Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette audiobook

4.5 stars for the sweeping epic life story of Marie Antoinette, so beautifully told by Sena Jeter Naslund. I just loved this. For lovers of historical fiction, Sena is a beautiful writer. I hadn't known much at all about Marie Antoinette, but wasn't she a wonderful character? One can really see her inner mind, as these events were forming around her. She became queen at 14 years old. The book opens with this wonderful image of how the ceremony begins on an island between the two countries, where one literally steps out of Austrian fashion, naked, into new clothes, a new name, and into a new country, into royalty. Thus begins a 14 year olds journey, where she becomes Marie Antoinette, devoted to her new country and new people, leaving the country and family of her birth.I never knew about the affair with the necklace, that appears to have many books written about that unfortunate time in history. The main point, is to illustrate that the French were growing exceedingly uncomfortable about their economy, and the citizens were starving, while the Royal court appeared to have great excess. This account depicts both Louis and Marie as trying to respond adequately and thoughtfully to the needs of the country, while unrest and anger and revolutionaries spoke out against the monarchy. In this rendition, the royals did everything they could to work with the needs of a quickly changing country, while the people felt more and more unrest, and increasing rage and disloyalty. The necklace seemed to be a whole part of that story. In the end, Louis and Marie both met an untimely end, due to the fervor growing in the country. Even then, they were loving patriots, and cared deeply for their citizens. Marie loved her husband, and showed great loyalty to him, but she also developed another great love later in her young life, who was a male best friend. He was a confidant, soulmate, and twin. In this rendering, nothing untoward happens with this man, who was a favorite and good friend to both the couple at the court. But of course, this friendship is depicted horribly from the eyes of the constituency. Or at least that she ran around gaily, while others starved. It was a pure friendship, but a deep love nonetheless. How refreshing to remember a time, when one can have a pure deep love in their lives, with no need to act on it and to destroy the life one's built. But to have it in one's life as a fulfilling dimension. I think that would be rare to exist these days, and I thought it was just lovely.

I've just begun this book, and--contrary to some reviews--I love the measured voice. It's beautifully written, beautifully observed. I loved Ahab's Wife, as well, and Abundance has that same remarkable quality of pulling you gently into another world. Sena Jeter Naslund is a wonderful writer.

Marie Antoinette has intrigued me for years and I have read countless books about her, and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Told in diary form, this book provides a rare, intimate insight into the life of the Queen; her most private thoughts and feelings from the moment she steps onto French land at the young age of fourteen, to the moment she meets her tragic fate. Although it is fiction, it's clear that the author did her homework and based much of what she wrote on actual documentations and letters written by Marie Antoinette herself. I loved the light in which Naslund portrayed the highly misunderstood Queen (no, she did NOT really utter the words, "Let them eat cake"). Every sentence in this book is beautiful, poetic, graceful, and carefully constructed, making it even more of a pleasure to read and one of the main reasons why I enjoyed it so much. Although towards the end I found myself growing a bit impatient, as it IS lengthier than need be, overall I liked it and would recommend it to those who enjoy historical fiction.

This book was difficult in the beginning. Since it is written as spoken by Marie Antoinette it was filled with statements starting with "I". At first it was quite redundant and then I began to realize it was a brilliant way to tell her story...in a self-centered way. The author does a wonderful job telling how Marie's life was very sheltered and lavish. She portrays Marie as an innocent naive young girl going from her very restricted and sheltered environment as a child, to meeting her new country and husband as a young 14 year old child. Yes, Marie did love beautiful extravagant "things" but that was what she was provided with and what could be deemed as "normal" in her world. I grew to admire her since she was able to see beyond her beautiful, glittered life to the plight of the common people around her. Naslund does a very nice job of showing Marie's growth from the child to a woman who truly loves her husband, her children and the people of France despite their cruel gossip and views of her as their queen. Even though I knew what tragic fate awaited her, I found myself hoping for her survival. Here was a woman who was generous of heart, who was able to maintain dignity and strength even when stripped of her children and wealthy trappings. My childhood memories of Marie's history were of a woman who took the food from her people's mouths to pay for elaborate clothes and hairstyles and uttered "let them eat cake". This book reveals the true person behind the name Marie Antoinette. I truly enjoyed the author's lavish and poetic dialog used to tell Marie's thoughts.

