Just in time for Bastille Day, comes the untold story of Eugénie de Montijo, a 19th-century woman who was instrumental in advancing women’s rights in France. While many thought of her as purely the wife of Emperor Napoleon III, she was so much more than that. The incredibly well-researched biography, co-written by Petie Kladstrub and Evelyne Resnick, is a must-read for anyone interested in French history, the fight for women’s rights, or fellow Francophiles.
Do you have to enjoy the book while eating macarons? Perhaps not, but I know that made me savor the book even more. Happy Bastille Day!
The dramatic untold story of Eugénie de Montijo, the woman who created haute couture, fought for women’s rights, opened France’s schools to girls and ruled the country as its last empress, yet today remains almost unknown.
Although a nineteenth-century woman, her almost twenty-first-century outlook was key to the creation of modern France. Viewed frequently as a mere “ornament of the throne” of her husband, Emperor Napoléon III, this Spanish-born aristocrat proved to be almost as fiery as her red hair, fighting against institutional limitations, establishing innovations in childcare and women’s health, scientific research and education, battling anti-Semitism and “sex prejudice,” all the while displaying a political acumen so sharp that her husband gave her sole control of the government during his absences and consulted her daily when he was home. But the triumphs and glamour of her life were coupled with heartbreak and tragedy.
This first definitive American biography of Eugénie restores her far-reaching legacy to history.
Early Praise:
“Kladstrup and Resnick offer a wonderful portrait of Empress Eugénie: a trailblazing feminist, rebel, diplomat and cultural powerhouse who championed science and the arts, and who transformed Paris into the world capital of luxury and style. Unjustly forgotten by history, she emerges here as a visionary woman — and as a delight for lovers of history featuring strong, complex women.” –Ross King, New York Times bestselling author of Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling and The Judgment of Paris
“The Last Empress of France delights from the very first sentence. Thoroughly researched and gracefully written, this untold story will keep you up reading late into the night.” –Martin Dugard, New York Times #1 bestselling author of Taking Midway
“Before reading this wonderful biography I knew Empress Eugenie only as a rosy face emerging from the sumptuous gowns of Winterhalter portraits. Kladstrup and Resnick have done a marvelous job presenting the full, real life of a remarkable woman, who was so bold and so busy it’s incredible she could sit still long enough to have her portrait painted at all. Whether exploring travel, architecture, fashion, finance, education, perfume or power, The Last Empress of France is energetic, intelligent and immensely readable – as smart and vigorous as the Empress herself.” –Lucy Adlington, New York Times bestselling author of The Dressmakers of Auschwitz
About the Authors
The Last Empress of France: The Rebellious Life of Eugénie de Montijo
Petie Kladstrup is a freelance writer who has written widely about France and French life. An Overseas Press Club winner, she has worked as newspaper journalist for several midwestern newspapers and, more recently, as a protocol officer for the US ambassador to UNESCO. She is the author, together with her husband, Don, of Wine and War: The French, the Nazis and the Battle for France’s Greatest Treasure (Random House )and Champagne: How the World’s Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed Over War and Hard Times. The parents of two daughters, Don and Petie divide their time between Paris and Normandy, France.
Evelyne Resnick was born and raised in Paris, France, in a family with links to England, the US, Japan and Mauritius Island. She developed an early passion for literature and history from various cultures and languages, culminated with a Ph.D. from the Sorbonne on the social status and the literary image of women writers in modern France. Now nestled in Bordeaux when in France and in California when in the US, she continues writing and researching about cultural history in Europe and in the USA..
