Offering an intriguing glimpse behind closed doors during the reign of the Sun King, Louis XIV, and his glittering court. Andrea Allegri is lured from the island of Murano, where the secrets of the best mirror makers are closely guarded, with a group of mirror makers. This is an act of treason according to the Venetian government. King Louis for his new mirror makers' "personal safety" keeps them as virtual prisoners of the factory and compound. But Andrea, unlike his fellow workers, is allowed more freedom since he has to make the exacting measurements and designs necessary for the placement of the mirrors, which are the rave of the French aristocracy. This allows him, access to the halls and bedrooms of the French palaces where he quickly sees and becomes infatuated with Athenais de Montespan which leads to being pulled into her duplicitous machinations including her mystical dealings with the occult.
The story easily alternates between characters, mainly Allegri, de Montespan and her maid Claudine. Colvin craftily weaves from the King performing his duty to the Queen, then smoothly jumping into bed with his current mistress, Mademoiselle de La Valliere (at a later point he again performs his duty to the Queen, then happily visits his new mistress followed by his original mistress or vice versa) and on to the one upmanship between himself and his brother, Monsieur, which leads to the building of Versailles. Colvin shines (pun intended) in her descriptions of mirror making and alludes to what we now know to be mercury poisoning and cleverly uses this as plot device. The excess and pageantry of the Sun King are wonderfully displayed. She at times almost playfully shows the reader that Louis and his brother felt it was there God given right to get what they want when they wanted it. Then quickly and affectingly shift to show the poignant absurdity and waste of their desires. From the ground up we are able to watch Versailles being built not only through the eyes of Monsieur de la Glace, Allegri, but also through designer and painter, Charles Le Brun, architect Louis Le Vau, landscape architect Andre Le Notre and fountain maker Francesco Francini. To further enhance your reading of the building of Versailles, you can follow along online by looking up contemporary sketches and current photographs to accompany the text.
This is a light and enjoyable historical fiction read filled with deception, betrayal, manipulation, poisoning, scheming, romantic interludes and extravagance. It felt like the author tried to go into too many directions. For example, there is a storyline where Andrea convinces the King to allow him to experiment with ways mirrors could be used as weapons, but this goes no where and doesn't add to the story. Some of the characters are flat, two dimensional. Maybe this was intended to be on a grander scale and the problems are due to choppy editing. Whatever the reasons, these minor problems are not enough to detract or derail from a very entertaining, fast, fun read.
The story easily alternates between characters, mainly Allegri, de Montespan and her maid Claudine. Colvin craftily weaves from the King performing his duty to the Queen, then smoothly jumping into bed with his current mistress, Mademoiselle de La Valliere (at a later point he again performs his duty to the Queen, then happily visits his new mistress followed by his original mistress or vice versa) and on to the one upmanship between himself and his brother, Monsieur, which leads to the building of Versailles. Colvin shines (pun intended) in her descriptions of mirror making and alludes to what we now know to be mercury poisoning and cleverly uses this as plot device. The excess and pageantry of the Sun King are wonderfully displayed. She at times almost playfully shows the reader that Louis and his brother felt it was there God given right to get what they want when they wanted it. Then quickly and affectingly shift to show the poignant absurdity and waste of their desires. From the ground up we are able to watch Versailles being built not only through the eyes of Monsieur de la Glace, Allegri, but also through designer and painter, Charles Le Brun, architect Louis Le Vau, landscape architect Andre Le Notre and fountain maker Francesco Francini. To further enhance your reading of the building of Versailles, you can follow along online by looking up contemporary sketches and current photographs to accompany the text.
This is a light and enjoyable historical fiction read filled with deception, betrayal, manipulation, poisoning, scheming, romantic interludes and extravagance. It felt like the author tried to go into too many directions. For example, there is a storyline where Andrea convinces the King to allow him to experiment with ways mirrors could be used as weapons, but this goes no where and doesn't add to the story. Some of the characters are flat, two dimensional. Maybe this was intended to be on a grander scale and the problems are due to choppy editing. Whatever the reasons, these minor problems are not enough to detract or derail from a very entertaining, fast, fun read.
