Permon Junot was a longtime friend of the Bonaparte family she eventually married one of Napoleon's closest friends, General Andoche Junot, and was intimate with the Napoleonic court.
Years after Napoleon's defeat and death, the novelist Honoré de Balzac encouraged her to write her memoirs, when she was in desperate need of a source of income happily for her, the memoirs were extremely successful, and for good reason.
At the Court of Napoleon: Memoirs of the Duchesse d'Abrantes reproduces only a fraction of the eighteen volumes she produced, but it's fascinating nonetheless, full of juicy gossip about Napoleon, Josephine, and Napoleon's family.
One feels that Laure Junot would have been a wonderful companion at court she was possessed of a scathing wit and didn't hesitate to level it at any available target.
Here's a particularly good zinger, directed at Josephine: "Madame Bonaparte was an astonishing woman, and must have formerly been extremely pretty, for though now no longer in the first bloom of youth, her personal charms were still striking.
Had she only possessed teeth, she would certainly have outvied nearly all the ladies of the consular court, "
All is not sarcasm and wit, though Laure often acknowledges good qualities in the people around her, Toothless or not, Josephine's charm shines through particularly in comparison to Napoleon's second Empress, the bovine Marie Louise of Austria, and her daughter Hortense de Beauharnais comes off well enough to make me want to read more about her.
I'd love to get a more complete edition of these memoirs, but in the meantime, even this relatively short version offers an instant trip back to the brilliant, scandalous court of Napoleonic France.
An excellent insiders account of the day to day life of Napoleons Imperial court, Even if some of the stories are a fruit of her imagination, still, the author knew Napoleon and those in his closest circles intimately.
An important and intimate account of a life of the great man and some of the most interesting years in the history of France.
An interesting read Vol one of three, I had no preconceptions re: Napoleon going into reading it via Kindle on my commute, In Vol, the time period is about, which makes her aboutyears of age, A great deal of content is about the description of french society of the age, Based upon the descriptions, the author is heavily focused upon whether or not various notable individuals are pretty or not, Her mother is clearly a hypochondriac/drama queen a disproportionate amount of coverage is given to how "well shaped" an individuals arms/legs/feet/hands are, etc.
One not the author character is described as writing insistent notes about a current event everyminutes during a public uproar, Sort of like a narcissicist tweeting/texting to someone everyminutes to get more information about , because they are the most important person in the world.
At the time period, a lot of focus was on mid/upper societal behavior throwing balls, going to the theatre, etc,
All of this aside, Vol,is certainly a good exposure to Napoleon Bonaparte and his associates from a purely social view, Junot, the husband of the author acquired a very serious head wound prior to, and various highly erratic behavior on his part is referenced.
The one aspect of the writing that I thoroughly detest is the masking of names via the partial naming technique, such as "FruFru De did such and such" with the assumption that the reader has complete and total knowledge of who FruFru De is and what they have done.
Apart form a couple of interesting anecdotes such as the marriage of Napoleon to Marie Louise amp the subsequent birth of their son, it reads like one of those melodramatic theatrical productions or a thirdrate novel.
This is particularly true of the dialogue between persons, recalled, it might be added, thirty years after the events depicted amp penned in memoir form.
Tremendously disappointing. Dull and tedious, which makes for unpleasant reading, Worst of all the author is just completely unlikable, She's obnoxious,
selfimportant, and seems to have written this with the idea that Napoleon's family would read it, You would think they are all the most brilliant people who ever lived, but she never misses a chance to say something derogatory about Josephine.
Also, she makes ridiculous claims, like she knows that Napoleon never talked to his wife about such and such, as if she was witness to every conversation they ever had.
If it was at least exciting, I maybe could have forgiven it, but dull and bitchy, . . no. Laure Adélaïde Constance Junot née Permon was a French writer, Wife of General Junot, she is best known as Duchesse dAbrantès, She is the mother of sitelink Constance Aubert, Laure Adélaïde Constance Junot, duchesse dAbrantès, née Permon est une mémorialiste française, Elle est la mère de sitelink Constance Aubert, Laure Adélaïde Constance Junot née Permon was a French writer, Wife of General Junot, she is best known as Duchesse d'Abrantès, She is the mother of sitelink Constance Aubert, Laure Adélaïde Constance Junot, duchesse dAbrantès, née Permon est une mémorialiste française, Elle est la mère de sitelink Constance Aubert, sitelink.