Gain Sisi: Empress On Her Own Formulated By Allison Pataki Presented In Text
to NetGalley for my advanced reading copy of this novel,
This was a wonderfully written novel that I enjoyed immensely, After reading “The Accidental Empress” I was pleasantly surprised to discover there was a sequel, as I was eager to learn more about Empress “Sisi” of AustriaHungary,
This novel begins where the last novel left us and therefore I strongly recommend reading them in order, I enjoyed this novel even more than I did the first one as I found it to be more educational about who Sisi was as a person and how she dealt with the issues in her life.
Sisi is a much stronger, independent woman in this novel and I was intrigued to learn how she was able to cope with the rigid structure of being a Hapsburg and all that it entailed.
She struck me as a true free spirita “Fairy Queen” as she was named by her peopleand therefore she ran away from the Hapsburg court as often as she could.
I do not use the term “ran away” lightly, There were many things that I felt Sisi was running away from, to name a few: the slander about her in the press, the tension between her husband and her son, even the prospect of too many Imperial functions would cause her to flee at times.
If you read this novel by itself I could see how it may cause you to view Sisi as selfish and irresponsible, however if read after “The Accidental Empress” it becomes evident that Sisi HAS to take a step back from these things for her own wellbeing of body and mind.
This is a woman with a much better handle on herself and her emotions than the Sisi of the first novel, I really enjoyed seeing this change in her and therefore found myself rooted firmly in her camp when it came to the backlash surrounding her urge to flee the court.
Yet this is not to say that I agreed with every decision she made, Her avoidance of her sons issues in particular was disturbing to me, The author voices this same concern in her authors note, The author muses upon whether or not the lack of control Sisi had in her childrens upbringing led to this distancing of herself from them later in life.
Another thought is that she was reluctant to exert any kind of influence or control in fear of being too much like her motherinlaw Archduchess Sophie, who strove to control the Imperial Familys every move.
It was upsetting to read of the deteriorating relationship between Crown Prince Rudolf and his parents, I couldnt help but wonder if the fate of the AustrianHungarian Empire would have been different if their relationship had not become so strained, I was amazed by some of the events that transpired in the family, As the author states in her authors note: “one cannot make this stuff up”,
A particularly fascinating figure that appeared in this novel was Sisis cousin, King Ludwig II of Bavaria, “Mad King Ludwig” is most famously known for his creation of Neuschwanstein, the extraordinary fairytale castle set amongst the mountains of Western Bavaria, Ludwig was an eccentric recluse who became the patron of the composer Richard Wagner, He bankrupted himself through his building work and his patronage of Wagner, causing serious discontentment in the Bavarian government, Although it was mostly through letters written between him and Sisi, the author still managed to create a vivid character in Ludwig that I greatly enjoyed reading about.
I adored the descriptions of Neuschwanstein that were shown to us through Sisis eyes and I found myself staring at photographs of the castle in wonder, Ludwigs story is a sad one but his legacy of Neuschwanstein is aweinspiring all the same,
Overall I really enjoyed this novel and I was able to get a good sense of who Empress Sisi actually was, Her life story is very interesting and there are many things that are curious enough to give me pause for thought, Ive found myself pondering many “whatifs” after finishing this novel and this is truly a sign of a good read: one that stays with me for a long time afterwards.
I am very glad to have read this pair of absorbing, intriguing and wellwritten novels,
I loved this series! I read The Accidental Empress and Sisi back to back and was captivated by Sisi's story, I also enjoyed the long author's note at the end! From luscious moonlit gardens to sumptuous castles, the settings of SISI: EMPRESS ON HER OWN are as dazzling as those of Viennas Imperial Court Theater, and the drama enacted on its pages is no less impressive.
Pataki resurrects the unforgettable Empress Elisabeth in a rich and exquisite tragedy of passion and heartbreaka true tour de force, Último de la biología “Sissi, emperatriz de Austria”, La novela está bien documentada y adorna con detalles de imaginación muchos de los eventos y circunstancias que rodearon la vida y muerte de Isabel de Baviera.
En esta segunda parte, nos presenta a una Sissi más madura, que al menos se conforma con el poder criar a su hija menor Valeria, en quien deposita todo su amor y atenciones, dado que no se le permitió cuidar de losanteriores.
