Mistress of the Sun: A Novel
by Sandra Gulland
List Price:
Our Price: $1.31
You Save: $24.69 (95%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Sandra GullandEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-06-03
ISBN: 074329887X
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Touchstone
Book Reviews of Mistress of the Sun: A Novel
Book Review: (4.5 stars) "The appearance of sin is as damaging as the sin itself."
Summary: 4 Stars
Gulland pens a passionate account of the love affair of Louise de la Valliere, a commoner with few aspirations, and the Sun King, Louis XIV of France. Raised in poverty, "Petite", a pale and slender child, is clever, curious a talented horsewoman. Gentling the great white stallion, Diablo, purchased by her beloved father in her youth, Louise dabbles in the dark arts to master the willful animal, only the beginning of a lifetime laced with devout prayers for guidance and a deliberate will to follow her passions. Once she finds herself in the unlikely position of maid of honor to Louis' brother Philippe's wife, Petite is on a fated path, an affair with Louis that results in royal offspring and years of subterfuge in a contentious court, where spies are everywhere and enemies pounce on opportunity.
Given her slightness of figure and low profile in Henrietta's assemblage, even Louise is surprised to capture the king's attention, fueled by a meeting years before when she thought him a poacher. Carrying that fanciful and romanticized image in her heart, Louise is easily seduced by the urbane and amorous Louis, his Spanish wife ignorant of court nuance, clinging to her language and habits. The soon-to-be king's paramour learns quickly of the dangers of court intrigue and the constant machinations of those drawn to power, one the author's most successful themes in this novel, a pervasive atmosphere of treachery and risk where the uninitiated are easy prey to sophisticated schemers. Yet the ambivalence of this protagonist is stunning, an obsessive devotion to prayer and God's favorable intervention while pursuing a radical path as consort to the king, building falsehood upon falsehood and the dislocation of self that ultimately occurs. History is littered with the children of such royal dalliances.
But Gulland's focus is on Louise and the terrible cost of her love for the Sun King. After years of affection, the king reveres Louise, but is still a man in thrall to the charms of women; such betrayals are common at court, especially the decadence of Louis' reign, Louise face to face with her moral quandary, the condition of her soul and the future of her children. Religion becomes more of an imperative as the years unfold, Louise no longer the love-struck girl. She faces hard choices, burdened by the decisions of her youth: "Sin was in her; she knew that. But she would not give way this time." Like the great white stallion she once tamed, Louise rises above her station in life, the title bestowed by the king and the home that makes its own historical imprint, a woman unable to deny love and its demands, finding peace at last, grief assuaged by humility. Gulland does a wonderful job, emphasizing the few options open to a woman of no means and impressive spirit, imbued with the religious devotion that defines the great European powers, carving an extraordinary character from the fragments of the past to claim her place in history. Luan Gaines/ 2008.
Historical Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Historical Books
Pirate Latitudes: A Novelby Michael Crichton
Harper; Published: 2009-11-24; Roughcut; Book
Best price: $2.28
Price in other shops:
The Master Butchers Singing Club: A Novelby Louise Erdrich
Harper Perennial; Published: 2004-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.83
Price in other shops:
The Last Witchfinder: A Novelby James Morrow
William Morrow; Published: 2006-03-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops:
Zorroby Isabel Allende
HarperAudio; Published: 2005-05-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
The Hot Kid: A Novelby Elmore Leonard
William Morrow; Published: 2005-05-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.88
Price in other shops:
The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Chronicles Series #1)Mass Market Paperback; Book
Bones of the Hills (Conqueror, Book 3)by Conn Iggulden
Harper Collins Canada; Published: 2008; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $44.70
Marchby Geraldine Brooks
Penguin Books; Published: 2006; Paperback; Book
Gates of Rome (Emperor 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2003-09-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.80
Girl With a Pearl Earringby Tracy Chevalier
Harper Collins Audio; Published: 2002-06-17; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $34.99
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Womanby Robert K. Massie
Random House; Published: 2011-11-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.47
Price in other shops:
The Countess and the King: A Novel of the Countess of Dorchester and King James IIby Susan Holloway Scott
NAL Trade; Published: 2010-09-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.12
Price in other shops:
Murder of a Medici Princessby Caroline P. Murphy
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2008-04-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops:
The French Mistress: A Novel of the Duchess of Portsmouth and King Charles IIby Susan Holloway Scott
NAL Trade; Published: 2009-07-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.81
Price in other shops:
Duchess: A Novel of Sarah Churchillby Susan Holloway Scott
NAL Trade; Published: 2006-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.20
Price in other shops:
Mistress of the Revolutionby Catherine Delors
Dutton Adult; Published: 2008-03-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.49
Price in other shops:
The Last Great Dance on Earthby Sandra Gulland
Scribner Paperback Fiction; Published: 2000-11-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.12
Price in other shops:
The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.by Sandra Gulland
Scribner; Published: 1999-08-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.97
Price in other shops:
Tales Of Passion, Tales Of Woeby Sandra Gulland
Scribner; Published: 1999-11-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.25
Price in other shops:
The Last Great Dance on Earthby Sandra Gulland
Published: 2000-11-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.90
Price in other shops: