The Queen's Dollmaker

Author: Christine Trent

I finished this book just a few minutes ago, and I'm not completely sure that I have a lot to say about it. I didn't think it was a great book, but I didn't think it was bad either. It was just more of a good book (in my weird ranking scale, that means above average).

I did really like the plot, which is most important to me in a novel, as I state in a ton of my posts (sorry for the repetition! =D). I thought it was a really creative idea that I've never heard of before. Claudette Laurent, daughter of a Parisian dollmaker, becomes an orphan after a fire claims her parents' lives. As she's unable to find her fiance, Jean-Phillipe, she travels to London and becomes a kitchen assistant to a horrible mistress. Along the way she meets many people that affect her life in major ways, such as Beatrice du Georges and her daughter Marguerite, Elizabeth Preston, and William Greycliffe, being some of the most important. Claudette tries to turn her situation around and make herself into a successful dollmaker, hoping to return to France someday. As her business grows more popular, she earns commissions from none other than the Queen Marie Antoinette (I know, who would've thought that I, of all people, would read a book involving Marie Antoinette?). The story continues from there, as Claudette has to deal with her own personal problems, her need for independence, and also her loyalty to the French monarchs, who become her dear friends, in midst of the revolution. Intriguing, yes? Absolutely. And while the plot was somewhat predictable at some points, Christine Trent also managed to add in twists that NO ONE would have guessed at, especially the ending. My jaw literally dropped. That never happens.

One of the problems I have with the book is that it kind of jumps around a lot, so sometimes I wasn't completely sure what was happening. One time, I was actually convinced I was missing a page or something, because one big event seemed like it was still in the process of happening, but then I turned the page and Claudette suddenly had an invitation to appear before Marie Antoinette. I sat there for at least three full minutes, trying to figure out what happened. 

Also, some of the scenes with Marie Antoinette seemed like they were randomly thrown in there. They weren't very relevant to the story, because she didn't even indirectly enter into Claudette's life until Axel Fersen decides to buy her one of Claudette's dolls, which happens almost halfway through the book. And while I think she did effectively explain parts of Marie Antoinette's life, like the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, in just a plain summary, I wish that Trent had presented some other parts of her life, such as the deaths of two of her children, with something other than a summary, like dialog, or correspondence, because I thought it seemed almost devoid of emotion, and she had an extremely turbulent and emotional life. I think that it would have been much more appealing with more of Marie Antoinette's thoughts or feelings included a little bit more.

The biggest problem I had, though, was historical accuracy and consistency. While I understand that in a historical fiction novel, you can take certain liberties, I think that if you don't have to change something to fit into your story, you should just keep it the same. I don't think it was a lack of research, because I've read several of the books Christine Trent listed in her bibliography, and they're really very good sources of information. For example, there were several places where Axel Fersen was referred to as Alexl. I've NEVER heard of him being called Alex, and it just bugged me every time it came up. Also, another example was that until the fishwives marched to Versailles, it sounded like the Palace of Versailles was IN Paris, but it really isn't. The Palace OF Versailles is in a town called Versailles, about 12 miles or so away from Paris. I had a problem with that mostly because when the royal family was taken to the Tuilleries Palace in Paris, Versailles suddenly seemed as though it were in a different place. So, mostly, it was a consistency issue. Those were my only two big accuracy annoyances, but I doubt it would bug anyone but me, just because I'm weird and anal about that stuff. 

So, ultimately, I did like it and would recommend this book to someone or read it again. Try it out, if you want and tell me what YOU think. Comments and emails (Kristi_reads@yahoo.com) are always accepted. =D Next I THINK I'm going to start Safe Harbor  by Luanne Rice, which I most likely won't write a review for because I read it about a million times when I was younger. But I'll figure out something else to write about if it takes me too long to finish. =D

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi