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"Beautiful and poignant." —Allison Pataki, New York Times best-selling author of The Queen's Fortune
With its delightful adaptation of Napoleon Bonaparte's real attempt to write romantic fiction, Finding Napoleon: A Novel offers a fresh take on Europe's most powerful man after he's lost everything—except his last love. A forgotten woman of history—the audacious Countess Albine—helps narrate their tale of intrigue, desire, and betrayal.
After the defeated Emperor Napoleon goes into exile on tiny St. Helena Island in the remote South Atlantic, he and his lover, Albine de Montholon, plot to escape and rescue his young son. Banding together enslaved Africans, British sympathizers, a Jewish merchant, a Corsican rogue, and French followers, they confront British opposition—as well as treachery within their own ranks—with sometimes subtle, sometimes bold, but always desperate action.
Amid his passions and intrigues, Napoleon finishes his real novel Clisson that he started writing as a young man. Now it's a father's message to the young son whom his enemies took from him, but how can they get it to the boy?
When Napoleon and Albine break faith with one another, ambition and Albine's husband threaten their reconciliation. To succeed, Napoleon must learn whom to trust. To survive, Albine must decide whom to betray.
This elegant, richly researched novel reveals the Napoleon history conceals and the Countess Albine history has forgotten.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
April 6, 2021 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781647420178
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781647420178
- File size: 1922 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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February 15, 2021
This historical novel focuses on Napoleon's last years, awash in intrigue and poignant with loss. After the defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon is exiled to St. Helena in the South Atlantic, about as far away from France as possible. He comes with a small entourage, among them his faithful valet, Marchand; Albine, Countess de Montholon, and her husband, Charles; and Napoleon's childhood friend Francesco Cipriani. Napoleon's nemesis on the island is the governor, Gen. Sir Hudson Lowe, a petty and vindictive bureaucrat. The five years on St. Helena are filled with Napoleon's longings, chiefly that he will likely never again see his young son, "the Eaglet," who was spirited off to Vienna by his mother, Marie Louise. These are years of treachery--an underlying theme is Napoleon's lifelong realization that he can never completely trust anyone--and plots to escape or seek medical release that, as readers know, will come to naught. The narrative consists of those parts focusing on Napoleon, those sections related by Albine, and excerpts from the novella Clissonet Eug�nie that the former leader worked on his whole life. The novella is fleshed out by Rodenberg, who deserves kudos as a rigorous researcher and gifted writer. Two characters really stand out in this intricate tapestry: Napoleon (no surprise) and Albine. Napoleon comes across as imperious when need be but also kind and unpretentious, reflecting his humble beginnings on Corsica. And Albine is a true wonder. Good at heart, she is the classic survivor. She always has a crust of bread in her pocket--a very nice touch--and is not above petty thievery and the useful lie. She is also Napoleon's mistress and bears him a daughter, Jos�phine, who, alas, dies some months after Albine makes it back to Europe. And then there's Tobyson, the little boy who adores Napoleon and is a stand-in, in a way, for the Eaglet. The little acolyte brings out the best in the fallen emperor. An afterword helpfully separates fact from fiction. A well-written tale brings to life the twilight years of a captivating historical figure. (acknowledgements, author bio)COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. (Online Review)
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