The Queen's Fortune by Allison Pataki

We are all now living in more and more troubling times. And, we are all, in our own way, trying to find things to do that not only pass the time, but also distract us from worry.

For me, and for many, reading is not only an occupation but also a consolation, and a pleasure.

Whatever your personal taste in reading - romance, historical fiction, literary fiction or non-fiction, biographies, or mystery novels - there is a lot to discover!

I have been serving customers by phone and e-mail for non-contact pick-up and delivery, and we often share conversation about the books we are reading.

A few weeks ago I was recommending a novel by Mary Beth Keane, Ask Again Yes, to a customer and mentioned that this author has an earlier book, titled Fever, about a woman who was known as Typhoid Mary in the early 1900s. Do we want to read about epidemics at this time? Maybe we do. Another customer ordered a book titled As Bright As Heaven by Susan Meissner, a novel about the Spanish Flu, wondering if her book club would be willing to read it! I ordered a copy for myself as it did look like a good read.

Another wonderful series of escapist, and very informative, books is a mystery series by C J Sansom. Starting with Dissolution these novels follow the life of lawyer, Matthew Shardlake, beginning in 1537, employed by King Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell. It is a fascinating series, some of the books taking place in the years when the people of England and Europe experienced The Plague.

One of the most popular books right now is The Splendid and the Vile, A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance during the Blitz, by Erik Larson. This is an inspirational book about a time when leadership meant the difference between life and death, when citizens managed to maintain a compassionate society during years of great stress.

This week I read The Queen’s Fortune by Allison Pataki, a wonderful novel about Napoleon and a woman who knew him well, from the time of his arrival in France, just a poor Corsican boy with great ambition, until his death. Reading this book at this time found me drawing comparisons between President Trump and Napoleon – both womanizers, using women as accessories, narcissistic, power hungry, and delusional – but Napoleon was far more intelligent! We read about Napoleon’s rise to power following the French Revolution, his first love, Desiree Clary, and his relationship with, and marriage to, Josephine. We witness his conquests of other nations, his defeat at Waterloo, and his death at the age of only 51 years old. Desiree witnessed it all and shares her story with us, from her young teenage years and her first love, to her old age and mature refection on her youth and the time through which she lived. The Queen’s Fortune was an engaging novel, a chronicle of the history of France, and much of Europe, from 1789 to 1860, and time I happily spent in a world that is not our own.

No matter what you like to read, I hope that books are helping you find both escape and consolation. Stay home – with a good book. Keep Safe!