The Queen's Necklace: Marie Antoinette and the Scandal that Shocked and Mystified France (Phoenix Press) [Paperback]

Frances Mossiker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2004 | Series: Phoenix Press

Written in 1961 and now back in print, this classic and fascinating true crime story stars none other than Marie Antoinette. Four years before the French Revolution, some priceless diamonds were purchased in elaborate secrecy from a court jeweler. The jewels, not yet paid for, were delivered into the hands of the first Prelate of the Church of France. He, in turn, gave it to a countess who claimed to be acting for Marie Antoinette. Although essentially an innocent bystander, the Queen became embroiled in a scandal that fatally weakened the monarchy.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Frances Sanger Mossiker was born in Dallas in 1906. She studied French and Romance languages at Smith College, Barnard College, and the Sorbonne. The NEW YORK TIMES said upon her death on May 9, 1975, 'She wrote in a way that combined painstaking attention to detail with a lively style that made her a best-selling author on both sides of the Atlantic.'

Product Details

• Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: Phoenix (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1842126148
• ISBN-13: 978-1842126141
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #175,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #17 in Books > Education & Reference > Genealogy > United Kingdom

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Scam of the century, March 30, 2005

By 

K. Maxwell "katmax1" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Queen's Necklace: Marie Antoinette and the Scandal that Shocked and Mystified France (Phoenix Press) (Paperback)

In 1785 The Queen's Necklace scandal broke over France. Queen Marie Antoinette was alleged to have bought a diamond necklace worth over 1.6 million franks and refused to pay for it, and had Cardinal Prince Rohan, a long time courtier out of favour, arrested for it along with his accomplices the Countess de la Motte-Valois and the famous mystic Count Cagliostro.

This book is a series of fascinating first person accounts of how the necklace swindle occurred and the trial that followed it. Most of the people involved in the scandal wrote their memoirs and virtually all the court related documentation is still available in France in archives. This book is a compilation of these memoirs and legal statements made by all the parties involved in this crime which opened the monarchy and France to the fury of the revolution.

The author does not impose her own interpretation of the events on the reader, but does provide explanations to the backgrounds of the people involved and the social and political niceties of the time that explain why people acted as they did.

This book is a lively account of this important French scandal that, because of the first person accounts, reads like a novel. If the story wasn't true it would be hard to credit such a cast of interesting characters, with their extravagant and wildly different backgrounds, coming together like this to play a crucial role in the downfall of the French Monarchy. Its also very interesting to compare this book to what is portrayed in the movie of the same name. There are a number of very significant differences!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An 18th Century true crime whodunnit, July 13, 2008

By 

A reader (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Queen's Necklace: Marie Antoinette and the Scandal that Shocked and Mystified France (Phoenix Press) (Paperback)

Copies of this book are on sale in the gift shop at the Palace of Versailles. That's saying something for a book published, in English, in 1961. I figured there must be a reason and I was right. This fascinating page-turner is equal parts social history, shadowy mystery, and riveting tale of intrigue. The story is told primarily through masterfully translated excerpts from contemporary source materials--diaries, memoirs, autobiographies. In all honesty I rarely read books this long anymore, but this did not seem long at all. Finally, this title will expand your vocabulary--I guess readers were familiar with more words in 1961!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History and Heredity, February 15, 2008

By 

Richard Adkins (Toluca Lake, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Queen's Necklace: Marie Antoinette and the Scandal that Shocked and Mystified France (Phoenix Press) (Paperback)

The Queen's Necklace is a remarkable book. As an avid reader of French Revolutionary history, I was initially daunted by its 500+ pages, but the style of writing with it's excerpts from period memoirs, made it eminently readable. I found myself unable to stop reading. The use of the memoirs, particularly when they contradict each other so strongly, presents the reader with the opportunity to weigh each version and use them to "read between the lines" to obtain the story - or in some cases, "a" story - by the memoirs' authors themselves.

It was a delightful read with virtually no connection to the movie of the same name. What a wasted opportunity that was! The real story is the stuff of movie making, had the writer and producer used this book, the film might have been a hit. Sophia Coppola, with her "Marie Antoinette" film could have benefitted from this book as it accurately presents Marie Antoinette at a time when her fate had already been decided in the minds of the public by libelous pamphleteers and the actions of such self-interested, self-involved charlatans as Madame La Motte-Valois, the central character in this story.

I was fortunate to be able to see the San Francisco Legion of Honor exhibit on Marie Antoinette and the Grand Trianon as I was reading this book. It served to reinforce what a great book this is.