Customer Reviews

Dancing to the Precipice: The Life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin, Eyewitness to an Era

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When I picked up the book and idly started to peruse the introductory material, such as the list of major characters, only to look up in alarm from it to find that I had immediately become so engrossed that two hours has passed without my even noticing, I knew I had found that rare creature, the nearly perfect biography. (I say nearly perfect only because I'm sure that there must be flaws; I just haven't identified any...)

Beginning with her choice of subject, Caroline Moorehead has delivered something wonderful; a biography and work of history that sets the events of the French revolution and the Napoleonic era in context. By telling them through the life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin, born Lucie Dillon in 1770, she makes those events both more fascinating -- we see them as they affect Lucie and her family and friends -- and more understandable (since the discussion doesn't start in 1789 with the fall of the Bastille and stop suddenly with Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815.) Lucie, born into a noble family of Irish and English Catholics (her mother is French), grows up and marries in the final years of the reign of Louis XVI; she becomes a lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinette. Escaping the guillotine, she and her husband flee to America, where they take up farming in upstate New York, then return to Europe to try and rebuild their lives. Indeed, before she turned 50 and began to write her own life history (a document that Moorehead draws on heavily, alongside extensive and unpublished correspondence between Lucie and her extended family and friends), Lucie has fled into exile on no fewer than four occasions, trying to keep ahead of the political changes that sweep through France. As she tries to cope with the blows that life deals her, from miscarriages and the deaths of other children at a young age to the trials of adjusting to new political realities and the financial stress of surviving as a refugee, I became more and more fascinated with Lucie and in awe of her ability to develop a strong sense of self and an independent mind. By the time she is in her 40s, people are commenting on how formidable this once-naive young woman has become.

I found two strands of this book particularly compelling. The first is the changing nature of the French society, including the role of the salons, the conversational forums overseen by women throughout the 18th centuries where many of the Englightenment-era ideas that led to the Revolution first saw the light of day. Lucie grew up attending these in her youth, and continued to do so whenever possible, sharing both literary and philosophical discussions with notable figures of the day, from Talleyrand (defrocked priest turned arch-political manipulator, and a very early proponent of a united Europe) to Madame de Stael. Indeed, between her family relationships and her position in society, there are few notable people of her time whom Lucie didn't come to know. She observes Talleyrand and Alexander Hamilton debate each other over dinner in New York, attends the coronation of Napoleon and Josephine, mourns the execution of her king and queen but deplores the arrogance and humorlessness of their surviving daughter, the Duchesse d'Angouleme, when the royal family is restored to power in 1815. Her son serves with the Prince of Orange's troops at Waterloo; Lucie herself claims the Duke of Wellington as a childhood friend.

The other particularly fascinating part of Moorehead's book is the extent to which she is able to convey the flavor of the times in which Lucie lived, and blend that effortlessly with the details of her subject's life and experiences. In 1770, the year Lucie is born, more than 6,000 infants ("lice-ridden, stinking of urine, bundled into filthy rags) are abandoned in the streets of Paris; Lucie, however, grows up in an emotionally-deprived but otherwise rich life in "a world in which elegance of performance was a form of freedom of expression" and where people around her were "attentive to the meanings of words and their most subtle nuances, convinced that culture could overcome prejudice, ignorance and the brutality of the instincts." Particularly striking is the degree to which optimism prevailed in the salons in the years leading up to the fall of the Bastille. "It was an extraordinary moment to be young and to be French. Paris was alive with ideas and arguments, rumours and opinions. Never had the salons been so lively nor their guests more outspoken and opinionated." Moorehead captures the changes in Paris, from the horrors of the 'Terror' to the near-frenzied gaiety of the Directoire period that followed. She shows us how Napoleon's moves to seize political power created a welcome sense of stability; daily newspapers shrank in number from 73 to a more manageable -- and censored -- 13 publications. She also shows how the new powers -- lacking an aristocratic background -- tried too hard to be dignified; etiquette at Napoleon's court was more stifling than that at Versailles. Meanwhile, the salons were turning into places where the newly-powerful could learn how to conduct themselves in society, while the remnants of the ancien regime try to find a role for themselves in this new world as tutors.

Every page of this book contains fresh insights into the people and time of this turbulent period, going beyond the fall of Napoleon and into an era in the 1820s where revolutionary ideals of equality and a sense of nationhood that was distinct from the sense of being subjects to a ruling royal family endured. While the restored Bourbon monarchs tried to restore the hoop skirt along with traditional political values, their efforts were to prove fleeting, and Moorehead tells us, through the experiences of Lucie and her family, why that might have been so.

