Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.
–Napoleon Bonaparte
I agree with Napoleon, but Carolly Erickson did not create great and vibrant characters for her book about Josephine. I’m reading it for a book club meeting on Thursday. I’m halfway through but already disappointed by it.
I admit great ignorance when it comes to history, so having so much information a click away about these people helps enormously.
The story so far: Josephine is one of three daughters at a plantation in Martinique. Her marriage to a nobleman is arranged and she’s sent to Paris (but not before having some kind of sexual awakening with a complete and total stranger she found mesmerizing). The marriage is a poor one, Alexandre prefers the company of another woman, even after Rose (as she’s officially named) has two of her own. A bunch of stuff happens, she spends a lot of money, sleeps with a lot of men, the rebellion in France happens with Robespierre, she winds up in prison for a time because the Rebellion was trying to end the King’s rule and eliminate the nobility, but although Alexandre meets his end at the drop of the Guillotine’s blade, she is spared by the timing. Robespierre is overthrown before they get around to killing her. Some time later at a party, after she’s back on her financial feet (by being on her back for influential men) she meets General Napoleon, who becomes completely smitten with her and is soon begging for marriage. Eventually she acquiesces. But, while Bon’s away conquering Austria and Egypt, she’s diddling that fellow she first slept with. When her husband is finally convinced of her infidelity, he has a liason of his own.
That’s as far as I’ve read. I’ve been reading some of the articles on-line that offer up history of the time and the two of them and I’m realizing just how much the author has invented purely for entertainment purposes, and yet it’s not entertaining to me at all.
I think it’s an enormous failing on the part of the author not to expand on the accurate historical narrative. Not that I was expecting a heavy treatment of this story, given the number of pages in the novel, but overall I’m disappointed by it.
First off, the characters are not vibrant or full bodied. Everyone seems flat and nobody seems interesting. Josie is written as one who is obsessed with sex and clothing and pleasing herself and is incredibly self-centred. I have yet to figure out what the “secret life” might be.
The character seems to lack ambition to be more than a pretty face hiding bad teeth and appears to have no real interest in events she’s experiencing. Erickson glosses over everything that should have been an interesting part of Josie’s story and instead gives all the detail to the brocade of Josie’s dress. Whoopie. The mysterious stranger that captivates and allures Josephine into adultery is also a complete fabrication. I don’t know why she didn’t write about an actual human being rumoured to have been her one true love: Hippolyte Charles, an officer ten years her junior.
Sandra Gulland’s books about her seem to be thoroughly researched and sound intriguing. I might find myself looking for those.
I’ll finish this book, but I won’t have a glowing review for the book club on Thursday, that’s for sure.
