Customer Reviews

Désirée

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Five years ago, my grandmother, knowing I enjoyed history, bought this book for me at a garage sale for 50 cents. At first I was a little skeptical, the book was battered and it smelled musty but I read it anyway. I'm glad I did, it certainly has been one of the most influential books in my life, causing me to pursue an odd interest in Napoleon thus causing me to study history in college. Recently, I stumbled across a webpage a woman had written dedicated to this book. In her page she told about the original German text of Selinko's work she had found in her Seattle, Wa Public Library that had several passages not printed in the American version. I would love to see both versions printed again, at least so I can retire my old worn copy and have one without the pages falling out.. and then maybe find out what happened in the German.

My aunt first owned this book, she gave it to my mother, who gave it to me, and I am 12 years old. We all loved it. It's romantic and exciting, with lots of history. I loved reading about Desiree through her whole life, and meeting Josephine and Napoleon. After I finished this book I went to the Louvre in Paris, and saw pictures of Napoleon's coronation, and Josephine's dress, which was described in Desiree. I loved this book and recomend it to women of all ages!

As a girl, I had a crush on Napoleon (I know, it is a strange confession). As a teenager, I nurtured those tender feelings by watching Armand Assante play the Emperor in Napoleon and Josephine. And, as a woman, I devoured books about Napoleon's life. How is it then, that I did not hear about DESIREE until I was well into my thirties?

Knowing I sometimes enjoy historical romance novels, my mother recommended Desiree to me. Now that I have read Annemarie Selinko's masterpiece, I would categorize it more as a sweeping historical novel than a romance. True, there are some tender scenes between Napoleon and Desiree (I melted when he sent her the sable to keep her warm), but it is hardly a romance.

The first person narration was a bit annoying at times - and the writer clearly shifted POV several times per chapter, but still, it is well written and amazingly well researched (only a few errors that I could spot, one of which being the mention of inbreeding being the cause of medical problems. This was something that wasn't fully realized or appreciated until the reign of Queen Victoria with her hemophilia passing genes).
Read this book if you enjoy sweeping historicals, especially those set in the Napoleonic time period.

I must confess though, I much preferred Sandra Gulland's novels about Josephine B. They give the reader a good taste of Napoleon, with a far more accurate take on the players of the time. (Selinko, for instance, paints a picture of Napoleon's mother as being hard-working and ever-so-loving, even though that is in contradiction to recent note-worthy biographies about the Bounapartes).

In the end, this book was a great read. I really had a hard time putting it down, despite my few misgivings.

I'm 13 years old, and I found this book in my grandmother's basement. It was pretty beaten up,and looked VERY thick. But I forgot about all of that as soon as I started to read it. I read almost non-stop the entire weekend and blew off everything else. This is the most touching, beautiful book. I laughed and I cried over it. It made me feel everything from Desiree's point of view. Somebody HAS to reprint it and make it available to everyone. It's the best book I've ever read, including Gone With the Wind, which I didn't think anything could surpass. It is a MUST read for everyone.

Desiree is a historical novel. The author wonderfully combined history, romance and fiction. All the elements worked very well together. Desiree's personality is descibed vividly in a subtle way. Although she's a historical figure, I can still associate her with modern women today. That's part of the reason this book is very fun to read. It is also a classic, and it is worth reading over and over. I first read it in Chinese because this book in English was out of print. The story was so good that I invested a good amount of time to track and bought the edition published in 1953. (It's worth it!!)

I first read this book 46 years ago a the age of 13, and have reread it many times. For those of you who can read German, I would highly recommend the original version of the book, it is simply better. Miss Selinko was a very gifted writer and the translation does not do her justice. I am sure it can be purchased through Amazon.de

I am an avid reader. I first read this book in high school; it caught my eye because the name of the title is my own. I checked it out and started reading and couldn't put it down. I loved "watching" the Napoleonic empire rise and fall and "see" Desiree fall in and out of love with him, then fall in love again with Jean-Baptiste. It is an epic romance of all times and I loved it. My mother saw me reading it one day and asked me what the book was about. When I told her, she laughed and said she had heard of Desiree Clary Bernadotte when she was in high school and fallen in love with the name and the person; that's why I was named after her!

I'm 14 years old, and I read this book last summer, since then, I have been obsessed with the Napoleonic Era. Just recently I discovered that there was a movie made about this book, also called Desiree, starring Marlon Brando(made in 1954). However, the is no copy of this movie at my local videostore. If anyone has any information on how I can obtain this video it would be very appreciated! Email me at clc_85@hotmail.com

I am in my late 40's. I first read this book when I was thirteen, and shortly thereafter bought a copy that I still have and that I read many times throughout my teens. I was so taken with Desiree that I began searching in the history section of my library - pulling every book about Napoleon and searching the indexes for references to Desiree and Julie. And then I began reading those book on Napolean. Now I have an extensive library of historical biography of French, British and Russian leaders, writers, artists, etc. I trace my love of history back to when I first opened this book and history became alive in a way I could relate to. I loved this book.

This book brought a time in history home to me in a manner I would have never thought possible. It is an absolutely marvelous story about a courageous woman in a difficult time who made difficult choices. It is set in the context of Napoleon's time, but he is not he main character. I went to Florence and found the tomb of Desiree's sister, Julie Clary, there and was thrilled to connect to a part of the history that Anne Marie Salinko made so vivid for me. This is one of the best books I have ever read.