The Accidental Empress by Allison Pataki
Title: The Accidental Empress
Author: Allison Pataki
Published: February 17th 2015
Publisher: Howard Books
Pages:495
ISBN: 1476790221
Synopsis:
The year is 1853, and the Habsburgs are Europe’s most powerful ruling family. With his empire stretching from Austria to Russia, from Germany to Italy, Emperor Franz Joseph is young, rich, and ready to marry.
Fifteen-year-old Elisabeth, “Sisi,” Duchess of Bavaria, travels to the Habsburg Court with her older sister, who is betrothed to the young emperor. But shortly after her arrival at court, Sisi finds herself in an unexpected dilemma: she has inadvertently fallen for and won the heart of her sister’s groom. Franz Joseph reneges on his earlier proposal and declares his intention to marry Sisi instead.
Thrust onto the throne of Europe’s most treacherous imperial court, Sisi upsets political and familial loyalties in her quest to win, and keep, the love of her emperor, her people, and of the world.
With Pataki’s rich period detail and cast of complex, bewitching characters, The Accidental Empress offers a captivating glimpse into one of history’s most intriguing royal families, shedding new light on the glittering Hapsburg Empire and its most mesmerizing, most beloved “Fairy Queen.”
My Review:
"A deity does not quake simply because the crowd yells. An empress stands fixed, immutable: the calm that continues on, even as the world rages."
Definitely not a fairytale, but a portrayal of life as a royal. While “The Accidental Empress” is a fictional work, much of the book is true but some liberties were taken in the telling of the story. It takes place in the 1800s and is rich in history that is told interestingly.
Sisi is lively, enigmatic, and fierce. She is the accidental empress because she was never meant to marry the young Emperor, Franz Joseph. It was her older sister, Helene, who was betrothed to him, but Franz upon seeing Sisi falls in love with her. He informed his mother he would marry Sisi, or he would not marry at all. His mother, Princess Sophie of Bavaria, unwillingly agreed, and they were married within the year. And so it begins, the difficult story of Sisi’s life as Empress of Austria.
Reading about Sisi and Franz meeting and falling in love was delightful. There was a sweetness captured in their unlikely union—it was a great portrayal of first love — a fairy-tale love. However, it does not end up happily-ever-after for the young lovers. For there were three people in the marriage. Sophie, Franz Joseph’s mother, was overbearing and controlling. She felt that Elizabeth was not fit for the role of the queen. Franz is not strong enough to stand up to his mother, which made Sisi’s life miserable, and a fairy-tale love to an end. One cannot help but feel sorry for Empress Elisabeth.
What I found to be the best part of the book is that Sisi is a character I connected with. I felt her joy, her happiness, her frustration, her anger, her sense of helplessness, her passion. She is a strong and intelligent woman who wins the adoration of her subjects, her life as empress contains both disappointments and heart-breaking tragedy, but she persevered. She has her flaws, made bad choices here and there, but she was only a human.
Summary:
The best historical fiction versions I have read about this fascinating woman’s life.
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