaped, these are all unfounded.)Then she leaves, and instead of getting time to adjust to life again, she has to navigate these treacherous waters of marriage, because whoever she marries matters. She throws her lot in with the monarchists, and France, and her life continues on… but on a personal level, going from being in one prison or another for seven years, to “hey, marry this guy” must have given her whiplash, the likes of which I cannot begin to fathom.I know I’m going on a bit of a tangent here, and I’ll attempt to stop being so plot-spoilery here, but her life really, really floored me. We know about her parents losing their heads. We know about Marie-Antoinette and all her hair, but not much is known about Marie-Therese, and how she had to navigate these political waters, despite very obviously having some real, unaddressed PTSD, and emotional trauma from what she’d suffered through. She still pulled herself together and was a woman around whom events turned. It is unfortunate that her name isn’t spoken in wider circles even today.The only real crime these children committed was the sin of being born, and her little brother suffered unimaginable abuses and died of starvation and (insert disease here… you can really just pick one and the poor boy had it) because of it, and Marie-Therese, I daresay, likely never had a “normal” life or psyche due to it.I can’t imagine her life. I really can’t. I had to periodically stop reading this book so I could just absorb what I was taking in. And the thing is, this is a biography, but it reads more like a novel. If I didn’t know it was real, I wouldn’t believe it.In her own way, Marie-Therese’s childhood, pre-French Revolution really was the bedrock upon which she built the house of her soul. She knew how to navigate these treacherous political waters, and despite always struggling with the memories of what happened, she remained doggedly loyal to her country and the people who live in it for all her days, even through her numerous stints in exile. She never had children, though she had very close friends and family, whom she considered her own. She was a person people went to for advice, and she was highly regarded and admired, even becoming somewhat of a pop-culture icon in her day.Nagel wrote an absolutely amazing biography here. It honestly is probably one of the best biographies I’ve ever read, and I do think it’s rather criminal that more people haven’t read it. She’s managed to take someone that has maybe faded a bit in the historical tapestry, and breathed stunning life into them. Under Nagel’s deft hand, Marie-Therese was not just a person I read about, but hers was a story I felt like I was living. It gave me a new perspective of the French Revolution, and a new understanding of a heroic woman who somehow, despite all odds, survived a situation that I think would have broken most people.If you’ve got any interest in the French Revolution, I think this book needs to be essential reading.

MT was described by Napoleon, comparison to her husband and uncles, as the "only man in the family." This alone attests to her courage. Few children, after experiencing the unimaginable horrors of her imprisonment, could move on to display the qualities of leadership, intelligence, political savvy and the ability to form close and rich personal relationships.After reading Antonia Frasers biography of Marie Antoinette I was thrilled to come across this biography. It more than met my expectations.Like other readers I found the story of the dark countess a huge distraction. One paragraph on this woman would have sufficed. I would have found more detailed information on her friends, relatives and even adversaries, particularly their lives in exile, more interesting. Even some detail on the relationship between Yolanda Polignac and the Duchess of Devonshire, another fascinating woman, would have been more relevant than that of the countess.The author's opening book with a description of the dark countess lead this reader to anticipate a later revelation of the woman's identity. This expectation grew with each narrative of her life in seclusion. What a let down I felt at the lack of resolution to her story. Her body was exhumed for the purpose of DNA testing but apparently the results have not yet been publicized.I'm no scholar but curiosity led me to google all the "main characters" in the book. The several brief bios on the father and son duc d'Orleans painted them in a far more favorable light than Nagle. One even blamed Marie Antoinette's rudeness to the father for the hostility between the two. I would love to hear other perspectives on these two men from those of you more knowledgable than I am.But I digress! Returning to MT herself, in spite of the nomadic life she endured, she did experience a "normal" life in many respects. No one was more deserving so I felt much joy for her. Of course there were scars that never healed but the high level at which she functioned was remarkable. Politically she was far more astute than her two uncles, Louis XVIII and Charles X. Amen to her remark wishing France had permitted women monarchs.One of her greatest accomplishments was raising her niece and nephew as her own children. Although she placed too much emphasis on expectations of one day returning to France with Henri as king she did a fine job. Abandoned by their widowed mother, she provided an idyllic life despite of its nomadic nature. Again, I was uplifted by her pleasure in motherhood.MT's fine qualities are a testament to her parents' teaching and example. Their extravagance and initial unwillingness to bend with the times led to their downfall but a legacy of the good in them lived on in their daughter.

