The Empress: A Novel

This book was wonderful. It's part of my husband's family history. One of his ancestors was a personal guard of the Empress. This book was wonderfully written and translated. A must-read.

I had not been aware of many of the details in this particular episode of history, but after reading the novel, I went back and looked at some of the actual historical information about the period. This appears to be a very well-researched work. There are some characters who may or may not have done precisely what was stated in the book, but the players were certainly in the right position to have done those things. I saw no obvious anachronisms or problems with continuity, so that made it a good read for me. I don't mind suspending belief when it's an obvious fantasy; when it's supposed to be historical, I'd like to have the history be accurate, and this book seemed to fit that bill.The writing and the story itself is not really something that I would have picked out most of the time, I got it because it was the most compelling of Amazon's free Prime selections. This is a translation of a work originally in Spanish, and it seems to have been translated well. The narrative kept me moving along.

This biographical fiction has an interesting subject and the book should have been a lot more entertaining.The problem is that the sequencing of events is so illogical that it reminded me of an event years ago. My elderly mother had gone blind and, at the time, dvds were the latest option for audio books. At one point she dropped all of the dvds and had no way of putting them back in the proper order for listening. However, she continued to listen and enjoyed the book. I couldn’t help thinking how much more enjoyable it would have been for her if she could have listened to it in the right order.This arrangement of events is so out of sequence to almost seem silly. The emperor is dead chapters before he is surrendering. The empress has a baby chapters before she is pregnant. Over and over, the same illogical presentation and the same situation with other characters. I kept wondering what the editor was thinking in letting this book be published with this arrangement of chapters.

I loved this book. It was very interesting historically but so sad. I cried at the end, which is very rare for me. I felt several strong emotions, especially anger at the way women have been treated throughout history and the stupidity of the male aristocracy. It was very well written and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and a really good, heartbreaking, story.

The Empress by Laura Martinez-Bellí is so much more than a novel about one woman’s life; it is a time capsule to an entire era. Reading it, I could sense the vast wealth of primary sources that contributed to the rich detail of this story. So much of the novel is already written in the specifics of time, place, words, and events. Martinez-Bellí does a wonderful job of allowing the story to tell itself, helping it along with a modern lens and a narrative thread.The author’s influence is most felt (and most appreciated) in the characters of Empress Carlota and her lady-of-honor Constanza Murrieta. This work shines as a feminist text.. Martinez-Bellí places the women’s desire to belong, to find one’s place and feel secure in it at the center of the narrative. She manages to write relatable internal conflict without obscuring challenges that women faced in the 19th century, especially highborn women with extra expectations of duty other than those of wife, mother, daughter. Carlota and Constanza are true to history and true to the female experience in any era.The women of The Empress are so compelling that I found myself lamenting the stage time given to the men of the cast. Philippe Petit, a personal guard of the empress and a supposed lover of Carlota’s, has sections of the novel devoted to his own point of view. While the case can be made for why Philippe deserves to be a central character, I feel that the story would be more powerful without his narration, seeing him solely through the eyes of Carlota and Constanza. Victor Hugo, one of my favorite authors, makes several appearances throughout the novel as well, and though the fangirl in me was squealing, if I’m being honest with myself, his presence was a tangent in an already stellar narrative thread. Hugo himself would have been proud.The Empress is a must read for American-educated readers of historical fiction. I have a better grasp of the Hapsburg dynasty from this one novel than from years of Western History and English-language media. Perhaps the perspective of an outsider, Mexico, is needed to really gage the scope of the tangled political web borne of 19th century European inbreeding. History buffs and lovers of intrigue alike will be fascinated by the woman at the center of Mexico’s Second Empire and her turbulent life story.

Absolutely breathtaking and heart wrenching at the same time. I thoroughly appreciated the history and massive research behind this book. Great book!

Excelente novela! 🖤👏🏻 Es el primer libro que leo de la autora y me ha enganchado desde las primeras líneas, muy buen libro

After reading the comments below about the order/ chronology of the book i wanted to write this view to encourage everyone to read this important and interesting novel of a woman sidelined in history by her male counterparts. It is fair to say it is hard to follow at first but once I got to about 40% I appreciated how it was written. I think it’s on purpose to highlight the frantic and chaotic feel that Mexico at the time had as well as the mental deterioration of Carlotta/ Charlotte.The book is a fantastic read, stick with it! It holds importance today as a woman in a mans world and how madness/ mental illness is perceived.

I loved this book, it was so interesting, couldn't wait to see what happened and all the more interesting because it was based on historic events.The empress's life was fascinating and so little is know about her.Would recommend to anyone interested in history

It took me a long time to get into this book, so confusing jumping back and forth in years and places and characters. However, I persevered and about half way through I picked up the pace to find it an enjoyable read.

I was disappointed to find that one of the important characters is entirely fictionalI found the story and characters interesting and loved the historical setting. Overall the story is absorbing.