The Rivals of Versailles: A Novel

Mistresses of Versailles, Book 2

By: Sally Christie

Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley

The year is 1745, and King Louis XV's bed is once again empty. Enter Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, a beautiful girl from the middle classes. As a child, a fortune-teller had told young Jeanne's destiny: She would become the lover of a king and the most powerful woman in the land. Eventually connections, luck, and a little scheming pave her way to Versailles and into the king's arms.

All too soon, conniving politicians and hopeful beauties seek to replace the bourgeois interloper with a more suitable mistress. As Jeanne, now the Marquise de Pompadour, takes on her many rivals - including a lustful lady-in-waiting, a precocious 14-year-old prostitute, and even a cousin of the notorious Nesle sisters - she helps the king give himself over to a life of luxury and depravity. Around them war rages, discontent grows, and France inches ever closer to the Revolution.

©2016 Sally Christie (P)2016 Tantor

good historical fiction

I love historical fiction and learned a lot about Versailles listening to this book. Narration was well done.

Kings chics

love this book!! So well written. and the reading of it was like a good movie!

Love the second installment!

This book is told from the perspective of the Marquise de Pompadour, Adelaide (Louis XV's daughter) and his various petite mistrsses. Again, I love how Wiley gives the many daughters of Louis XV their own personality through her voice. Madame de Pompadour was with Louis XV the longest out of his many lovers, and I believe her "reign" saw his greatest transformation to the "debauched libertine" history knows him to be. I also love how Christie gives his lesser mistresses their own perspective as well, especially Morphise (Louise O'Murphy) who was just a teenager when she became the king's lover. It shows the darker side of 18th century France, and gives the story versatility. 5/5!!

Narration is BRILLIANT!!!

Story is entertaining. Narration makes me feel I’m right there. Is there an Oscar for audiobook narration? Elizabeth Wiley deserves one!

A good sequel.

This is a good sequal in this line of of books. The succession of mistress's that went through the palace is amazing. This book brings it to life.