Simone Andre Maurois

Although I consider myself fairly well read in 19th century history, I had never before been aware of the story of French Emperor Napoleon III's mistress - who was an English courtesan of very humble upbringing.

They met while the young Louis Napoleon was in exile in London, and "Miss Elizabeth Howard" (one of her many names) was a flourishing "actress" and entertainer in the disreputable demi-monde. Ms. Maurois makes the case that Miss Howard's financial support played a key role in helping engineer Louis Napoleon's successful political career in France: in essence, that the throne of France was "purchased" with the "ill-gotten gains" of this beautiful but semi-literate shoemaker's daughter.

If you are familiar with the world of opera, a lot of things in this book will put you in mind of "La Traviata." And certainly there is a long and noble tradition of illuminating French history and politics by writing about affairs of the heart and of the bedchamber. Unfortunately, this book is not really very well written; this was Simone Maurois's first book, and she shows a tendency to stray from her subject and run off into tangents. But it is an interesting subject, and she actually makes a pretty good case that Louis Napoleon probably would have done better for himself - and for France - if he had stuck by his loyal mistress instead of chasing after the Spanish aristocrat Eugenie Montijo.… (más)