Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette

This is my favorite way to read a biography–a book that reads more like a novel. Granted, Naslund freely admits that this is a somewhat fictionalized account of Antoinette’s life. She did however, do extensive research and has tried to be as faithful to actual events as there is evidence for.

That said, this novel is incredibly sympathic towards Marie Antoinette. I suppose this is the same trend that I’ve noticed in novels about Anne Boleyn I’ve been reading. Of course, there is no way of really knowing what went on in the minds of these women, and much of what we do know about them is through a male lens. As a result, modern writers tend to Romanticize them, depicting them in a way that will appeal to our modern sensibilities. Thankfully, Naslund doesn’t go overboard with this. There are a few moments in the novel that are a bit more frank about Louis XVI’s and Marie Antoinette’s contributions toward the revolution. However, for the most part, Antoinette and Louis are depicted as charmingly naive.

In any case, it was a fun read. There is quite a bit of sexual content, though not inapproriate since it primarily focuses on the married couple. (Their marriage was not consumated for years, so much of the novel deals with Antoinette’s attempts to “inspire” her husband.) Surprisingly, Naslund is very careful to keep Antoinette’s relationship with Axel von Ferson strictly on the platonic level. I know there is a lot of controversy about this, but Naslund never even hints that there was anything inappropriate about their relationship.

Throughout the novel, there are hints of faith. Of course, Marie Antoinette was catholic, and it is touching to see how the events towards the end of her life draw her deeper into her faith. Part of this movement towards God is due to her devotion as a mother; her desire to protect her family was always a much stronger pull on her than the temptations of court life, but even more so when that life disolved.

October 19, 2007 Posted in: fiction, historical fiction