Madame de Pompadour: A Life [Paperback]

Evelyne Lever (Author), Catherine Temerson (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2003

A riveting new biography of the legendary French queen
family life in vienna, the wedding at versailles to louis xvi, the french court, boredom, hypocrisy, loneliness, allies, enemies, extravagant entertainment, scandal, intrigue, sex, birth and bereavement, lovers, peasant riots, the fall of the bastille, the attack on versailles, confinement in the tuileries, escape and capture, mob rule in paris, imprisonment, the guillotine. marie antoinette is a biographer's dream, and evelyne lever's account of the life of the inimitable (and last) french queen is a sumptuous, addictive delight. from marie antoinette's birth in vienna in 1755--the fifteenth child of austrian archduchess maria theresa and holy roman emperor francis i--through her turbulent and unhappy marriage to louis xvi, the turmoil of the french revolution, her trial for high treason (during which she was accused of incest), and her final beheading, lever draws on a variety of resources, including diaries, letters, and firsthand accounts, to weave a gripping, fast-paced historical narrative that reads like expertly crafted fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

French historian Lever (Marie Antoinette: The Last Queen of France) not only puts in context the long-ago world of 18th-century France a world in which married women openly engaged in petty intrigue to gain their handsome, horny and self-absorbed monarch's attention but she also guides readers to a better understanding of King Louis XV's favorite mistress. The former Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson (1721-1764) was known to the royal inner circle as "the oracle of the court" and "Prime Minister" (a reflection of her power), but the king's children referred to her as "Maman-putain," or Whore mommy. She had beautiful homes, unlimited funds, unchecked power and a status she would never otherwise have achieved, given her bourgeois background. Like Christine Pevitt Algrant (see review, p. 165), Lever has crafted a detailed and fascinating portrait of the woman who pretty well ran France from 1745 to 1764, but where Algrant is restrained, Lever is unafraid to take sides. She says, for instance, "The Marquise-Duchesse's ambitions knew no bounds, so great was her need to be recognized and highly regarded." Addressing why Pompadour was willing to go to great lengths to maintain her hold over the king (and therefore her status), Lever says it makes sense given that her mother was "not exactly a pillar of virtue" and "her free-and-easy morals were damaging to her daughter." Lever's prose is occasionally overwrought but, given the nature of the subject, some purple prose may be forgiven in an otherwise beguiling biography. 8 pages of color illus. not seen by PW.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Here are two biographies of Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, who became famous in 18th-century France as mistress of and confidante to Louis XV. When Poisson was young, a fortune-teller predicted that she would become the mistress of the king, and thereafter she was groomed by family and friends for the role. Eventually, she became a patron of the arts and was known to such luminaries as Voltaire and Montesquieu. In 1745, when she came to Louis XV's attention, she transformed herself into Madame de Pompadour. Poisson was given rooms at Versailles, and, though she was the king's lover for only five years, she remained his close adviser until her death. Algrant, author of Philippe, duc d'Orleans, a 1997 New York Times Notable Book, has written a well-researched volume on Madame de Pompadour. While previous biographies, such as Margaret Crosland's Madame de Pompadour: Sex, Culture, and Power, have focused on the cultural and sociological aspects of her era, Algrant brings her to life in an engaging study that will appeal to the general reader as well as the specialist. Leading French historian Lever (e.g., Marie Antoinette: The Last Queen of France) delivers a well-researched biographical account that gives a picture of Louis XV as well as of Madame de Pompadour in an easy-to-read manner. While Algrant's account tells more about Poisson's early life and rise as mistress, Lever's discusses more broadly the king's history of mistresses and life at court. Both books ably describe Madame de Pompadour's influence on France and the French people. Algrant's book, written in a slightly more accessible, storytelling manner, may bring the famous courtesan a bit more vividly to life than Lever's, but both biographies are recommended for most collections. [Algrant's book was previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/02.]-Mary Salony, West Virginia Northern Community Coll. Libs., Wheelin.
--Mary Salony, West Virginia Northern Community Coll. Libs., Wheeling
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312310501
• ISBN-13: 978-0312310509
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #339,548 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars So close, and yet so far..., January 20, 2003

By 

"somethingsensible" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Madame de Pompadour: A Life (Hardcover)

Having finished this book, I am struck with an uneasy dissatisfaction. Evelyn Lever did a very good job - so far as she went with her subject. But she leaves you hungry for more.