Aun viviendo en la opulencia, con las ventajas del dinero, encontramos a una Sissi joven adulta, que negocia con su esposo el emperador, su propia libertad para viajar y escapar de la corte.
Fue una reina muy querida fuera de Austria y muy criticada y menospreciada
en su propio imperio, Habla de su búsqueda del amor y la lucha por el bienestar de sus hijos, pero posiblemente, ante todo, su propia tranquilidad,
La autora acepta que el final es idílico, con la intención de brindarle a Sissi en la muerte, la paz y esperanza que anheló siempre en compañía de los suyos, en especial de su esposo Francisco José.
Cierro con una cita que refleja la opresión de su vida entera: “No es una locura que todos ellos, con todo el poder que ostentan, accedan de buena gana a vivir prisioneros, pensó.
Encadenados por el protocolo, la etiqueta, las peticiones y las tradiciones centenarias, ” Edit: April
A lot of you lovely commentators have been asking me for recommendations for Sisi books I actually enjoyed, I'm happy to very highly recommend a book I've finally, finally managed to review called sitelinkStealing Sisi's Star: How a Master Thief Nearly Got Away with Austria's Most Famous Jewel by the very talented Jennifer Bahaney who you may recognize from her helpful comments in this review when she kindly corrected all the stuff I got wrong about the real empress!.
She very kindly offered me a copy of her book and I'm very pleased to recommend it to all of you!!!! I was seriously amazed I'd never even heard this crazy story before, some of it is honestly too crazy by crappy Hollywood B movie standards but apparently it all really happened!!! Check it out! Yes, its a shamelessly fawning review but I swear we do not know each other are neither related, married, or the same person!
From the Journal of Her Highness Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Queen Consort of Bohemia and Croatia
Dear Diary,
OMG being empress is like so totally hard! Everyone keeps expecting me to do stuff like "rule" and "pay attention to my kids" and all I want to do is go horseback riding! I love horses.
They're so pretty and they run so fast and I'm such a totally kickass rider!
Vienna so totally sucks anyway, Franz keeps insisting I go to all these state functions, He's all worried about some stupid impending world war and government stuff, I totally took care of that whole Hungarian thing already! What else does he want me to do!
Dear Diary:
I went riding today.
I'm awesome at riding!
Dear Diary:
I love Hungary!!! I'm never leaving!!! No one understands when I try to explain how the twilight is different here than anywhere else.
Its like they think that's just some stupid faux poetic bullshit that doesn't actually mean anything and is totally pretentious but kind of sounds like what someone deeply romantic and amazing would say.
Dear Diary:
I went riding today, I'm awesome at riding!
Dear Diary:
I went riding today, I'm awesome at riding!
the above entry subsequently appears everyday for the next ten years
Dear Diary:
The kids will NOT listen to me AT all! No one understands why I won't like help them with their problems since I whined so much in my last book about how much I wanted to take care of them.
Don't they know its my evil dying motherinlaws fault! Its aaaallllwwwaayyyssss her fault!!!!
sigh Andrassay's so hot,
Dear Diary:
I love Andrassayyyyyyyyy!!!!
Dear Diary:
Andrassay is so mean! He won't help me get Italy back for my sister! He's just like Franz! He doesn't even want me to go on my two year long vacations anymore!!!!
Dear Diary:
I think Rudolph is a serial killer.
I'm almost positive that in years to come this will literally never be a thing anyone suggests about him but my editor says people don't want to read so many chapters about horse back riding and my love life so we're throwing this in to help sales.
Dear Diary:
I love England!!!! I'm gonna stay here FOREVER! Yay horsies!!!! Queen Victoria who
Dear Diary:
Bay is so totally hawt.
I love Bay.
Dear Diary:
Booo Vienna, . . Rudolph's getting married to a really ugly princess, I wish I could advise him about this but that would mean talking to him and I don't want to do that, Huh, my daughter got married, Nobody told me!!! Wow, I have a grandaughter I'm too young to be a grandmother!!!! WWWWWAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! Oh look a horsey!
Dear Diary:
I love Bay sooooo much.
the rest of the journal is filled with repeated references to horseback riding, how much the empress hates everything that isn't riding, and probably references to a bunch more hawt guys because I am giving up on this horrible, boring book and simply do not care anymore.
Final Entry:
Dear Diary:
Some weirdo just poked me with a stick, I wonder how my horsies are Is that blood!
,