100 books like Before Versailles

This book transported me to a different France in a different time—the world of Duchess Anne of Britanny who became Queen of France when she married Charles VIII. This story takes place three hundred years before the French Revolution, immersing us in a century (late 15th) that has a romanticism all its own.

While it is the second book in the Chronicles of the House of Valois three-book series, I chose it because it focuses on Anne becoming Queen not once but twice within a single decade, the second time to King Louis XII—which just blows my mind. 

This book took me to France of the 16th century (1560s) with all its romance, political intrigue, and heartbreak. Marguerite de Valois (Princess Margot), daughter of Catherine de Medici and King Henri II of France, is in love with the charismatic Duc de Guise. But the daughter of royalty is always a political pawn. And sure enough, she is offered in marriage to Henri of Navarre, a Huguenot leader, who becomes King of Navarre and later King of France as Henri IV.

I was horrified when religious tension between the Catholics and the Huguenots erupted into the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre just days after their wedding, but still, I was unable to put this book down. 

I was intrigued by how quickly this one pulled me into the dynamics of this family of five sisters, each of whom conspired to become Louis XV’s mistress in the early 18th century. This book is the first in a trilogy called The Mistresses of Versailles.

Told from multiple points of view, the sisters’ relationships and their romantic intrigues were brought to life for me both through their narrations and through letters back and forth among them.   

This book, set in the court of King Louis XVI (late 18th century), immersed me in the days leading up to the French Revolution and the storming of the Bastille. I especially appreciated that the story was told from the points of view of two young people: Joliette, who serves as Maid of Honor to Queen Marie Antoinette while at the same time striving to preserve her own family’s legacy, a French winery (I do love wine!); and Henri, an orphan raised by a washerwoman.

This is the first in the three-book Château de Verzat series. I really enjoyed the dual perspectives of the plucky noblewoman and the determined commoner as they experienced the beginnings of the French Revolution.

Susan Nagel charted Marie-Thérèse's life during the turmoil of the French Revolution. The only survivor of the royal family locked in Temple Prison, despite the harrowing experience of her family’s demise and the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette’s daughter emerged as a remarkably strong figure in French history.

Marie-Thérèse journeyed from the horrors of the Temple prison and her family’s death to a dignified role at court when she married her cousin and the monarchy returned after the Revolution and Napoleon’s empire. I was amazed at how little I knew about Marie-Thérèse—she was even queen for 20 minutes when her husband reigned and abdicated!

Saint-Simon was another passionate outsider. He compensated for his lack of position and favour under Louis XIV by putting his fantasies of omniscience and his psychological perception into his memoirs. One of the great stylists of the French language, he leads readers into a universe where class, personality, and ambition are more important than public issues. He blamed French defeats on Louis XIV’s pride and ignorance. He called Versailles ’the saddest and most unrewarding place in the world’ and the King’s Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, heightening persecution of Protestants, ‘a general abomination born of flattery and cruelty’. At the same time, he praised the King’s ‘incomparable grace and majesty’. ‘Never was a man so naturally polite.’

Born a German princess, married to Louis XIV’s gay younger brother, ‘Liselotte’, as the Duchesse d’Orleans was often known, was an outsider who also, by her rank, was an insider. She put her venom and her frustrations into her letter-writing, denouncing the French court’s morals, policies, and personnel to her German relations. Versailles made her prefer dogs to people: she called Madame de Maintenon, the king’s second wife, ‘the old whore’. Her letters make us feel we are living at Versailles, when it was at the heart of European politics and culture.

Caroline Bingham is one of the forgotten titans of Scottish popular nonfiction. From the 1970s to the 1980s (she sadly died young in 1998), she produced a multitude of books covering the lives of various Scottish monarchs.

Her books (although research has moved on quite a bit) are beautifully and sensitively written and her two books on James (she wrote one on his life in Scotland and then one on his life in England) are sparkling. 

I was pulled into this story immediately. I liked the fast-paced plot, with fun twists and magical surprises. I was inspired by the strength and determination of the young female heroine. She is forced to grow up and step up quickly and unexpectedly. The bigger the challenge, the more fearless—and quick-witted—she becomes, which, as a reader, is contagious. I found myself rooting for Celie to triumph while laughing at the silliness and camaraderie with her siblings.

This charming fantasy adventure has it all: fast-moving action, likable characters, a magical castle, dangerous enemies, formidable challenges, and a sprinkle of humor to lighten the mood. As a fresh, positive, and charming coming-of-age story, it made me smile, laugh, and rejoice in Celie’s journey and victory.

I love this book for its inventive way of making a potentially hum-drum area of maths (place value) into a problem-solving adventure. An ever-increasing number of party guests threatens to scupper the organization of the royal catering team until someone has the genius idea of corralling everyone into groups of tens, hundreds, and even thousands as more and more people arrive.

The combination of medieval royalty, a comedy crisis, and expressive illustrations carry the reader along, with the maths being an essential part of the problem-solving and eventually saving the day (naturally!)