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The Queen's Fortune
- A Novel of Desiree, Napoleon, and the Dynasty That Outlasted the Empire
- Narrated by: Justine Eyre
- Length: 15 hrs and 49 mins
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The Queen's Fortune
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Publisher's Summary
A sweeping novel about the extraordinary woman who captured Napoleon’s heart, created a dynasty, and changed the course of history - from the New York Times best-selling author of The Traitor's Wife, The Accidental Empress, and Sisi.
“I absolutely loved The Queen’s Fortune, the fascinating, little-known story of Desiree Clary - the woman Napoleon left for Josephine - who ultimately triumphed and became queen of Sweden.” (Martha Hall Kelly, New York Times best-selling author of Lilac Girls)
As the French revolution ravages the country, Desiree Clary is faced with the life-altering truth that the world she has known and loved is gone, and it’s fallen on her to save her family from the guillotine.
A chance encounter with Napoleon Bonaparte, the ambitious and charismatic young military prodigy, provides her answer. When her beloved sister, Julie, marries his brother, Joseph, Desiree and Napoleon’s futures become irrevocably linked. Quickly entering into their own passionate, dizzying courtship that leads to a secret engagement, they vow to meet in the capital once his career has been secured. But her newly laid plans with Napoleon turn to sudden heartbreak, thanks to the rising star of Parisian society, Josephine de Beauharnais. Once again, Desiree’s life is turned on its head.
Swept to the glittering halls of the French capital, Desiree is plunged into the inner circle of the new ruling class, becoming further entangled with Napoleon, his family, and the new Empress. But her fortunes shift once again when she meets Napoleon's confidant and star general, the indomitable Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. As the two men in Desiree’s life become political rivals and military foes, the question that arises is: Must she choose between the love of her new husband and the love of her nation and its emperor?
From the lavish estates of the French Riviera to the raucous streets of Paris and Stockholm, Desiree finds herself at the epicenter of the rise and fall of an empire, navigating a constellation of political giants and dangerous, shifting alliances. Emerging from an impressionable girl into a fierce young woman, she discovers that to survive in this world she must learn to rely upon her instincts and her heart.
Allison Pataki’s meticulously researched and brilliantly imagined novel sweeps listeners into the unbelievable life of a woman almost lost to history - a woman who, despite the swells of a stunning life and a tumultuous time, not only adapts and survives but, ultimately, reigns at the helm of a dynasty that outlasts an empire.
What the critics say
“In The Queen’s Fortune, Allison Pataki chronicles Desiree, the secret lover of Napoleon Bonaparte. When Napoleon chooses Josephine over her, the heartbroken Desiree finds herself entangled with Napoleon, Josephine and the new ruling class. Pataki deftly weaves a tangled web of passion, deception and intrigue, set against one of the most tumultuous periods in history, making for a heady cocktail which readers will devour.” (Pam Jenoff, New York Times best-selling author of The Lost Girls of Paris)
“I absolutely loved The Queen’s Fortune, the fascinating, little-known story of Desiree Clary - the woman Napoleon left for Josephine - who ultimately triumphed and became queen of Sweden.” (Martha Hall Kelly, New York Times best-selling author of Lost Roses and Lilac Girls)
“Allison Pataki is a masterful historical author at the top of her game. From the very first lyrical lines of The Queen’s Fortune, I was wholly swept into the entrancing world of Desiree Clary Bernadotte. Painstaking research and page-turning prose placed me directly at the side of this remarkable yet lesser-known figure, journeying from innocent girlhood to seasoned royalty, a survivor of guillotine threats, palace politics, and strains of the heart. I absolutely loved this book from beginning to end.” (Kristina McMorris, New York Times best-selling author of Sold on a Monday and The Edge of Lost)
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What listeners say about The Queen's Fortune
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Shirley Williams
- 2023-07-17
Terrible Narrator
This narrator has ruined a great story by over-emoting and strange British accent for a story of France.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2021-07-05
Nasal and neighy narrator
This narrator is terrible. Every sentence ends with what I can only describe as a horses neigh. The book is read fully and depressingly. Its a gre at story which I can only hope will be redone. Also there is no range of emotion. Only nasal neighing. Regret using my credit!!!!!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- HistoryNerd
- 2021-04-08
Fascinating Heroine
Desiree Clary has often been overshadowed by more glamorous or scandalous women from the era. Her story is fascinating though; a bourgeois girl who should have married well, produced children, and then been forgotten like many other women of her station. The idea that she was once the fiancée of one of history’s most complex egomaniacs, then the wife of a simple soldier and finally queen of a not insignificant country is compelling.
