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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
As she did for Napoleon's wife (The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.), Gulland skillfully blends fact and fiction to imagine the life of Louise de la Vallière (1644–1710), mistress to Louis XIV, France's Sun King. Louise loses her father early and spends her childhood in a convent run by her aunt, Sister Angelique. When Louise's mother, Françoise, marries a marquis, she takes Louise home, where, by chance, she meets King Louis. As she secures a position at court about 100 pages in, the plot finally begins to bubble with intrigue: the king has married for political reasons, but, as a young and pious man, he has not kept a mistress before Louise. Their secret love eventually comes to light, but not without exacting a price. A supernatural element threaded throughout adds color to Gulland's vivid period imaginings. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
"[A] captivating jewel of a novel." -- Historical Novels Review, editors' choice
"Here's a warning: Mistress of the Sun is dangerously seductive. It's one of those books that will grab you and hold you captive till the last page is turned." -- Montreal Gazette
"Teeming with the rich period details that make historical fiction so rewarding, Gulland's dynamic and nuanced portrait of Louis's notorious reign thrums with page-turning expediency and deliciously seductive machinations." -- Booklist
"Suspenseful, evocative, atmospheric, and deliciously satisfying reading, with an immensely appealing heroine." -- Margaret George, author of Helen of Troy
"I fell in love with Petite from the moment she tamed her wild, white horse, and I galloped along with her through her undying devotion to one of France's most colorful kings." -- Anne Easter Smith, author of The King's Grace and A Rose for the Crown
"An irresistible story" -- Ottawa Citizen
"...this is a fine telling, bolstered by the strength and sensitivity of Gulland's characterizations." -- Kirkus Reviews
"This lively story is rich in period detail...Gulland successfully unfolds the story of Petite and Louis while smoothly weaving in other actual historical personages." -- Rocky Mountain News --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
"Here's a warning: Mistress of the Sun is dangerously seductive. It's one of those books that will grab you and hold you captive till the last page is turned." -- Montreal Gazette
"Teeming with the rich period details that make historical fiction so rewarding, Gulland's dynamic and nuanced portrait of Louis's notorious reign thrums with page-turning expediency and deliciously seductive machinations." -- Booklist
"Suspenseful, evocative, atmospheric, and deliciously satisfying reading, with an immensely appealing heroine." -- Margaret George, author of Helen of Troy
"I fell in love with Petite from the moment she tamed her wild, white horse, and I galloped along with her through her undying devotion to one of France's most colorful kings." -- Anne Easter Smith, author of The King's Grace and A Rose for the Crown
"An irresistible story" -- Ottawa Citizen
"...this is a fine telling, bolstered by the strength and sensitivity of Gulland's characterizations." -- Kirkus Reviews
"This lively story is rich in period detail...Gulland successfully unfolds the story of Petite and Louis while smoothly weaving in other actual historical personages." -- Rocky Mountain News --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Disappointment,
By
This review is from: Mistress Of The Sun (Paperback)
I recently purchased Mistress of the Sun, and I have to say it was the era the book was set in that intrigued me. However due to a few reasons I can not give it five stars. (Warning: May contain indirect/partial spoilers)I found the book thought provoking and the story line art filled and creative. However the book just led from one disappointment to another for myself. The beginning was intriguing and drew me in immediately, but I found it slow at parts and the areas it would drag on in seemed insignificant to the areas it hurried through, which could have endure longer treatment. I felt a lack of connection with the story. I found when it jumped ages with the princess's, Petite and the King that it went back and fourth. It would have time gaps and then laps to the previous. I found it exciting to see the characters grow but the way it was presented was a major let down overall. I had to flip back pages to try and figure out how old people where and things weren't connecting nicely for me. The middle of the book seemed to be filled with a continues cycle of the same things being rewritten over and over. Sex, Love, Child Birth. It was really annoying to read about six childbirths in a matter of a hundred or so pages. I found that the relations between Petite and the other characters wasn't fulfilling, there was very little