"Madame de Pompadour" is easier reading than similar works by Antonia Fraser, Amanda Foreman, and Alison Weir. Lever cites fewer sources in her text, relying primarily on simple footnotes with little comparison and contrast of conflicting sources. Nor does she go into the specifics or character of her sources, leaving the reader to wonder where the information is really coming from, who said what and why. In some instances, it is difficult to see how Lever came to her conclusions. This makes the book move faster, but it also creates a void in the overall effect.

The backdrop of the French court is not fleshed out with details of the period or placed into greater historical context. the reader is given no real sense of time and place, and this makes the two primary characters - Madame Pompadour and Louis XV - somewhat two dimensional.

As a lover of historical biography and a fan of the scholastic style used by Fraser and the others listed above, I was disappointed. The period and the personality of Jean-Antoinette de Pompadour did not come alive through the reading and I craved more details of her life - what she ate, what she wore, some speculation on *how* her tastes developed.

The detailing of the events of Madame Pompadour's life fall curiously flat. How on Earth did this woman retain the role of offical mistress when she flatly refused to sleep with Louis XV after the first 7 years of their relationship? Lever simply says that the King was "dependent" on her but does not detail why this might have been.

Also, this is the bio of one of the most famous professional courteasans in History - surely a bit more salacious detail was in order? there is practically no speculation or discussion of sex, and let's face it, when we read about a woman who traded her "virtue" for power, a little sex talk is what we're looking for.

I had read in "At Home with the Marquis de Sade" and other texts that the Parisian Police Chief of this time was in the habit of forwarding reports of his spies in the brothels of Paris to Madame Pompadour and the King so that they could enjoy a limited sex life through voyeurism. There was no mention of this in the text, not even to refute the assertion, although Lever cited the same sources as "de Sade," which causes me to speculate that perhaps the author has intentionally avoided this sort of detail.

On the whole, however, it's not a bad book. The details given are indeed fascinating - for example, an examination of royal patronage and the Royal Mistress's role in the development of the French china industry or carefully reconstrcuted descriptions of Madame Pompadour's tastes in antiques and architecture. The photo inserts, tho smallish, do contain some lovely examples of portraiture and Lever gives great attention examining the details in context of the subject's life.

Lever is thankfully not one of those biographers that becomes so infatuated with her subject that she cannot see and discuss her flaws. She reports Madame Pompadour's unpopularity without making a crusade of it, and does manage to bring a soild sketch of Madame Pompadour's personality through, despite the lack of intimate detail.

I would buy this book if you're looking for an easy read and find the details of historical context boring. But if you live for the historical detail and the minute descriptions that make a subject come alive to the reader, best that this book be skipped.

I'm told that there are more scholastically minded books on the market, including one with an introduction by Amanda Foreman. I intend to supplement my reading with these as soon as possible, because this book did convey enough of Madame Pompadour's fascination that I want to read more.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An engaging, even-handed study of Madame de Pompadour, January 29, 2003

By 

Richard Sawyer (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Madame de Pompadour: A Life (Hardcover)

Overall, this is a well-written, engaging portrait of Madame de Pompadour, as well as other important persons of the times, including Louis XV, the aristocracy, Pompadour's family members, etc. We learn much about Pompadour, her personality, how she managed her rise to prominence, the court intrigues. Her involvement in politics and the arts are addressed. I would have liked some more information on other aspects of French society (e.g., life of different social classes, the economy, foreign affairs) than is provided. I recognize that the main point of the book is a focus on Pompadour, yet I believe this additional information would have provided a fuller picture in which to understand Pompadour. Nevertheless, I would defintely recommend this book to a reader who wants to learn more about this important woman and the court life during Louis XV's rein.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Meh, July 26, 2009

By 

Willie Maugham - See all my reviews

This review is from: Madame de Pompadour: A Life (Paperback)

I was surprised that the author is a historian, because the book struck me as a bit amateurish. The writing was contrived in places, and elliptical in others. I agree with the previous review's comment that there were too many names tossed in and it was hard to keep them straight. I also think the book presumes a more detailed understanding of French history than non-French people will have; notes would have been helpful in some places. I have enjoyed the books of Fraser and Foreman and will probably rely on them in future.