The Oracle Glass

by Judith Merkle Riley

With imaginative verve, intelligence, and exceptional detail, The Oracle Glass captures the rich tang of one of history's most irresistible eras. Spinning actual police records from the reign of Louis XIV into a darkly captivating story, it follows the fortunes of Genevieve Pasquier, a fifteen-year-old girl who has been transformed into an imperious, seemingly infallible fortune-teller... Genevieve is a skinny, precocious little monkey with a mind full of philosophy and the power to read the swirling waters of an oracle glass - for a demimonde who will believe anything. Left for dead by her family, Genevieve is taken in by La Voisin, an ingenious occultist and omnipotent society fortune-teller. La Voisin also rules a secret society of witches - abortionists and poisoners - who manipulate the lives of the rich and scandalous all the way up to the throne. Tutored by La Voison, Genevieve creates a new identity for herself - as the mysterious Madame de Morville, complete with an antique black dress, a powdered face, a cane, and a wickedly sarcastic streak who is supposedly nearly one hundred fifty years old. Even the reigning mistress of the Sun King himself consults Madame de Morville on what the future holds for her. And as Madame de Morville, Genevieve can revel in what women are usually denied power, an independent income, and the opportunity to speak her mind. Beneath her intelligence and wit, what drives Genevieve is a private revenge - but what she doesn't expect is for love to come in the bargain.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Historical, Fiction, France, Paranormal, Romance

528 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Judith Astria Merkle was born on January 14, 1942 in Brunswick, Maine and grew up in Livermore, California, U.S.A. Her great-grandfather was a Swiss emigrant, who moved to the United States in 1860. Her uncle-abue was the famous player of baseball Fred Merkle. Her father, Theodore Charles Merkle was contralador of the Project Pluto and her brother Ralph C. Merkle is technological professor in a Computer science School.

Judith Astria Merkle holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley and teaches in the Department of Government at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California. Married with Mr. Riley, she wrote as Judith Merkle Riley six historical and romance novels.

Reviews

[Jaidee · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 "wicked, lighthearted, intriguing" stars !!

2016 Honorable Mention Read with High Distinction

Hats off to you Ms. Merkle Riley!!!!

You have written one of the most delicious historical fictions that I have ever read.

This book is loosely based on the Affair of the Poisons in 17th century Paris and Versailles.
You can read about it briefly here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affair_...

She has created a fictional character on the periphery of these events in order to tell an alternate story that weaves in an out of the Affair of the Poisons. This main character is Genevieve Pasquier a bourgouisie maiden that due to family cruelties and misfortunes re-invents herself as a sorceress and fortune teller to the nobility and even to the King and Queen of France. This maiden is deeply intelligent, intuitive and battles her morality and carnal desires throughout the book.

The book has a complex plot, a fascinating assortment of characters, lighthearted perspectives on disturbing issues and is deeply poetic and romantic. I wanted this book to go on forever and was reading slower and slower but darnit it did come to an end.

Here is a sample from Genevieve's adolescent diary musings:

"March 5, 1675. Why do persist in dealing with the Devil? If there is no God, then there is no Devil, either, and all is waste and foolishness. If there is a God, why would anyone of good sense want to deal with such a second-rate being as the Devil? It not only defies logic, it is in bad taste.

The rest of the page I filled with drawings of Lamotte's face"

Lamotte is who this young woman lusts for. Brilliant, hilarious and true to life to an adolescent woman.

Lamotte (when he becomes her lover) says "...If I had the pen of Moliere, I could make him comic. That is the role of art, is it not? To make monsters comic, so we can bear them, and our own cheap griefs into grand tragedy so that others will weep with us."

This is exactly what Ms. Merkle Riley has done with this smashing, brilliant and intelligent piece of historical fiction!!

Do yourself a favor and read it :)

[Kate Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite of Judith Merkle Riley's books. I read this in junior high, and managed to severely unsettle a number of teachers with my in-depth knowledge of poisons and their effects. This novel introduces us to the dark side of the Sun King's court, a world rife with backstabbing, social-climbing, Satanism, and magic. Our guide is a young girl with a gift for seeing the future, abandoned by her family and re-made into a society fortune-teller. Her mentor is La Voisin, an amused and amusing woman who runs Paris's underground trade in poisons, abortions, and black magic. Riley puts a humorous twist on this grim subject matter, and keeps us laughing throughout. The heroine is appealing and intelligent, the hero is adorable, La Voisin is irresistably likeable despite her amorality, and a number of smaller characters - like the housemaid possessed by a snobbish demon - steal the show. A must for any lover of historical fiction.

[Katherine Coble · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book that started out terrifically well. I was instantly absorbed in the protagonist's story and felt as though I'd travelled back it time to Genevieve's Paris.

At exactly the 50% mark on my Kindle it got really...dull, confusing, boring, tedious. But every time i got to the point of deciding to put it down the story got interedting again for a brief bit, only to once again drag into the slough of drear. In doing some outside research I realised after the fact the nature of the problem. The book was based on an historical event called The Affair Of The Poisons. This was more or less Paris' version of The Salem Witch Trials meets Watergate. Several HUNDRED important French people, right up to the King's mistress and closest advisors, were implicated along with a ring of women accused of witchcraft and selling "inheritance powders" (poison). The buyers of said powders were the cream of Parisian society.