connection in my eyes. Petite's maid jumped around, and Nicole's character felt somehow off to me, compared to when she was first introduced. (The whole whipping her braids around thing) The biggest let down in my eyes was the ending, it was incomplete, the main characters motives were not disclosed and it left a lot of lose ends in its attempt to find closure. I was especially annoyed with Diablo coming back, as it mentions half way through the book Diablo would be an old horse of 15 or so, most likely dead. By the end of the book when Petite meets up with him again almost another 15 years have passed, that would make him 30. I am no horse expert but somehow I found this a bit unrealistic. It felt like Petite lost her overall spark somewhere in the middle of the book, and it was a surprising let down, even Petites mother seemed to lose character. Even though the novel was plastered with amazing scenery and enchanting descriptions (at times), it could not cover up for the lack of depth I was expecting from such a highly renowned book. In reality you could have probably told that story in half the time and been equally as potent. I expected more from 588 pages. And not that it as big deal or anything but the photo they used for the front cover has a vent on one of the columns( Right side, second one up). I am pretty sure they did not use metal vents on outdoor columns back then but you never know. Either way I am sure that it didn't look like that if they did.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sparkles as brilliantly as Versailles in the summer sun,
By Leah M. Brown "Leah Marie Brown, Author" (Mentally in Paris, France) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Mistress Of The Sun (Hardcover)
Sandra Gulland, author of the riveting and critically acclaimed Josephine B series, has written an engrossing and touching novel about Louise de la Valliere, one of Louis XIV's most interesting, charming mistresses.I am a huge fan of Ms. Gulland's personality and enchanting writing style. As soon as I learned of Mistress of the Sun's impending release in Canada, I spent the extra postage and ordered it through Amazon.ca (I live in the United States). I read the book in record time. In fact, I reluctantly completed it this morning at one o'clock. I am not disappointed to have spent the extra money on postage. It was one of the best novels I have read in the last year. Mistress of the Sun beautifully tells the story of Louise de la Valliere, a chaste young woman with a loving heart and quiet nature, who, despite her religious upbringing and guilt, falls in love with a very married, very magnetic Louis XIV. The story is set during the golden years of Louis' epoch - when he was still young, dashing, brazen, and not yet entirely jaded by the intrigues and excesses of his court. It makes for a compelling backdrop, one that ensnares the reader. Ms. Gulland, deft as ever, masterfully weaves a story that seems to come together colorfully with each word. Her characterizations are subtle and brilliant. This reader grew to love innocent, tender Louise and felt her heart break when certain tragedies befell the character. It is clear that Ms. Gulland did her research, peppering the story with interesting but obscure facts about court life, provincial supersitions, and horsemanship. For anyone who loves French history or historical novels, Mistress of the Sun must be read. It sparkles as brilliantly as Versailles in the summer sun!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rich Details and Decadence of the 17th-Century Court,
By
This review is from: Mistress Of The Sun (Hardcover)
This is the story of real life Louise de la Vallière, mistress to France's King Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King. At a young age, Louise, lovingly nicknamed Petite by her father, uses bone magic to tame a wild stallion.Though of minor nobility, her family doesn't have enough money for her dowry to marry, let along to get into a convent. Thus she starts a new chapter in her life, that of maid in waiting to a princess of a bit higher nobility than herself. After the princess moves away, Louise moves to the court of the Sun King and is maid of honour to a high nobility princess. Soon after she becomes mistress to the king. Set against the breathtaking background of France, this enchanting piece of historical fiction displays the extravagant opulence of the time of King Louis XIV's reign. Sandra Gulland has made me crave more of King Louis XIV. She must have suspected that this would be the case with some readers, as she suggests a book to learn more `Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King' by Antonia Fraser. I have added this to my TBR (to be read). This is the first book I have read by Sandra Gulland but it won't be the last! I look forward, with great anticipation to reading her Josephine B. trilogy.
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