Trianon: A Novel of Royal France

by Elena Maria Vidal

Book Overview

The story of Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI. In this work of historical fiction, all of the characters were actual people The incidents, situations and conversations are based on reality. It is the story of the martyred King Louis XVI and his Queen, Antoinette. The fruit of years of research, the book corrects many of the popular misconceptions of the royal couple, which secular and modernist historians have tried so hard to promote. Louis and...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0911845968
• ISBN13: 9780911845969
• Release Date: June 2000
• Publisher: Neumann Press
• Length: 191 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The Best Novel I've Read in Years

Trianon was so engaging, I couldn't put it down. I found myself transported in time. The writing draws you into the story and you don't want it to end! I felt the sorrows/joys/pains of the characters as if the events were happening to me. I highly recommend this book.

a fantastic read!

A review of the books "Trianon" and "Madame Royal" by Elena Maria Vidal I have just finished reading Elena Maria Vidal's "Trianon" and "Madame Royale", both are intriguing and informative. The list of characters with a brief indication of their roles in these romantically tragic stories is extremely helpful in keeping tract of who's who. Personally, having lived in France for ten years I am very familiar not only with the places in the books but also with the French and their turbulent history so I feel that I can say that her books ring true to me. I certainly did feel akin to Marie Antoinette's constant struggle against the resentment of anything that is not French. France was and still is very chauvinistic. Although, the books do not purport to be genuine historical accounts, they most certainly do give a very definite insight into the not so well known dark sinister side of the French Revolution. Vidal deftly depicts the intense hatred that fuelled the Reign of Terror and seethed beneath the banner of Liberté, Egalité and Fraternité justifying the countless brutal murders and the horrendous atrocities. But she also gives us glimpses of the softer, quieter, more personal and tender moments. Like those at Trianon: An afternoon in a garden filled with the laughter of happy children playing while their elders sipped tea and ate fruit tarts with fresh cream from Le Hameau. Or the joyous cries of "Papa", "Papa" from his little ones as they as they raced to greet the king when he finally arrived for an intimate family dinner, trying hard to hide from them and his beloved wife his ever increasing fear of impeding doom. Both books are well written and succeed in making the reader feel a genuine warmth and sympathy for the tragic royal family as well a realization of just how much of a burden royalty was. In the best of times, being married off for political reasons, giving birth in front of the court and not being able to trust or rely even on one's own family members could not have been a "fun" life! Thank God they had their religion to help them meet the hell that their lives had turned into. And speaking of religion, I am aware that Vidal's books have been criticized for being too religious. However, that is because those who do so, do not realize or perhaps do not want to recognize the tremendous part that religion had played, up until the French Revolution, in the social fabric of French society. All monarchs from Clovis through Louis XVI believed their power came from God and were crowned with the blessing of the Church, their courts attended daily Mass and their social mores and manners were governed by moral law. That is not to say that France was a nation of saints, far from it, only that religion had permeated every corner of French life and, at least, outwardly governed it. If the saying is true that art, music, literature, architecture reflect the forces which move a culture then France an

Great Perspective

The author has done her research and gives a historical account of the misconstrued story of the Royal family during the French Revolution. Each chapter is told from the point of view of different characters that played a part or were witness to the tragic tale, giving a 360 degree point of view. This is a version that we have not heard thus far and needs to be heard...the tragedy of the innocent Austrian princess who became a martyr.

IF you want to know the true Marie Antoinette and the truth behind the FrenchRevolution

...this book is the book for you! Written as a novel, one learns the true history based on well researched rare letters of correspondence between the the royal family and their friends, and presents their lives and words as they themselves would have said it. This author's work has done much to recapture the reputation of the unjustly maligned French Queen. A reputation based on the many made-up and ludicrous charges fabricated to fill up the political-rivals' tabloid press. Poor Antoinette! She so obviously did none of the horrible things she was accused of and which have unfortunately been propagated even to this day. The proof is all in her and her family's own words and actions, so beautifully and artfully presented in this book. After so many years, it is about time the truth be told about this heroic woman! I also recommend the author's other book, Madame Royale, which is a sequel to Trianon. Both are fine works.

As Close to the REAL Marie-Antoinette as You Will Ever Get!

Elena Maria Vidal's 'Trianon' has to be one of the most exciting and tragic, yet amazingly romantic, TRUE stories ever written! (The term "historical fiction" just doesn't do it justice! It is THAT well researched and thought out!) Vidal is a genius, a deeply meditative artist who paints for us a portrait of the Heart of Christ and His plans for all of France, with it's tragic love story as First Daughter of the Church, turned prodigal child. Yet she offers hope for Her, whose future cannot be realized without a sober and deep understanding of Her history. 'Trianon' is that history! The fast pace and excitment of the Revolution makes 'Trianon' a two night read! (You won't want to put it down!) While reading it, I was magically transported to Versaille, France in the late 1700's! Unfamiliar with the characters as I was when I began to read it, she clearly describes each one in personality, position and relationship to other characters before the novel begins. And as you enter the countryside and palace lives, the cafes and streets of Paris, you feel you are there, meeting and examining the lives of the real royal family, and seeing almost firsthand what REALLY happened to them and others during the Reign of Terror!