Review: Marie Antoinette's Henchman by Meade Minnigerode

[rosemaryinwheat]

Marie Antoinette's Henchman: The Career of Jean, Baron de Batz, in the French Revolution by Meade Minnigerode

Published in 1936

Rating: Enjoyable (3/5)

Personal Relevance:
I picked this up when I realized that the plot of Eldorado was going to shape the plot of Twenty Years After. The Baron de Batz appears in several Pimpernel novels, but his

Comments

[lareinenoire]

Ah, early twentieth-century biographies. Aren't they fun? ;) I've had my fair share of run-ins with them and their aggravating idiosyncrasies.

I'd only run across de Batz in Eldorado and you make me incredibly curious about the real-life figure! I'm assuming nobody else has written about him? That's a bit surprising, given how many people have worked on that period and how close he is to so many different conspiracy theories! Is it a question of sources or is this just one of those random gaps in scholarship?

(You make me want to have a glance through the French Revolution section of the history department's library later this week just to see if there are any other books about him.)

[rosemaryinwheat]

I've found a couple more biographies and mean to search out copies when I have time/cash, though some are in French (my grasp of the language isn't terrific, so they're presently inaccessible, at it were). If you do give in to your idea to glance through the history department, I'd love to hear if you come across anything.

[lareinenoire]

I'll see what I can do as far as the library goes -- I only have one free day for research while I'm in Oxford and might be stuck with a pile of patent roll transcriptions. But if I have time to swing past the History library, I'll have a look!

I'm fluent in French, as it happens, if you need any help with translations.

[rosemaryinwheat]

Thanks! Don't worry if the time doesn't come to you.

Though I may hit you up to check my French later on -- I use a couple phrases here and there.

[madeleinestjust]

There's a good book by Jean Plaidy about Charlotte Walpole, called Milady Charlotte. I really enjoyed reading about her. In fact, she would make a fabulous cameo character in your book! Like De Batz and Percy, she tried but she failed to save both Marie-Antoinette and the Dauphin, and died a broken woman in 1836, yet what a lively, brave and enigmatic woman in her prime! (Also, the cover of Plaidy's book is stunning!)

And I know what you mean about biographers - I'm currently reading about Lord Melbourne, and although David Cecil is vastly amusing (unintentionally so, most of the time), I do have to doubt his veracity. That said, I read a biography of JFK last month that was peppered with footnotes and sources, but they were all of a vastly dubious nature, so who's to say the personal opinion of the author isn't as valid as actual research?

[rosemaryinwheat]

who's to say the personal opinion of the author isn't as valid as actual research?

Very true. I suppose it depends in the tone the author uses and whether the though-process is clear. Minnegerode was content to simply state that de Batz was in control, but never really explain why he thought this was so.

I'll have a look about for the Plaidy novel. Charlotte is the main character of a friend's work-in-progress. It would be interesting to see her from someone else's perspective. Thanks!

[madeleinestjust]

Charlotte is the main character of a friend's work-in-progress.

Ooh! Please let them know that I would read such a novel in a flash - tell 'em to get a move on! ;) (Not really, but there definitely should be more books about this woman!)

[rosemaryinwheat]

I confess I've lost touch with her, but I hope to connect again this October at the writers' conference we both attend. She'd be thrilled to hear about a reader waiting for a Charlotte book. ;)