The Embroidered Book, a historical fantasy, follows the Hapsburg girls, Maria Carolina and Marie Antoinette from childhood to becoming monarchs of Naples and France respectively. This is a well-researched volume which takes the history of these two women and binds it with the idea that magic is part of their world. As youngsters, after their governess if killed in her bed, they find a book of magic spells with an embroidered cover that belonged to her. The two girls study the spells and gradually become magisters or mages.
As they assume their duties as royalty, Carolina works to suppress the actions of Ferdinand, her weak and profligate spouse. Marie Antoinette, whose husband Louis the XVI takes seven years to consummate their marriage, is prevented from doing much due to the rigorous protocols established by the Sun King, Louis XIV. They both try to deal with the growing use of magic in their countries with the old-school Order trying to keep magic to themselves and the rogues trying to free magic to be used by all.
This is a historical fantasy, but I found the fantasy elements kept me from being completely gripped by this book. I’ve found the French Revolution fascinating since reading Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities in high school. Since then I’ve read The Journey by Antonia Fraser, Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette and The Fountain of St. James Court by Sena Jeter Naslund, The Fatal Friendship by Stanley Loomis, and Becoming Marie Antoniette, a trilogy by Juliet Grey, so I needed no prompting to keep up with the vast cast of characters. Unfortunately, The Embroidered Book doesn’t fully live up to the others. Several times in the 655 pages, I wondered if the book would ever end.
********************
The Embroidered Book (HarperVoyager, February 17, 2022) is available through:
********************
This post may contain Amazon Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small amount from qualifying purchases at no cost to you.
