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The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.

The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.

List Price: $14.00
Your Price: $10.50
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Just buy the whole series at once!
Review: I fell in love with this series somewhere near the beginning of the first book. Seeing the world through Rose's young, naive & inexperienced eyes slowly change as she is forced to grow up via loss of a sister, parenthood, loss of her first love & marriage, loss of family & place, and deal with the increasingly political climate of Paris. Details of the revolution, the confusion, the fear - riveting. Her inner struggle regarding her feelings for Napoleon, her circumstances, her children, and the suspicious circle of friends she had are brilliantly told. I could not put this book down & went to work late the day after I finished it - I could not go without buying the next one to continue reading that night.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A Fascinating Tale of a Compassionate Heroine
Review: "The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B" by Sandra Gulland is, on the whole, a wonderful book. The story presents to the reader the most turbulent time of France: the French Revolution, which is both fearful and fascinating. Also, Gulland does a very good job on the writing, and she can, at times, convey Josephine(Rose)'s feeling so well that you can feel Josephine's pain and despair. However, I found Josephine a rather weak character; she always describes the terrible and unfortunate events happening around her, but she never has the power to control them, which makes me think that she is pathetic. However, I do admire Josephine's great compassion for the weak and poor. Also, some parts of the book are ladened with tedious politics, which I did not find very interesting to read about. But this is a good book to read nonetheless. I would highly recommend this book to people who enjoy reading historical/romantic fiction.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wonderful Book!
Review: I had never heard of this book before I saw it at a book fair. I am so glad I picked it up! I have talked about it so much, that all of my friends are reading it. I thought the book was very well written. The diary entries, which I though at first I wouldn't like because it is fiction, were believable and wonderful to read. I learned things about the French Revolution and their society that I had never know before. Josephine Bonaparte is a smart, witty, and inspiring woman. Her triumphs over her family, husband, and society pull you in so you want to keep reading. I can't wait to start the second book. I would recomend this to anyone who likes historical fiction. One of the best I have read!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Josephine's life via her diary--fabulous!
Review: I'm not a big fan of the whole 'history via a character's diary' thing. But I grabbed this book on a whim and was quickly absorbed. Sandra Gulland makes her Josephine so real and lovable--she's not the out-of-reach French Empress who happened to cheat on Napoleon. Josephine is actually a very real, warm person with insecurities and loneliness and the same troubles that any of us would have. Her marriage is rough, she has to move far away from home, she worries about having the money for her children's education. You laugh, cry, and worry right along with Rose/Josephine.

The historical details in this are wonderful as well. It's obvious that Sandra Gulland put a lot of research into her book, and it certainly pays off. I immediately ordered the second and third book, and was not disappointed in any of them.

I recommend ordering the entire trilogy immediately. Trust me when I say you'll rip through all three in a record pace. They're that good.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fascinating, Eye-opening Tale of a Future Queen
Review: I only recently heard about this popular series of books on Josephine Bonaparte. I started reading this first one and could not put it down. I was immediately drawn into the young girl's life as she experiences one setback after another all the while remaining the strong, dignified individual that she is. My friends were right--Josephine B. had an amazing life that was very tragic and heart-wrenching yet inspirational and full of love.

This is a real page-turner. I felt as if I were peeking into a friend's diary and becoming hooked on her stories. I couldn't wait to see what happened next. After devouring this book in only two days, I decided to purchase the 2nd and 3rd books in the series. I know I won't be disappointed. Buy this book and you won't be disappointed either. Enjoy!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Enchanting Reading
Review: The book, written in diary format, documented the early life and formative years of Rose Tasher (aka Josephine Bonaparte). The only knowledge I had about this woman prior to reading this book was that she was Napolean's wife. Afterwards, I was truly enlightened and amazed to learn she was born a creole in Martinique.

Gulland provides an historical perspective of a young woman growing up in the Carribean, and her dreams for the future in a "magnificent" land. The author does much justice to historical timelines by including accurate references to mysticism, fortune-telling, local customs and development of young love and young dreams. Truly a delight to read.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An exelent book
Review: This book is exelent. After I picked it up I couldn't stop reading. It taught me a lot of things, and I know it will teach everybody something. I think it's just amazing how Josephine handeled her problems and how she faced the bad things in her life. If you read that book, it will warm your heart. I would definitely recommend that book to other people, and I can't wait to read the next one.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Overdone
Review: Although this book has some fine moments where I think the author really speaks to the readers and lets them know what Josephine's interior life might of been like, these moments do not make up for the failings of the book.

The author seems so pleased with herself for the research she did it is as if she cannot stop reminding the reader of all that she learned. I found the footnotes to be insulting and many times writen as if the reader had no knowledge whatsoever of the time period or of Josephine's actual life. The author was so intent on proving that she had throughly researched her subject that she let it disrupt the flow of her novel.

I was impressed with all that she knew about Josephine and France, however I wish she would have incorporated that knowledge into the body of the novel instead of endlessly intrupting her often engaging prose with footnotes.

Overall not a bad book and I did learn some new things but I wish that her style was less self-conscious.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Well Done Historical Fiction
Review: The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. is interesting and entertaining historical fiction. Sandra Gulland has a wonderful gift for story telling and her novel is quite engaging. It's told in diary form, starting when Josephine (then called Rose) was 14 years old. A fortune teller tells her that she will be "queen." She longs to leave her home in Martinico (Haiti) and travel to Paris. The opportunity soon presents itself and she begins a remarkable life, living through many difficulties during the French revolution. Josephine is a survivor and her story is interesting, and in this novel, well told.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: my review
Review: In this first book of the series on Josephine, be are introduced to a shy girl of 14 living in the Island of Martinico (later know as Haiti). She is however given a glimpse of her future by a very old voodoo woman. Does she believe her? it seems impossible she could become queen living in almost near poverty! how strange life is.

The author is using Josephine's journals as well as accounts of all the people Josephine came in contact with. She has achieved a remarkably well written "autobiography". You do feel as if you are reading Josephine's thoughts and emotions and living alongside her all the many things, good and bad, that happen to her.

If you love historical novels, this is a very good book.


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