Book One of the Marie Antoinette Trilogy - ‘Vive Madame la Dauphine’ - Launches on 16 October, 2008, to Commemorate the Day of the Guillotine

September 02, 2008 - Press Dispensary - Soon it will be exactly 215 years since Marie Antoinette was guillotined on the chilly autumn morning of 16 October, 1793. To commemorate this anniversary and challenge popular perceptions about the lives of Louis Auguste (‘the Dauphin’) and his child bride, Marie Antoinette, André Romijn (author of ‘Hidden Harmonies: The Secret Life of Antonio Vivaldi’) unleashes his biographical novel, ‘Vive Madame la Dauphine’, on 16 October, 2008.

In Book One of the Marie Antoinette Trilogy, Romijn brings to life Madame la Dauphine as she transforms herself from an inexperienced 14-year-old arriving in Versailles for her wedding day in 1770, to becoming the fêted then ill-fated Queen of France - a crucial yet largely neglected period of her life.

The sweet smile and the face presented to the world by the charming, young Marie Antoinette would suggest that she wants for nothing; her life seems perfect bliss. However, according to Romijn’s ‘Vive Madame la Dauphine’, nothing could be further from the truth. Incarcerated within the labyrinthine walls of Europe’s grandest palace, surrounded on all sides by jealousy and intrigue, Marie Antoinette grows up isolated and alone. Her task - to produce an heir and ensure survival of the French Bourbon dynasty – is none too easy if Louis Auguste, Dauphin and grandson of the French King Louis XV, refuses to share their marriage bed.

With an unconsummated marriage, how might Marie Antoinette win the heart of ‘Papa Roi’ and avoid being sent home? How will she steer a course through the pitfalls laid by her enemies? And… what was the real role played by Austrian ambassador, Comte de Mercy? What effect did the Swedish Count Axel von Fersen have upon her young heart and mind? Was it possible for Marie Antoinette to love her husband Louis XVI, or he to love his wife?

André Romijn comments: “What’s left are memories of a Queen of France spending fortunes on jewellery and fashion, uttering the immortal yet fake line, ‘let them eat cake’, and married to a king who wasn’t a capable ruler. But is this all true and fair? New research shows a different picture and will change people’s minds about the royal couple.”

Thanks to Romijn’s novel, readers can discover how, 15 years before the storming of the Bastille, the first signs of revolution were already discernible. But what was the role of Marie Antoinette in this scenario and might she have saved herself from the guillotine?

Romijn conducts the reader into the presence of a new Marie Antoinette: a woman capable of holding her own amidst the chaos and acrimony of court life at Versailles; one who rises magnificently to the challenges of sovereignty, motherhood and love, but who allows herself finally and fatally to be caught up in the maelstrom of destruction that is the French Revolution.

He adds: “Readers can lose themselves in the 18th century life at the Palace of Versailles. And, as if at first hand, they can witness the social change and gathering unrest that ultimately erupted in a malignant outburst that set all of Europe simmering.”

Book One of the Marie Antoinette Trilogy - ‘Vive Madame la Dauphine’ (ISBN 978-0955410024) – is available at all good bookshops and at http://www.ma-trilogy.com, priced £14.95, from 16 October, 2008.

- Ends -

Biographical novelist, André Romijn, spent many years in the Netherlands Royal Navy. After coming ashore, he established his name as a publisher of professional journals. For the past decade, he has lived and worked in North Yorkshire, England. In 2007, his book ‘Hidden Harmonies: The Secret Life of Antonio Vivaldi’ was successfully published. (See reviews at http://www.antoniovivaldi.co.uk/eng_reviews.html) This well-praised novel is now also available in Dutch and Hungarian. His next book, due for publication in Autumn 2009, is titled ‘A Perfect Woman’ - Book Two of the ‘Marie Antoinette Trilogy’.

Copies of Book One of the Marie Antoinette Trilogy - ‘Vive Madame la Dauphine’ are available for review on request.

JPEGs and PDFs are available on request.

For further information, please contact:
André Romijn, Roman House Publishers Ltd
Tel: 01765 607933
Email:
Site: www.ma-trilogy.com