Désirée by Annemarie Selinko

This book came to me as a recommendation from my uncle Jonathan. Although I picked it up on my Kindle right about the time he sent the recommendation my way with the intention of reading it eventually, it took some time before I finally got around to it. I have to confess that I'm not much of a historical fiction person. I can't really put a finger on why. It's just not what I usually go to. When I read the first chapter or so, I quickly saw that it was a fictionalized historical account of a young woman during the French revolution. It didn't turn me off. It just didn't inspire me to pick it up when I had other books waiting on my bedstand.

But over the summer I had some time on airplanes and in hotels, and it seemed like a good time to pull out my Kindle and give the book a fair chance. When the author put the fictional young girl in the path of a young Napolean, and them gave them a love story, it felt like a stretch to me. Napolean's a big name. I didn't buy it, historically. Clearly I hadn't read the fine print - it took several chapters for me to realize that this was a fictionalized book about a real person, Napolean's jilted fiancée Désirée Clary, who went on to have a rather interesting, high profile life herself.

I think realizing that this was a real person, but I real person I actually knew nothing about, was what finally drew me in to the story. I have to admit that I'm still not a historical fiction person. It wasn't my favorite book ever. But I did enjoy it, and I found it fascinating from a historical perspective. The French revolution and the campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte are important pieces of European history about which I have a surprising lack of knowledge, and it was kind of fun to learn something while I read. The book was well told, too. I could relate to the characters, and I was interested in their well-being and their story. So I welcome the recommendation, and I'm glad I read it. (Thanks Jonathan!)