Leslie Carroll
Autor/a de Becoming Marie Antoinette: A Novel
Sobre l'autor
Leslie Carroll is the author of twenty books in three genres, including a series of five nonfiction titles on the loves and lives of European royalty: Royal Affairs, Notorious Royal Marriages, Royal Pains, Royal Romances, and Inglorious Royal Marriages. She and her husband divide their time between mostra'n més the high-rises of Manhattan and the high elevation of Denver. mostra'n menys
Nota de desambiguació:
(eng) Published historical fiction under the pen-names Juliet Grey and Amanda Elyot, and non-fiction and contemporary fiction under her own name.
Crèdit de la imatge: Brainstormin'
Sèrie
Obres de Leslie Carroll
Notorious Royal Marriages: A Juicy Journey Through Nine Centuries of Dynasty, Destiny, and Desire (2010) 182 exemplars
Royal Affairs: A Lusty Romp Through the Extramarital Adventures That Rocked the British Monarchy (2008) 177 exemplars
Be A Lady: Being the Adventures of an Enlightened American in Jane Austen's England (2006) 155 exemplars
Eine Lady in Bath 3 exemplars
Djevojka koja je postala Marija Antoneta 1 exemplars
Confissões de Maria Antonieta 1 exemplars
Obres associades
Scribbling Women and the Real-Life Romance Heroes Who Love Them (2014) — Col·laborador — 6 exemplars
Etiquetat
Coneixement comú
- Altres noms
- Elyot, Amanda
Grey, Juliet - Data de naixement
- 19xx-09-24
- Gènere
- female
- Nacionalitat
- USA
- Lloc de naixement
- New York, New York, USA
- Llocs de residència
- New York, New York, USA
Denver, Colorado - Educació
- Cornell University (BA|Theater)
- Professions
- actor
journalist - Nota de desambiguació
- Published historical fiction under the pen-names Juliet Grey and Amanda Elyot, and non-fiction and contemporary fiction under her own name.
Membres
Ressenyes
Llistes
Premis
Potser també t'agrada
Autors associats
Estadístiques
- Obres
- 25
- També de
- 2
- Membres
- 2,195
- Popularitat
- #11,687
- Valoració
- 3.5
- Ressenyes
- 153
- ISBN
- 83
- Llengües
- 3
My initial reaction was that the author was using far too many Jane facts all at once. I wrote, "not everything has to be explained. A fan already knows these things and a non-fan won't care. Too much clever gets to be annoying." After awhile, I realized this was going to be the style of the entire book so I gave up my frustration and rolled with it. It did get better after awhile when I realized the author was pretty knowledgeable and offered many interesting lessons on Georgian/Regency life.
The story was so unbelievable that it would be silly to even attempt a comment. Many reviewers have expressed frustration that it all seemed so coincidental and ridiculous. I'd invite those readers to stop for a moment and remember they're reading a time travel story. Time travel is impossible. Therefore, EVERYTHING in this story is silly and ridiculous...it's built upon a ridiculous premise. So, rather than trying to pick apart the story itself, perhaps it makes more sense to comment on the predictable elements within it.
My only issue with her actual grammatical style was the fact she put quotes around far too many words and phrases, hoping to emphasize their importance. The whole "aunt" and "niece" thing was frustrating, as I found myself emphasizing them in my head as I read them, page after page. I suppose it was supposed to build up to the fact that she didn't use them at the end---emphasizing the true connection between these two characters---but that was annoyingly anticlimactic.
I was not impressed with the character of CJ. Firstly, she had way more knowledge than made sense---no matter how much she'd researched for her character. Sure, she may have perfected a 21st century idea of what Regency life was like, making her actions less conspicuous once she got there, but it's very unlikely she'd be able to speak their way so easily, quickly, and without detection. No matter how much I study a foreign language, I will never speak it flawlessly to other native speakers my first time out. While American English and British English may be mostly the same language, any American who has read something written by a 21st century Briton can tell the difference almost immediately---how much more the difference between a 21 century actress and the 18th century culture into which she stepped?
A second unlikely thing was CJ's reaction to meeting Jane Austen. She doesn't seem to care a bit and the beloved author is treated like any other character. It's not until after several meetings with her that CJ expresses any sort of awe that they are friends. (Side note: robotic Jane-quoting Jane is also really annoying.)
I suppose I could comment here, at length, on the predictability of the story; but as I said above, it's made to be unrealistic to begin with so expectations should be appropriate.
Lastly, my biggest beef with the story was the explicit sex scenes. Always unnecessary---but very unexpected in this story and unneeded, too. Austen introduced us to many romantic relationships without any hint of impropriety. Surely this author could have challenged herself to do the same.
Overall, I liked reading about Bath---mainly because I'll be going there again twice this year, for my fourth and fifth visits, and will enjoy some of the same walks and views as these characters did. However, the rest of the story's elements left me rolling my eyes. Not a bad book---but not a super great one. Without the explicit scenes, I might recommend it for its silly fun look at Regency life, but I can't suggest it to anyone with those scenes included.… (més)