After reading Antonia Frasers 'Marie Antoinette, The Journey' I thought that I would continue the story with what happened to Marie Therèse; Marie Antoinettes only surviving child. I thought that the book was well written and held my attention throughout. It was so enjoyable I looked forward to reading it on my journey to work everyday. This is a very easy read. If french monarchy post French revolution interests you this is a great book. I have not studied within this area so I am unable to tell you if every point is as accurate as it should be. However the book seemed very well researched to me and held a wealth of detail. You will not be disappointed with this purchase.

I bought the book for my Aunt, and although she has knowledge of the history it was enjoyed. Immaculate packaging.

Much better condition than expected so I’m very pleased! Lovely book. Thank you!

Having read Deborah Cadbury's rivetting "The Lost King of France", about Marie Antoinette's missing son, I was keen to keep up the momentum by reading about this prince's little-known sister, Marie Therese, Duchess of Angouleme, who survived until 1851. She sounded intriguing: how did a little girl, the daughter of a King and born into such privelege, survive almost unimaginable suffering and deprivation -with three years in almost solitary confinement ?? Susan Nagel's book appeared to fit this bill, and indeed we get a readable description of the life of Marie Therese although until about page 150, it naturally covers the same ground described rather more vividly in Deborah Cadbury's book about her brother. I found this book to be something of a disappointment. It is probably difficult for anyone to get 'close' to the real Marie Therese, as it must have been during her lifetime.There aren't many clues as to how this orphaned and isolated girl coped with so many vicious shocks, and with imprisonment. She appears to have coped by resolutely sweeping and tidying her cold cell every day, making her bed, and endlessly re-reading the couple of books she was permitted by her despicable gaolers, to whom she refused to speak.It seems that she clung rigidly to what she had been taught to believe: her religion, her rank, and the values of the 'ancien regime', which were absolutely central to her existence. These beliefs apparently sustained her, and continued to do so throughout her life.In many ways Marie Therese is much to be admired and was evidently courageous. It is also evident that she was very damaged by her terrible experiences which -understandably- left her with an often withdrawn and enigmatic personality. The author valiantly suggests that Marie Therese could be charming, and at times even fun, that she displayed great loyalty (except when her rigid principles were offended), and that there were circumstances in which she exhibited remarkable fortitude and bravery. Napoleon called her "the only man in the family".The revolutionary times through which Marie Therese lived were extraordinary, and so were her own changes in fortune. Susan Nagel describes these imaginatively, but in the end the characterisation of the Princess escaped me: I found her to be, in this book, slightly less interesting and touching than I had expected. It may be that she is inaccessible as a personality, and we have to be content with descriptions of what happened to her.The author has a colourful way with words, but at times more background accuracy is required. For example, the author mentions several times the "wigs" worn by ladies at Court (no, their hair was usually powdered, men wore the wigs.) And the Chapel at Versailles is not "a marble two-story building". It is a tall one-storey building with a gallery, constructed from superb French limestone -which is its chief beauty.

Amazing book about life of Marie Therese starting with her parents engagement... I was thankful that the most disturbing horrors of French revolution happening on the streets of Paris were not mentioned much, some details left out completely... One doesn’t have the stomach to read all that really...Older edition which doesn’t offer for example the 2013 results of testing the DNA of the Dark Countess - proof that she was not daughter of Marie Antoinette...Great read, 100% recommend!