The Secret Life of Josephine

I will be giving a book talk in September on historical women in fiction, and one of the books I will be talking about is The Secret Life of Josephine: Napoleon's Bird of Paradise by Carrolly Erickson. This is a fictionalized account of Josephine Bonaparte, wife of Napoleon I and empress of France. The story begins in Martinique, where Marie Josèphe Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie was born. At the age of 16, Rose travels to Paris to be married to Alexandre de Beauharnais. Although their marriage was unhappy, Rose gave birth to a son and a daughter. She and Alexandre eventually separate and Alexandre dies in the Revolution. Although she falls in love with a man she knows from her past in Martinique, she marries Napoleon Bonaparte, a rising star in France. Finding her name Rose too plain, Bonaparte decides to call her Josephine. As Napoleon continues to win battles, his popularity rises, as does Josephine's status. But Josephine continues her affair, and when rumors of her affairs reach Napoleon, his love for her changes completely. Napoleon takes his own mistress and their relationship is never the same. Napoleon allows Josephine to be crowned empress when he takes the title of emperor, but because she has not given him a son, he tells her that he must eventually divorce her so that he may remarry and have a son. Napoleon and Josephine are eventually divorced, and Josephine is finally free to be with the man she loves. Although Erickson admits that much of the story is imagined and facts are embellished, Josephine is an interesting character. I especially liked that she chose to live her life as she wished, regardless of the rumors, which was probably rare at that time. I also enjoyed the detailed descriptions of life during that time-the clothing, the parties and the changes in France after the Revolution.