CHANTING LITTLE LADY

by Virginia ernon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 1964

...was Marie Madeleine d'Aubray, the Marquise de Brinvilliers, and first recognized arsenic poisoner. Born in the reign of Louis XIII, she grew up and lived during that of Louis XIV, and all the corruption of court circles seems to have come naturally to her. Sexually precocious, she taunted her brothers, perhaps did more, as a child. She married at twenty, the Marquis de Brinvilliers, who soon tired of her amours and came to an understanding with her that freed her to pursue her own pleasures. Her affair with the Chevalier de Sainte Croix, begun under de Brinvillier's auspices, became more than a liaison in love: an alchemist under Dr. Glaser's tutelage, de Sainte Croix provided her with the precious red leather casket containing the poisons that brought her her inheritances. She first tested them on the destitute patients at the Hotel Dieu, where she was known for her bounty, then applied them to end the life of her father. A third party, La Chaussee, was required to kill her brothers. When de Sainte Croix was found dead in his laboratory, the red casket nearby aroused suspicions not easily laid to rest. Antoine d'Aubray's widow determined to bring her hated sister-in-law, hidden in England, then in the sanctuary of a Dutch convent, to justice. La Chaussee died on the wheel; the Marquise played to a fashionable crowd at the guillotine. A fascinating account of evil, or, a nosegay of nightshade with more than a whiff of the period. Fanciers will not want to miss it.

Pub Date: Aug. 13, 1964

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Roelard-Schuman

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1964

Categories: NONFICTION