Status
Available
Publication
New York : G. Braziller, 2003.
Description
Detailed and dramatic novel narrated by Agathe-Sidonie Laborde, companion and lectrice to Marie-Antoinette. On the day of her sixty-fifth birthday in Vienna 1810, Agathe looks back on the most tumultuous days of her life. The action begins on 14 July 1789 and details the last hours during which Louis XVI, the close associates of the royal family and most of the Court flee from Versailles. Told in a simple but pacy and engaging manner, the narrator recounts, in intimate detail, the last days of the queen and the various intrigues which are thrown up as the Court disintegrates. This is a fantastically commercial book which transports the reader back to 1789 and is written with great drive and narrative tension. Chantal Thomas is a specialist of the period so the novel is also based on years of historical research.… (more)
Media reviews
Le Point
Dans les pas d'Agathe Sidonie, le lecteur découvre les personnages du château, de "l'amoureux de la reine" à "la Panique", cette gueuse qui, le 16 juillet, parvient à interrompre le cérémonial du dîner et à jeter un rat mort au milieu de la table du monarque. Le tout, enlevé dans un
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phrasé lent et somptueux de cérémonie royale, fait des "Adieux à la reine" un livre très passionnant. Et même, si l'on y regarde de près, tout à fait d'actualité... Show Less
Télérama
De jour en jour, même ici, la Révolution semble inéluctable. Et le monde ancien, frivole, léger, d'une mortelle beauté, pressent qu'il va s'éteindre à jamais. Chantal Thomas nous le donne à sentir avec une grâce infinie, fait deviner la grande histoire par l'anecdote, le fracas de la
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Révolution par le silence apeuré des aristocrates, l'émergence du peuple par la fuite des favoris. De ce récit en creux de la tourmente, du basculement dans la modernité, on sort ébloui. L'auteur a ressuscité tout un art de vivre, de jouir dans l'instant et le non-dit, et nous l'a fait aimer, comme Marie-Antoinette aime Gabrielle. Sans même y penser. Show Less
Magazine Lire
C'était un autre temps, un autre monde dont le prince de Talleyrand gardera la nostalgie: «Qui n'a pas vécu à cette époque n'a pas connu la douceur de vivre.» Grâce soit rendue à Chantal Thomas de nous la restituer intacte, style y compris, dominant son émotion pour mieux susciter la
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nôtre. Show Less
Le Monde
En choisissant, parmi les obscurs de Versailles, une lectrice adjointe, Mme Laborde, dont elle invente le destin minuscule, Chantal Thomas met en scène le bref moment où, en romancière inspirée, elle voit l'effondrement d'un monde, dont la souveraine se réduit presque à une figure
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allégorique. A travers les trois folles journées - et la nuit appartient pleinement à cette dramaturgie du retournement - qui séparent la prise de la Bastille, et l'incrédulité de "ce pays-ci" face à l'événement, et la fuite des courtisans, brouillon carnaval d'un triste grotesque, c'est le dérèglement de l'impitoyable mécanique de Versailles qui se joue ... Chantal Thomas sait rendre à merveille l'envers de cette "providence" qui faisait admettre qu'à la Cour "tout peut advenir". Une prouesse littéraire inattendue. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member jasonlf
Farewell My Queen has some great writing, some great scenes, some great impressions, but much of it is dull and uneven.
It recounts, almost hour-by-hour, Versailles on July 14th-16th 1789. The first day is a normal one as courtiers and servants do what courtiers and servants do. The second day
The story is told in flashbacks from the perspective of then-young woman who was a backup reader to Marie Antoinette. Her flashbacks are largely a series of people she interacted with and scenes she witnessed, like the animal keeper lamenting the death of his animals, the official court historian who is on volume 7 of his history, the man in charge of the household who is being ignored as everyone flees, and several other characters. The depiction of Marie Antoinette wandering around alone, knocking on doors and attempting--without success--to enter them is particularly moving, as Chantal Thomas explains that these are the first times she has even touched a door. It is interesting to understand that there is something infantile about the kings and queens who were helpless without people doing even the basic things for them.
It starts out telling all of these events in a witty and amusing manner. But then the method of telling does not sustain interest for the entire book, although it picks up again at the end when everyone is fleeing Versailles.
It recounts, almost hour-by-hour, Versailles on July 14th-16th 1789. The first day is a normal one as courtiers and servants do what courtiers and servants do. The second day
Show More
begins with the residents learning that the King was awoken in the middle of the night to be told about the Bastille. By the third day everyone is making plans to flee and the monarchy appears to be over.The story is told in flashbacks from the perspective of then-young woman who was a backup reader to Marie Antoinette. Her flashbacks are largely a series of people she interacted with and scenes she witnessed, like the animal keeper lamenting the death of his animals, the official court historian who is on volume 7 of his history, the man in charge of the household who is being ignored as everyone flees, and several other characters. The depiction of Marie Antoinette wandering around alone, knocking on doors and attempting--without success--to enter them is particularly moving, as Chantal Thomas explains that these are the first times she has even touched a door. It is interesting to understand that there is something infantile about the kings and queens who were helpless without people doing even the basic things for them.
It starts out telling all of these events in a witty and amusing manner. But then the method of telling does not sustain interest for the entire book, although it picks up again at the end when everyone is fleeing Versailles.
