THE QUEEN'S CONFESSION

In spite of its length, there are no longueurs in this agreeable version of the life and death of Marie Antoinette, told in a justified historic--there's a long bibliography--first person. Rigorously brought up, the little Austrian was exported to France to marry the Dauphin, and, very young, could be easily excused for her frivolous inclinations, while she could not be faulted later in her devotion to Louis or the four children they achieved--with difficulty. As time passes, the first bread riots which preceded their coronation antecede the more and more hostile sentiments of the people: innocent she was (or is here) in the scandal of the fateful diamond necklace, pardonably guilty at least in her enduring love for Axel Fersen who helps her in their futile escape to the Tuileries but cannot save her further. . . . A sympathetic reprise of Let Them Eat Cake with not too much icing and the author and the subject will combine to a substantial readership.