Blockbuster period dramas have been coming into their own in the last few years, with networks and streaming services realising that they have a very dedicated following. Separately, Empress Elisabeth of Austria has become more and more popular in the last few years. Her romantic but utterly tragic life story resonates, and I would say she is on her way to being a marquis name like Marie Antoinette. Luckily for us, we have several Sisi shows on the way to dramatise the life of the Austrian Empress. The Empress on Netflix has just premiered, and I’ve got the best books if you love The Empress!
The Empress, Gigi Griffis
The year is 1853, and sixteen-year-old Elisabeth “Sisi” of Bavaria has been very clear: she will wait for the sweeping, head-over-heels kind of love the poets speak of, or she will have no love at all. It is not her fault Mother refuses to listen. After all, just because her older sister Helene has chosen the line of duty, and is preparing to marry Emperor Franz of Austria, does not mean Sisi also needs to subject herself to such a passionless, regimented existence. Sisi knows there is more to life than corsets, luncheons, and woefully unfashionable dukes . . . if only someone would give her the chance to experience it firsthand.
Meanwhile, in Austria, the Emperor is recovering from an assassination attempt that left him wounded and scared. In a bid to keep the peace, Franz has recommitted himself to his imperial duties-and promised to romance the pliant Bavarian princess, Helene, at his upcoming birthday celebration. How better to unite the country than with the announcement of a new Empress?
But when Sisi and Franz meet unexpectedly in the palace gardens, away from the prying eyes and relentless critique of their families, their connection cannot be denied. And as their illicit conversations turn into something more, they must soon choose between the expectations of the court, and the burning desires of their hearts . . .
Why You Should Read This…
I’ve shared my full thoughts on The Empress novelisation here, but I think that this is a fantastic choice if you loved the show! I find that novelisations created specifically for shows and films do not tend to surprise you on plot, but they fill in those inner thoughts and quiet moments that there just is not time for on the screen.
Twilight of Empire: The Tragedy at Mayerling and the End of the Hapsburgs, Greg King & Penny Wilson
On a snowy January morning in 1889, a worried servant hacked open a locked door at the remote hunting lodge deep in the Vienna Woods. Inside, he found two bodies sprawled on an ornate bed, blood oozing from their mouths. Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary appeared to have shot his seventeen-year-old mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera as she slept, sat with the corpse for hours and, when dawn broke, turned the pistol on himself.
A century has transformed this bloody scene into romantic tragedy: star-crossed lovers who preferred death together than to be parted by a cold, unfeeling Viennese Court. But Mayerling is also the story of family secrets: incestuous relationships and mental instability; blackmail, venereal disease, and political treason; and a disillusioned, morphine-addicted Crown Prince and a naïve schoolgirl caught up in a dangerous and deadly waltz inside a decaying empire. What happened in that locked room remains one of history’s most evocative mysteries: What led Rudolf and mistress to this desperate act? Was it really a suicide pact? Or did something far more disturbing take place at that remote hunting lodge and result in murder?
Drawing interviews with members of the Habsburg family and archival sources in Vienna, Greg King and Penny Wilson reconstruct this historical mystery, laying out evidence and information long ignored that conclusively refutes the romantic myth and the conspiracy stories.
Why You Should Read This…
This is one of my favourite history/biography books that I have read. (Technically I listened to the audiobook.) Although Sisi’s son, Crown Prince Rudolf and his mistress were at the heart of the Mayerling tragedy, the Austrian empire was set on an entirely different trajectory. While The Empress is looking at Sisi and Franz at the beginning of their marriage, Mayerling is several decades into their reign. King and Wilson do a brilliant job of explaining Austrian society at the time and how many different elements led to the Mayerling tragedy. A must-read if you are interested in Sisi!
The Accidental Empress, Allison Pataki
The year is 1853, and the Habsburgs are Europe’s most powerful ruling family. With his empire stretching from Austria to Russia, from Germany to Italy, Emperor Franz Joseph is young, rich, and ready to marry.
Fifteen-year-old Elisabeth, “Sisi,” Duchess of Bavaria, travels to the Habsburg Court with her older sister, who is betrothed to the young emperor. But shortly after her arrival at court, Sisi finds herself in an unexpected dilemma: she has inadvertently fallen for and won the heart of her sister’s groom. Franz Joseph reneges on his earlier proposal and declares his intention to marry Sisi instead.
Thrust onto the throne of Europe’s most treacherous imperial court, Sisi upsets political and familial loyalties in her quest to win, and keep, the love of her emperor, her people, and of the world.
Sisi: Empress on Her Own, Allison Pataki
Married to Emperor Franz Joseph, Elisabeth – fondly known as Sisi – captures the hearts of her people as their “fairy queen,” but beneath that dazzling perception lives a far more complex figure. In mid-nineteenth-century Vienna, the halls of the Hofburg Palace buzz not only with imperial waltzes and champagne but also with temptations, rivals, and cutthroat intrigue. Sisi grows restless, feeling stifled by strict protocols and a turbulent marriage. A free-spirited wanderer, she finds solace at her estate outside Budapest, where she enjoys visits from the striking Hungarian statesman Count Andrássy, the man with whom she’s unwittingly fallen in love. But tragic news brings Sisi out of seclusion, forcing her to return to her capital and a world of gossip, envy, and sorrow where a dangerous fate lurks in the shadows.
Through love affairs and loss, Sisi struggles against the conflicting desires to keep her family together or to flee amid the collapse of her suffocating marriage and the gathering tumult of the First World War. In an age of crumbling monarchies, Sisi fights to assert her right to the throne beside her husband, to win the love of her people and the world, and to save an empire. But in the end, can she save herself?
Why You Should Read These Books…
Allison Pataki is one of my favourite historical fiction authors, and this Sisi duology is absolutely on my top-ten list. I found Sisi to be more engaging than The Accidental Empress, only because it looks at a later period in her life that a) is not discussed as much, and b) I think shows more of her true core. Pataki is wonderful at building her world and secondary characters, and I think she handled the family members and court perfectly in both of these books. These are the perfect choice for a fall or winter weekend!
The Reluctant Empress, Brigitte Hamann
She was the romantic idol of her age, the extraordinarily beautiful and mysterious Empress Elisabeth of Austria whose exploits made her a legend in nineteenth-century Europe and beyond. This biography by Brigitte Hamann reveals the truth of a complex and touching, curiously modern personality, her refusals to conform, escaping to a life of her own, filled with literature, ideas and the new political passions of the age.
Why You Should Read This…
I have read a few Sisi biographies now, and this is the best biography I have found (and is fairly easy to get a hold of.) Hamann does not treat Sisi like a fairy-tale princess but rather the complex woman that she was in an exceedingly difficult court. My only note with this book is that you will want to have your phone or computer handy to google unless you are very familiar with Austrian history in the nineteenth century. (Definitely worth the extra searching, though!)
♠
Interested in reading more books related to your favourite period drama? Check out these reading lists!
The Gilded Age
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Sanditon
The Great
Downton Abbey
Bridgerton
Versailles
What books would include on a list of the best books if you love The Empress?
Cheers,
The Historian
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