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LibraryThing member nellista
A look at the panic that whirled around Versailles when the Bastille fell. From the point of view of Marie Antoinette's deputy reader, we see many details of court life and ritual. And some of the nastier aspects too. Apparently Versailles was riddled with vermin and on a hot day was quite a stinky
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place to be - but the place to be none the less. We also see how people had become so inculcated with the hierachy of the society, that people were swept up into a panic when there were no servants to do the menial tasks, like fetch a drink, or in the case of the Queen, to even open a door! The exodus of courtiers, and the influx of landed nobility seeking refuge at the palace collide, and show the many facets and dangers faced by the nobility in the face of the rumours of an advancing mob of peasantry sweeping all before them. Show Less
LibraryThing member bhowell
this is a well written but not brilliant portrait of Marie Antionette during a certain 3 days of a certain critical week in July 1789 through the eyes of her "reader". The book does create a very vivid and no doubt accurate portrait of the people who lived at Versailles during that week and the
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uncertainty that caused some to flee and some to arrive seeking sanctuary. I did enjoy the book and I would be very interested in reading the authors previous books. Show Less
LibraryThing member goth_marionette
A quick and easy read. Fairly interesting and well written. A good light read.
LibraryThing member LukeS
Told from the point of view of a lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinette, this story captures the mindset of the French gentry, insulated at the palace of Versailles, on the eve of the revolution.
The lady writes bitterly decades later from her home in Vienna, of the times and events. She made it out
I don't recall the exact prize this novel won in its native France. I presume it won for some social or political reason, or it reinforced some popular idea of the nobility at the time. The translation is workmanlike for, in the way of translations, its language seldom adds adornment to the narrative it serves.
The lady writes bitterly decades later from her home in Vienna, of the times and events. She made it out
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by purest luck, and it's clear she still reviles the revolutionaries.I don't recall the exact prize this novel won in its native France. I presume it won for some social or political reason, or it reinforced some popular idea of the nobility at the time. The translation is workmanlike for, in the way of translations, its language seldom adds adornment to the narrative it serves.
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LibraryThing member cooperca05
The last week of Marie-Antionette's freedom as a Queen recounted through the eyes and memories of a woman whose function was to read books aloud to the Queen of France. The tone reminded me of 'Rebecca' - Intriguing look into the royal court during those tumultuous last days at Versailles. There
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are a lot of characters, so focus on just the most relevant or you will get lost with all the names. Highly recommend for those who love historical fiction. Show Less
LibraryThing member MinaIsham
-- Although I studied French language through college I didn't understand origins of Bastille Day until I read FAREWELL, MY QUEEN, a novel by Chantal Thomas. In 1789 Madame Agathe Sidonie Laborde is Queen Marie Antoinette's reader (& FAREWELL, MY QUEEN's storyteller). They live at Versailles in
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France. Madame Laborde describes rooms & passages in the chateau, servant roles, & royal famiy members. The Bastille was a prison in Paris. In mid-July 1789 inmates along with ordinary citizens revolted against royalty. Wearing a disguise Madame Laborde left Versailles on July 16, 1789. Safely in Vienna 20 yrs. later she tells her story of being reader to Marie Antoinette. Author Thomas is qualified to write this historical novel. She is Director of Research at National Center of Scientific Research in France & an 18th century literature specialist. She & FAREWELL, MY QUEEN won the Prix Femina in 2002. In 2012 film version was released. -- Show Less
LibraryThing member nosajeel
Farewell My Queen has some great writing, some great scenes, some great impressions, but much of it is dull and uneven.
It recounts, almost hour-by-hour, Versailles on July 14th-16th 1789. The first day is a normal one as courtiers and servants do what courtiers and servants do. The second day
The story is told in flashbacks from the perspective of then-young woman who was a backup reader to Marie Antoinette. Her flashbacks are largely a series of people she interacted with and scenes she witnessed, like the animal keeper lamenting the death of his animals, the official court historian who is on volume 7 of his history, the man in charge of the household who is being ignored as everyone flees, and several other characters. The depiction of Marie Antoinette wandering around alone, knocking on doors and attempting--without success--to enter them is particularly moving, as Chantal Thomas explains that these are the first times she has even touched a door. It is interesting to understand that there is something infantile about the kings and queens who were helpless without people doing even the basic things for them.
It starts out telling all of these events in a witty and amusing manner. But then the method of telling does not sustain interest for the entire book, although it picks up again at the end when everyone is fleeing Versailles.
It recounts, almost hour-by-hour, Versailles on July 14th-16th 1789. The first day is a normal one as courtiers and servants do what courtiers and servants do. The second day
Show More
begins with the residents learning that the King was awoken in the middle of the night to be told about the Bastille. By the third day everyone is making plans to flee and the monarchy appears to be over.The story is told in flashbacks from the perspective of then-young woman who was a backup reader to Marie Antoinette. Her flashbacks are largely a series of people she interacted with and scenes she witnessed, like the animal keeper lamenting the death of his animals, the official court historian who is on volume 7 of his history, the man in charge of the household who is being ignored as everyone flees, and several other characters. The depiction of Marie Antoinette wandering around alone, knocking on doors and attempting--without success--to enter them is particularly moving, as Chantal Thomas explains that these are the first times she has even touched a door. It is interesting to understand that there is something infantile about the kings and queens who were helpless without people doing even the basic things for them.
It starts out telling all of these events in a witty and amusing manner. But then the method of telling does not sustain interest for the entire book, although it picks up again at the end when everyone is fleeing Versailles.
Show Less
Awards
Prix Femina (2002)
Language
Original language
French