Desiree Clary was not the woman I was expecting her to be and her story was not what I was expecting either.
As the brief fiancé of Napoleon Bonaparte I expected her to be this gorgeous, intelligent, enrapturing woman... but she seemed very plain and ordinary to me. She was described as being beautiful, of that I have no doubt, but the rest of her personality seemed so ordinary. I find it truly amazing that she not only ensnared the heart of Napoleon for a period of time, but also captured the heart of a man so loved by the general masses that he would end up the king of Sweden! And maybe I’m missing something while reading about her, but I find it truly amazing that she became the woman she did.
She lived through one of the worst periods of French history and not only came out of it alive but better off than she had ever been. Her story was a truly remarkable one, tying in not only the story of Napoleon and his empire but the story of Sweden and the beginning of a dynasty there.

Thank you so much to Random House for sending me a copy of this book! I highly recommend picking it up if you’re interested in history!