Group biographies have become quite popular in the last decade and a half. Sometimes it feels a tad forced, and it’s just two stories side by side. However, this book is not that- this book proves why group biographies are so helpful. Maria Theresa would typically be considered one of the biggest figures of the eighteenth century, but she has been overshadowed by her daughter, Marie Antoinette. This book is a fascinating look at the very interconnected lives of Empress Maria Theresa and her children, and provides very needed context to the history that we are all familiar with. Let’s chat about why you need to read In the Shadow of the Empress by Nancy Goldstone!
In the Shadow of the Empress: The Defiant Lives of Maria Theresa, Mother of Marie Antoinette, and Her Daughters, Nancy Goldstone
Out of the thrilling and tempestuous eighteenth century comes the sweeping family saga of beautiful Maria Theresa, a sovereign of extraordinary strength and vision, the only woman ever to inherit and rule the vast Habsburg empire in her own name, and three of her remarkable daughters: lovely, talented Maria Christina, governor-general of the Austrian Netherlands; spirited Maria Carolina, the resolute queen of Naples; and the youngest, Marie Antoinette, the glamorous, tragic queen of France, perhaps the most famous princess in history.
Unfolding against an irresistible backdrop of brilliant courts from Vienna to Versailles, embracing the exotic lure of Naples and Sicily, this epic history of Maria Theresa and her daughters is a tour de force of desire, adventure, ambition, treachery, sorrow, and glory.
Each of these women’s lives was packed with passion and heart-stopping suspense. Maria Theresa inherited her father’s thrones at the age of twenty-three and was immediately attacked on all sides by foreign powers confident that a woman would to be too weak to defend herself. Maria Christina, a gifted artist, who alone among her sisters succeeded in marrying for love, would face the same dangers that destroyed the monarchy in France. Resourceful Maria Carolina would usher in the golden age of Naples only to then face the deadly whirlwind of Napoleon. And, finally, Marie Antoinette, the doomed queen whose stylish excesses and captivating notoriety have masked the truth about her husband and herself for two hundred and fifty years.
Why You Should Read This…
This is absolutely a tome. At over six hundred pages, you are in for a lengthy read. However, it is completely worth it and I could not put it down. This family somehow courted an insane amount of drama and just when you think things can’t escalate, they do. While some historians could turn that into a dry and dusty book, Goldstone centres the story around these women and shows the humanity of history.
Goldstone remains one of the most readable historians of this century for me. She has honed in on these group biographies and does them exceptionally well. My only teeny qualm is that it is somewhat misnamed, as her son and heir, Joseph, is discussed quite a bit. However, he was also an important piece of that puzzle.
Eighteenth century Europe is a wildly complicated time in history. Goldstone covers all of the major players and major events so that the reader is not left confused but always does so within the context of Maria Theresa and her family. I very much appreciated all of the background info on the various wars and political conflicts. I also liked that Marie Antoinette did not dominate the entire book, and that each woman’s story was given its own space.
I did not know this originally, but apparently this book was quite contentious for Goldstone’s claims that Marie Antoinette had an affair. I a) thought she made a solid argument and b) it was in no way the main argument of the book for me, so I didn’t think much on that. (There is so much out that I was left pondering, it was not on the list.) However, Goldstone has publicly addressed it- you can find her response here.
All in all, a great and engaging book on one of the most complicated periods in European history!
Is In the Shadow of the Empress by Nancy Goldstone on your to-read list?
Cheers,
The Historian
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