An utterly delicious and satisfying read. Of course, given the book is about Marie Antoinette, we all know how it ends. But I really loved the buildup. This book is long as it takes us from when she first goes to France at 14 all the way up to her death. But it was a very fast read. Some of the viewpoints feel immature/childish but it's written from her POV so I think it's intentional given how young she was when this all began to unfold. There was a lot I didn't know about her and her marriage, so this filled in the gaps. There were definitely a few scenes that progressed time but not the story, which is why this is just short of 5 stars. But, overall, I just adored this book and was constantly sneaking in pages whenever I could.

An excellent book, I recommend it highly. The author does a marvelous job telling the story from the perspective of Marie Antoinette herself, beginning with the day that she leaves her home in Austria as a very young teenager.

Maravillosa. Es la primera palabra que se me viene a los labios al pensar en esta novela.Siempre he gustado mucho de las biografías de personajes cuyas vidas me resultan interesantes, y he leído unas cuantas, pero ninguna como en este caso: novelada y contada en primera persona por Marie Antoinette. Quizás por este hecho la he disfrutado tantísimo, aparte de por tantas cosas de la historia, los personajes y de la sociedad francesa de la época que he aprendido. Todo ha sido una maravillosa sorpresa, un grato descubrimiento.María Antonieta me ha mostrado sus pensamientos desde que, con catorce años, llegó a Francia para ser Delfina, luego sus pensamientos de adolescente, de esposa, de Majestad, de madre, de frívola Gran Dama, luego de sufridora, viuda y reo a muerte. Me ha gustado cotejar las personalidades de sus allegados en la Corte que nos muestra esta historia, con lo que nos muestran los documentos de la época, las enciclopedias, y me ha gustado especialmente ponerles rostro a todos ellos.También me ha parecido muy interesante y acertado que la autora usara cartas reales de la época, fragmentos reales de conversaciones y documentación recogida en diversos archivos históricos. Todo ello lo hace más real, más cercano.De 10.

Not the typical tale of Marie Antoinette. Did you know she didn't actually say "let them eat cake?" I was shocked -- that's all I really knew about Marie Antoinette... well, and the bit about the guillotine. This author portrays her as a kind, loving, compassionate queen, born to love and lead, ultimately giving all for France. I found this book fascinating, more than a little disturbing (in a way I can't completely describe) and actually a page turner, just as the cover promised.

I have always found the story of the last queen of the French monarchy to be nothing less than utterly fascinating. I was not disappointed in the least by this historically-based novel written from Marie Antoinette’s point of view. The voice the author created for her was charming, nuanced, and matured with Marie Antoinette through the beautifully descriptive pages from her introduction at 14 to her untimely death at 37. What particularly struck me was in the end, when Marie was facing imminent arrest and likely death, she became so disoriented, first and third person began interchanging, lending a hysterical quality to the clearly tumultuous time. This added a depth of experience that jumped from the page. I think it was Thomas Jefferson who quipped something like, “had there not been a queen, there would have not been a revolution.” What a burden to bear throughout history! I found Naslund’s Antoinette (and, if accurate, likely the real one) clever though naive, charming though fierce, and innocent though ultimately guilty for her own demise. What a contradictory historical figure?Overall, I found it beautifully written and a pleasure to read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed this book and even though this was fiction, I learned a lot about Marie Antoinette, France, and the French Revolution. I looked up information about her to learn the basic truths from the story, so it could have happened this way. I enjoyed the insights into that way of life and the history, and the story. It was well written, but I didn't give it five stars because I just didn't truly love it.#ABookBasedOnARealPerson

3.5 stars