Monday, May 24, 2010

The Bad Queen by Carolyn Meyer


Meyer, Carolyn The Bad Queen: Rules and Instructions for Marie Antoinette, 420 p. Harcourt, 2010.  $18.00.  Sexual Content: PG-13 (there is a lot of talk about the King and Marie’s inability to connect in the bedroom, Violence: PG-13 (this is the French Revolution, folks).  From a young girl controlled by her mother in the court of Austria to a young princess and then queen controlled by strict rules and etiquette in the courts of France – Marie Antoinette carves out what happiness she can.  But the people of France don’t understand this Austrian princess and when things start to go sour, she, with her extravagant spending and elaborate lifestyle, is a much too easy target for their wrath.  Meyer has put out two great new titles now, with Charley Darwin and this.  Her writing has returned to its prime.  Unfortunately, you can’t give a full picture of Marie without going into the problems in her marriage or addressing the Revolution, but this does push the material into a more mature category.  This is also a longet book than any that I remember.  I don’t think I would recommend this to schools with 6th graders – the 8/9 grade level seems most appropriate.  MS, HS – ADVISABLE. Cindy, Library Teacher.

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