Title: The Shadow Queen Author: Sandra Gulland
Published: April 8, 2014
Genre(s): Historical Fiction
Page Count: 336
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads:1660, Paris: Claudette’s life is like an ever-revolving stage set. From an impoverished childhood wandering the French countryside with her family’s acting troupe, Claudette finally witnesses her mother's astonishing rise to stardom in Parisian theaters. Working with playwrights Corneille, Molière and Racine, Claudette’s life is culturally rich, but like all in the theatrical world at the time, she's socially scorned.
A series of chance encounters gradually pull Claudette into the alluring orbit of Athénaïs de Montespan, mistress to Louis XIV and reigning "Shadow Queen." Needing someone to safeguard her secrets, Athénaïs offers to hire Claudette as her personal attendant.
Enticed by the promise of riches and respectability, Claudette leaves the world of the theater only to find that court is very much like a stage, with outward shows of loyalty masking more devious intentions. This parallel is not lost on Athénaïs, who fears political enemies are plotting her ruin as young courtesans angle to take the coveted spot in the king's bed.
Indeed, Claudette's "reputable" new position is marked by spying, illicit trysts and titanic power struggles. As Athénaïs, becomes ever more desperate to hold onto the King's favor, innocent love charms move into the realm of deadly Black Magic, and Claudette is forced to consider a move that will put her own life—and the family she loves so dearly—at risk.
In The Shadow Queen, the streets of 17th century Paris and the court of Louis XV, the Sun King, are brought into vivid detail. Sandra Gulland’s storytelling reveals an era that is less often visited in the historical fiction world, taking readers from the streets all the way up to the king’s bedchamber, through the life of Claude des Oeillets, a woman whose fascination with a beautiful young noblewoman changes everything.
The book opens in 1651, when Claude (also called Claudette) is twelve years old. She and her family are impoverished, out-of-work actors who seek the young king’s attention. Eventually, the family makes the move to Paris, where Claude’s mother, the most celebrated and famous actress of the time, rises to fame. At some point, Claude’s childhood acquaintance, Athénaïs, Marquise de Montespan, calls her to serve in the royal palace, where things happen and Claude gets caught up in some sketchy business.
Obviously, then, the titular “queen” in The Shadow Queen is actually a secondary character, rather than the protagonist. I’ve noticed, honestly, that historical fiction authors who write about high-ranking women often use the filter of a serving woman when telling a story. And while that’s fine, it can create an awkward split. The book is neither wholly Claude’s story, nor wholly Athénaïs’s. The book is divided in focus at times, though I think that Gulland did a much better job with this technique than a lot of other writers I’ve dealt with.
The nice thing is that Claude des Oeillets was a real historical figure, so I enjoyed learning about her just as much as I enjoyed the sections that detailed Athénaïs and her story. The relationship between the two women was multi-faceted and well-drawn, though I think maybe Gulland could have gone a bit deeper into the nuances of their friendship. Either way, I very much enjoyed learning more about two women who I honestly hadn’t heard of prior to reading The Shadow Queen.
The historical detail in this novel was amazing, though. I feel like the author really gave readers a picture of French life during the time period, for a people of a variety of classes. The Shadow Queen touches on politics, religion, court life, and theater, and portrays all those things well. A great deal of research obviously went into this, and that’s all I can ask, really.
Sandra Gulland is most assuredly an author who pays attention to detail, and she’s also a talented storyteller. I enjoyed The Shadow Queen and the image of 17th century France that it displayed, with all its variety and complexity. Claude and Athénaïs were both highly interesting women, and I’m glad to have learned about them in this novel.