This wonderful biography is as compelling as a great novel; Lucie emerges as a strong and vivid personality, someone who it would be fascinating to sit down and talk to for hours. Even without Moorehead's deft handling of the political backdrop to Lucie's story, the book would be a fascinating one, thanks to the author's ability to weave in small but telling details, from Lucie's attitudes to slavery in the Americas to the advent of toothbrushes, fountain pens and toast in Britain. (Moorehead notes that a Swedish scientist claimed toast was devised as a way to make it possible to spread butter on bread in the chilly English climate...)

Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the period, or in women's lives in European history. A model for what biography can and should be.

The most interesting biography I have read in such a long time, this book kept me fascinated and I'm already planning on Re-reading it this coming winter! There is so much information regarding actual historical events and descriptions of aristocratic life in the 18th & 19th centuries, truly fascinating to read about such historical figures in such a personal way. This book puts a very personal touch and perspective on "dry" history, makes the events of the time come alive.

I am currently reading about the era of the revolution in France: wanting to understand it better. I'd just finished a book about the Duc D'Orleans, a contemporary, called Godfather of the Revolution. I felt that this book would be another good resource as it is a personal account of that time. It seems that Lucie de la tour du Pin and her husband either knew or were acquainted with many of the movers and shakers of their day.

I admire them both for their devotion to one another and for their resourcefulness. They adapted to setbacks and tragedy and moved on. Lucie went from attending to Marie Antoinette at Versailles to making butter in the New World and back again to a very changed France.

I liked this book; I never got bored while reading it. THE END or finis!

This is a real "page turner." It is chocked full of information about a tumultuous period of history from 1770 to 1853. Intertwined among the historical events are the personal observations of Lucie de la Tour du Pin. Though a wealthy French aristocrat and privy to the goings on in the halls of Versailles, she is not above doing whatever she needs to do for her family, whether churning butter on a small farm in Albany, NY or voluntarily sharing a prison cell with her politician husband in Bordeaux. It is a good read, but a few things troubled me. There are several errors in the text, some important; some not. A few dates are off by a decade and a few editorial gaffs appear here and there all of which I'm sure will be corrected in a second edition. The one unforgivable decision by the publisher is the design of the dustcover which obliterates the face of a woman whom we are lead to believe is Lucie. All in all, it's worthwhile reading.

Dancing to the Precipice is more than a very interesting biography of a survivor of the French Revolution who was close to Marie Antoinette, Napolean, Wellington, and other significant figures of her time. It is a detailed and insightful study of why the revolution occured, Napolean's rise and fall and rise again only to finally fall, and the intimacy of the hardships suffered by even the most elite survivors of the revolution. Caroline Moorehead's style of weaving information about other figures and events that were occuring around her subject makes her work a study of the times. I was a history major, but nothing as interesting as this biography was offered in my college studies. Equally and in some ways even more interesting is the journal of Lucie de la Tour du Pin Recollections of the Revolution and the Empire, which is the journal upon which the author based Dancing to the Precipice.

"Dancing to the precipice: the life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin, eyewitness to an era," by Caroline Moorehead, may be the most interesting royal book I've read in a few years. At age fifty, the Marquise de la Tour du Pin Gouvernet, née Lucie Dillon, decided to write her famous memoirs. Her incredible life closely overlaps and often directly connects with scores of the most notable contemporaries of her era, from late in the reign of Louis XV right through the reign of Louis Philippe. Not wanting to give away much detail concerning this remarkably exciting and tumultuous life that took Lucie to so many places and through a multitude of daunting challenges, I will summarize by quoting from the book something her devoted husband of almost 50 years wrote to a dear family friend at the end of his days: "My wife's bottomless reserves of courage will always serve you well. Ah, how admirable it is to be so completely buffeted by storms, yet to remain so fundamentally unbroken."

I cannot recommend a more fascinating new royal book than this one.

anyone who gives this book a good review - i regret to say - simply has not read mme. de la tour du pin's own & brilliant memoirs, of which this book can be called a virtual "plagiarism" & not only boring in comparison to the original but filled with this author's mistakes as well as wrongly-drawn conclusions.

i have been shocked at the favorable professional reviews AND that her publishers allowed "dancing to the precipice" to even be published.(i may be mistaken, but i don't remember that the title itself is ever revealed by the author as a direct quote from mme. de la tour du pin herself)

there is no excuse to read it rather than to read mme. de la tour du pin, herself.

