The Private Life of Marie Antoinette by Madame Campan (2006, Paperback)

I enjoyed reading Campan's book about the doomed Queen. While the text is very obviously biased and written from what seems to be the loving standpoint of a grateful lady-in-waiting, Campan still manages to keep us grounded by reminding us of the failings of the monarchs, yet without the mudslinging so many of her time reduced themselves to.

We get valid descriptions of the King and Queen, his Aunts, brothers, grandfather, and their dispositions. Discussion regarding the painfully shy nature of the King and the mistakes of his Queen leading to their unfortunate end are shown, albeit with love and understanding.

As Campan was a friend to both monarchs, it is expected that she be biased and exert her opinion. This book is strongly royalist and not for those who want a more "textbook" account of the proceedings, but again I stress that she clearly outlines both Louis XVI and his wife were not without failings. More honest than Fraser's "The Journey," (which, sadly, implicates that the Queen practiced behaviors most historians admit she did not - like drinking or making love to Axel VonFersen,) while also showing the monarchs as positively as possible.

As it was written in the early 1800's, some readers may find it a bit stiff, but not so much so as many books of the era. Four stars out of five (one star missing as the account is very biased and occasionally reverts to outright flattery of her late employers.)