Antoinettes Sister by Diana Giovinazzo

Name of Book: Antoinette's Sister

Author: Diana Giovinazzo 

ISBN: 978-1-5387-2012-7

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing 

Type of book: sisterhood, family, relationships, strong women, dominate, 1765-1814, chances, constitution, kingdoms, Europe, Italy, Austria, France, Marie Theresa, Marie Antoinette, Marie Carolina Charlotte, ruler, queendom, heiresses, strength 

Year it was published: 2022

Summary:

As Marie Antoinette took her last breath as Queen of France in Paris, another formidable monarch—Antoinette’s dearly beloved sister, Charlotte—was hundreds of miles away, in Naples, fighting desperately to secure her release from the revolutionaries who would take her life. Little did Charlotte know, however, that her sister’s execution would change the course of history—and bring about the end of her own empire.

 

“You are the queen. You are the queen that Antoinette wanted to be.”

 

Austria 1767: Maria Carolina Charlotte—tenth daughter and one of sixteen children of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria—knows her position as a Habsburg archduchess will inevitably force her to leave her home, her family, and her cherished sister, Antoinette, whose companionship she values over all else. But not yet. The Habsburg family is celebrating a great triumph: Charlotte’s older sister, Josepha, has been promised to King Ferdinand IV of Naples and will soon take her place as queen. Before she can journey to her new home, however, tragedy strikes. After visiting the family crypt, Josepha contracts smallpox and dies. Shocked, Charlotte is forced to face an unthinkable new reality: she must now marry Ferdinand in her sister’s stead.

 

Bereft and alone, Charlotte finds that her life in Naples is more complicated than she could ever have imagined. Ferdinand is weak and feckless, and a disastrous wedding night plunges her into despair. Her husband’s regent, Tanucci, a controlling and power-hungry man, has pushed the country to the brink of ruin. Overwhelmed, she asks her brother Leopold, now the Holy Roman Emperor, to send help—which he does in the form of John Acton, a handsome military man twenty years Charlotte’s senior who is tasked with overseeing the Navy. Now, Charlotte must gather the strength to do what her mother did before her: take control of a country.

 

In a time of political uprisings and royal executions and with the increasingly desperate crisis her favorite sister, Queen Marie Antoinette, is facing in France, how is a young monarch to keep hold of everything—and everyone—she loves? Find out in this sweeping, luxurious tale of family, court intrigue, and power.

Characters:

Main character includes Marie Carolina Charlotte, known throughout the book as "Charlotte". Charlotte is one of the youngest daughters of Marie Theresa, best known as mother of Marie Antoinette. Charlotte, like her siblings has been raised to be a very strong queen who will demand respect from others and who is not to be messed with. She is practical, resourceful, tenacious, and makes sure that others respect her or else. Ferdinand is her husband, son of king of Spain who is more than happy to let Charlotte take the reigns and who is a devoted father but a terrible king. Marie Antoinette is Charlottes younger sister who gets married to the future king of France and who is struggling and is afraid for her life. There are plenty more, but I would prefer for readers to discover the characters for themselves. 

Theme:

History forgets strong and valiant women 

Plot:

Story is told in first person narrative from Marie Carolina Charlotte point of view. ( she goes by Charlotte in this book.) The story takes place from 1765, when Charlotte is fifteen years old up to her death in 1814, and from the first page I  immediately liked her because she doesn't let anyone mess with her. There are plenty of other things to love in the novel: I appreciated that Charlottes husband was painted as a human being, who had good and bad qualities; I also loved focus on family and on how the Hapsburgs were there for each other. ( honestly it's very rare to find that in novels describing royals...) There are hints of some romance, but they didn't take center stage. 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

Diana Giovinazzo is the co-creator of Wine, Women and Words, a weekly literary podcast featuring interviews with authors over a glass of wine. Diana is active within her local literary community as the vice president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Women’s National Book Association. The Woman in Red is her debut novel.

Opinion:

Everyone knows Marie Antoinette, a beautiful and tragic queen who has lost her life to guillotine during French Revolution, and everyone has an opinion about her, be it a positive one or negative. Unfortunately, rarely anyone knows of a sister that was extremely desperate to get her free: Marie Carolina Charlotte, three years older and a very capable woman who ruled the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. Truly speaking, reading this novel was a very delightful experience for me, and part of it reminded me of Sally Christies Versailles Trilogy that I always will forever tie it to the years my son came into my life ( 2015, 2016 and 2017) quite similar to Versailles trilogy, there is letter writing going on ( although I am curious as to why they aren't chronological and whether or not the words are real or fictional?) And, of course, I loved learning new elements that I never knew before. ( I had no idea Spain and Austria controlled Italy during that time!) Along with a woman that shouldn't be forgotten or relegated to the footnotes of history. 

This was given for review 

5 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)