Dressed to Empress!

Mention the Empress Josephine and the first thing that comes to mind is 'Not tonight, Josephine.'.  The second thing would probably be Napoleon and the third... erm...

This embarrassing lack of knowledge led me to the wonderful 'Josephine: Desire, Ambition, Napoleon' by the even more wonderful Dr Kate Williams.

'Josephine: Desire,
Ambition, Napoleon'
by Kate Williams
(Arrow, 2014)

Born on a plantation in Martinique in 1763, no one could have imagined that Marie-Josephe-Rose de Tascher would become the greatest jewel in the French imperial crown.  The wild little girl, who ruined her teeth gnawing raw sugar cane, became a romantic teenager, dreaming of the glamour of France and its court.  When her aunt decided she should marry her lover's son and move to Paris, Josephine thought her chance had finally come.  But the marriage was a ploy to keep wealth in the family and Josephine's husband, Alexandre, proved adulterous, suspicious and vile, while she found her lack of education and social graces made her the laughing stock of those she admired.  The French Revolution brought horror and death, but also opportunity.  Her husband was executed and Josephine narrowly escaped a date with the guillotine, but she became a streetwise survivor, determined to live by any means possible.  She rose to become a star of the new debauched France that seemed desperate to wash away the blood with wine and live life to the full in defiance of death.  When she caught the eye of a young Corsican soldier called Napoleon Bonaparte, her latest lover ordered her to keep him happy.  Thus one of history's great partnerships was born...

I adored this book.  I found it so interesting and learned so much that I was astounded that no one has made a TV drama about Josephine.  Hers was an amazing personal journey, shaped by circumstance as much as desire and survival as much as ambition.  Dr Williams' book is studded with fascinating gems of information that really made her subject come to life.  From Josephine's terrible teeth to her love of exotic plants, her naive spending habits to her diplomatic skills, each snippet brings Josephine out of Napoleon's shadow.  Above all, far from being Napoleon's chattel, Dr Williams shows that one of history's greatest couples were most successful when working as a team and that at least part of the General's success relied on his wife's ability to handle the more touchy-feely aspects of being a ruler.  Even the man himself recognised this, although far too late.

'Josephine: Desire, Ambition, Napoleon' has a highly accessibly style to it, full of an almost gossipy energy.  The author clearly has great passion for the subject and reading the book is much like sitting down with a friend who can't wait to tell you all the news.  I loved the way letters and other sources were quoted too, so while the whole thing had authenticity, I didn't feel bogged down and the book didn't loose its readability.  If you were doing an academic study on Josephine, you would obviously want more original text, but for someone like me, this was perfect.

Overall, I would really recommend 'Josephine: Desire, Ambition, Napoleon' to anyone interested in history and particularly women in history.  It's not just about the battles on the field, people!

STOP PRESS!!

Not long after finishing this book, I had the great pleasure of seeing Dr Williams talking about her new novel at Yeovil Literary Festival and this led to some amazing news.  A drama based on this book is actually being made!  Sounds like it's going to be a bit saucy in places, but so long as the series is true to all aspects of Josephine's story, I'm sure it'll be amazing.  It's currently at script stage, but hopefully we'll hear more soon!