Allison Pataki has written several novels about “royal” women who were famous in their day but then forgotten. The formula clearly works well for her and I enjoy reading/listening about these often overlooked women. Unfortunately, Pataki is not the most accomplished writer or historian, and her novels are often peppered with minor mistakes. For instance, a ship wouldn’t have a horn in the late 1790s; it would have a bell. This slip ups can be jarring for seasoned historical fiction readers.
I also had issues with how she glossed over major historical events. The whole of the Napoleonic War were made to sound rather boring. She treats the Battle of Waterloo like a tea party. I understand that the war is not the focus of the novel but for it to have been handled in such a lackluster manner is strange to me. Especially as the war made such an impact on the life of the main character.
Despite these drawbacks, I’m always happy to read relatively accurate, fictional treatments of historical women. And ultimately, I finished the novel, which is the seal of approval from me!
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2020-07-24
A great insight to revolutionary France.
There was so much I didn't know about Napoleon and the Revolution in France. I now want to do some of my own research and learn more about the time period. This was a great listen!
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Heidi Schwarzinger
- 2020-07-18
Excellent narration! Excellent story! nice listen
Excellent listen if you are into historical fiction. Highly recommend. I'll be seeking out future reads from her.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- cspt2
- 2021-03-25
An Engaging Account
The author paints a fascinating account of Napoleon’s rise to power from the point of view of one who knew him well. The story ends up morphing into a biography of the observer. Full of accounts of fascinating historical details and character portraits of leading players of both Josephine and Napoleon as well as other family members. I enjoyed the story a great deal though some pivotal details such as Josephine’s death are told as an afterthought which seemed to diminish its importance.. Also large blocks of time are passed over with highlights accounted retrospectively which I found a bit perplexing. It left me wanting a bit more detail. On an even more personal note I was perplexed by oddities of the readers accent. My husband and i started chucking whenever the word “body” came up—(which was frequently). The reader consistently read it as “bodaay”. Likewise words ending in “er” were consistently pronounced as “aay”. Doubtless this must be some regional accent, but it wasn’t a familiar one and it did distract. Otherwise the reader was competent, w good French pronunciations and varying character voices.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- EmElDee4
- 2020-07-04
This is a delightful fictional history of France,
which inspires the reader to read more about these historic figures who left deep impressions on today's society.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Georgia
- 2020-12-07
Historical Novel - An enthralling trip into the past
Well researched. While I knew the Frenchman Bernadotte had ruled over Sweden by invitation, I knew very little about his prior life other than he was a great military figure and had married a former lover of Napoleon. This "biography" of Desiree covered Napoleon, his children and where and who they married. Josephine's descendants wore crowns throughout Europe as Queen Victoria's would later. Desiree's evolution revolves around this post-revolution history. Good listen.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- shoelover
- 2023-03-20
Read the other story of Desiree
First of all the reader was hard to tolerate, a whiny voice and very bad affected voices, especially Josephine who was made very silly in this story.
Overall I disliked the way the story was told. I much prefer the Annemarie Selinko version, it has a much better reader as well as far more interesting and likable characters. Give this a pass.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Eva, Consumidora participativa.
- 2021-12-05
Lovely Desire..lover, wife Mother and queen in Napoleons time.
Just charming way to give life to a incredible woman. With a unforgettable name:Desireé
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Alexis
- 2023-11-14
2.75 A bit long winded
I'll try and come back and make this a coherent review but for now I just need to get thoughts down. 2.75
I did like this book but I did have a problem with the title. We never actually talk about "The Queen's Fortune". Are we talking about how she was fortunate and got lucky? That's only briefly glossed over and never really well done. Are we talking about her money fortune? Well she was rich before becoming queen and also not heavily touched on. My biggest issue is the title.
This book was supposed to be about Desiree Clary, but was more of an outsider's view to the rise and fall of Napoleon and Josephine's relationship. I thought that was well done, however very long winded and a little tedious to get through. I was most looking forward to seeing her become queen and that's a very rushed through few chapters, which left me disappointed.
I did like learning about Desiree Clary and I was not super familiar with Napoleon and Josephine, so the watching that relationship unfold was great, but I just wish I had more on Desiree herself. The scenery was great, characters were ok.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Charlene Mickie Constantino
- 2023-09-13
Excellent account of history
These historical accounts should be used in classes to capture young students instead of the history typically taught.
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