Through the Life of Lucie La Tour du Pin, Carolyn Moorehead tells the story of the French Revolution and its aftermath. This may be the most instructive book I have read of this period. Lucie, unlike the subjects of other biographies I've read (Marie-Therese: The Fate of Marie Antoinette's Daughter, Napoleon: The Path to Power, Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution to name some recent ones), experienced all the events from Louis XVI to Charles X. She personally knew and had connections to the key players in each period, such as Marie Antoinette (Lucie was a lady in waiting) Napoleon (he called upon her for special assignments, one was to entertain Josephine who was her distant relative), Duke of Wellington (from her British side of the family), Camille Desmoulins (colleague of her father, who was beheaded with him), Fanny Bertrand (went into exile with Napoleon), Madame de Stael, Talleyrand and a host of others with less modern day name recognition.

Her well connected father was away most of her childhood leaving Lucie and her mother to suffer under her abusive grandmother's thumb in a situation that worsened after her mother's death. Lucie can be credited with holding out (and perhaps scheming) to marry Frederic, the man she loved. The difficult childhood most likely created the survival instincts that helped her survive, as a former noble, the Revolution, the Reign of Terror, Napoleon, Louis VIII, and Charles X.

Survival was not easy. Each regime change brought stress as family resources dwindled and debt grew. There was time spent in hiding and in 4 different exiles. One exile was to America, where Lucy bought, oversaw and freed slaves as well as milked cows herself (and met Alexander Hamilton). Another exile took the family to England where wealthy relatives gave an uneasy shelter. Despite her disclaimers, she was valuable to her husband's career in three diplomatic posts. It was Lucie who plotted their exile to America using an ancien regime connection to secure false documents. She knew whom to trust to assist with logistics and transportation. While Lucie was doing all this she had 10 pregnancies with 6 live births and saw the deaths of 5 of her children.

The beauty of this book is how the author describes all of the above. In each period there are changes in the country's mood, its style, the arts, the character of the salons and in the standing of former nobles. From the published memoirs, personal letters and an extensive background of the times the author helps the reader understand Lucie's story, which is the story of the French Revolution and its aftermath.

There is a helpful table of characters. The plates include photographs of paintings of the key players you want to see (i.e. you really don't need to see Marie Antoinette, but you want to see Teresia Tallien). Drawings, reproduced alongside the appropriate text, help you envision the changing styles, what was built of Le Bouilh Chateau and minor characters such as Rene Chateaubriand.

That this book is filled with content and still remains highly readable (at times a page turner) is a credit to the author. I highly recommend this for anyone interested in this period.

Lucie de la Tour du Pin was raised as an aristocrat, and came of age at the start of the French Revolution. In the twists and turns of power that followed, her husband supported the King and a constitutional monarchy. She and her family were force to emigrate from France several times during the Revolution, living both in America and England. During the Napoleonic period, she and her husband were given important responsibilities, and when the Bourbons returned to the throne, she served that government.

An interesting person, Lucie is a resilient survivor who struggles with the loss of children, family wealth, with the execution of many of her friends and family, and manages to retain a strong sense of her own values.

This book gives wonderful insight into nearly 50 years of French history, through the perspective of someone who access to the highest levels of government. As someone who has read extensively in this time period, I found it quite interesting, and felt Ilearned many new things.

I recommend it highly. I would have given it 5 stars if the writing had been a bit better. There are some unfortunate, long, tangled sentences which I eventually got used to, but the book would be much improved if it had been better written.

After awhile, if you start reading some of the great books that have come out in recent years, you greet the historical characters as familiar friends...
In this book, Caroline Moorehead covers Lucie's remarkable life, the life of an aristocrat survivor whose wits kept her family alive and afloat.

This book is compelling for many reasons: it well describes the plight of the emigres who escaped to England and America. She was a former lady in waiting to Marie Antoinette, escapes near death by the intervention of Therese Tallien, then Lucie meets up with Talleyrand in New York, and helps host receptions for Josephine. The details and research are a treasure trove of historical and social background--down to the fact the the color of the toiles changed from pastels to darker colors during the upheaval of revolution.

There were a few areas I felt not as strong--Talleyrand is painted with the same brush, and there are a few editing errors (page 53: In the spring of 1794 Lucie turned 14--should be 1784. Also USA (more modern) instead of America or the United States.

Still--if you read this book, you should read books recommended in my earlier reviews. They, too, cover the same era and the reader will appreciate this book, and the others better.