You'd think that'd be one heck of a story, right?

Well you'd be wrong. The problem was that the book was SO thoroughly researched that whenever the author got to the True Life parts--as opposed to the characters of her own devising--the story draaaaged. Tedious scene upon tedious scene of this mistress and that mistress, or former mistress, or mistress to be was like reading gossip of people you just don't care about. Even worse was the fact that none of the historical characters was called an easy name like "Anne-Marie". It was always "Madame de Whosits"; impossible to keep straight.

I cared very much about Genevieve and what happened to her. The story always perked back up when the author could feel free to play but in the end there was just too much repetitive and uninteresting detail to maintain a top quality novel.

[Morana Mazor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meni je ova knjiga genijalna! Ok, ja sam inače velika ljubiteljica povijesnih romana i ovaj (koji me već duže čekao na polici) odlučila sam čitati nakon niza "suvremenih"...Baš sam se poželjela dvorova, intrigi, raskošne odjeće, povijesnih likova itd. I nisam mogla bolje izabrati! Samo, ovaj puta pratimo jedan "svijet za sebe" koji egzistira u Parizu, krajem 17.st., a to je svijet vještica, čarobnjaka i sl. ekipe koji su izvanredno organizirani; u kontaktu sa najvišim ličnostima toga doba (uključujući i samoga Kralja Sunca, Luj XIV). I vještice navedene u knjizi povijesne su ličnosti,što se odlično navodi u kazalu knjige (koje su osobe bile stvarne, a koje izmišljeni likovi).. Znala sam da su otrovi, ljubavni prašci, i sl. tvorevine bile IN; ali da je to sve bilo tako dobro organizirano, i skriveno, to sam tek otkrila u ovoj knjizi.. Posebno mi je drago da ima puno mačaka..One su uvijek uz vještice, ali ne crne.. Priču nam priče mlada Genevieve Pasquier koja, igrom (naravno) sudbine biva uvučena u samo srce te strane Pariza..Ona je vrlo inteligentna, duhovita i priču nam priča uz svoje sarkastične komentare... Obilježila sam i par citata, ali mi je knjiga ostala u Rijeci, ali ipak imam jedan: ".. lijepe žene se više boje starosti nego ružne. Kad ostarim, kupovat ću knjige, a ne kreme protiv bora. "

[Tonkica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Realno 2.5 jer je ubitačno duga i jedva sam ju čekala završiti! (čitala sam ju točno mjesec dana!!!) :-/
No, prvih stotinjak stranica su super! Jako me zainteresiralo i svidjela mi se cijela ta priča o nesretnoj djevojci koja uistinu može vidjeti događaje u svojoj kristalnoj kugli. Da je knjiga imala max 300 stranica, ocjena bi bila puno veća!
Ako volite doba kraljeva i mistiku, mogla bi vam se svidjeti.. Pa zato probajte.. Sretno!

[Rebecca Huston · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite historical fiction reads, set in Paris of Louis XIV's reign. Genevieve is witty, smart -- and marked for murder. When she is unexpectedly saved by none other than arch-poisoner Catherine Voison, Genevieve finds that her life takes on a very unexpected twist. I've read this one about a half-dozen times and find out something new each time. It's smart, entertaining and great good fun. Recommended for anyone who is sick of historical romance and wants something different.

For the complete review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/content_29174...

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would have been a very good 300-page book. Unfortunately, the author wrote 500 pages which made it into an only fair story.

There are lots of promising aspects to the book: plenty of strong, independant and intelligent female characters, the fascinating world of the Sun King's court, the unique aspects of the Occult world, politics, family intrigues, love - both unrequited and true, and the city of Paris which is always fun as a book setting.

The story itself was very engaging - a young French girl Genevieve Pasquier, not beautiful and with a deformed foot, is the disappointment of her social-climbing mother but becomes the darling of her educated father who educates her with politics, religion and philosophy. Her future turns bad when the father dies and the rest of the selfish grasping family believes Genevieve to be the only one who knows where he hid the fortune they believe he spirited out of Paris. She doesn't, and since they refuse to believe her, and after being violated by her own uncle, Genevieve runs away thinking to commit suicide.

Instead, she is saved by one of the infamous "Witches of Paris" a group of female fortune-tellers and witches who run the occult underground activities of the city. Because Genevieve can see visions in water, La Voisin sees promise and trains her, creates an alter ego - The Marquies de la Morville - and helps her become the most famous and successful fortune-teller in Paris.

The success is good and bad, as it gives Genevieve the independance that virtually no women in Paris at the time enjoyed. But it also thrusts her into the merciless intigues and jockeying for position and prominence that characterized the court of Louis the fourteenth, making her position continously precarious.

As I said this would have been a really good story if it had been shorter. I felt the author included vast amounts of unnecessary details about everything that detracted from my overall enjoyment of the book. I didn't need to have a minute description of every gown, every carriage, every room, and even the weather in every scene of the story to have followed and enjoyed it. The detail became tedious very quickly, and I really feel this could have, and should have, been 300 pages rather than 500.

If the detail had been left out I would have given this three stars. It's an enjoyable story, but you have to skim over all the masses of irrelevant details to just read the actual plot and keep the book from dragging unbearably. This story would definitely have benefitted from a good editor to remove a lot of the extraneous detail.

[Kate Forsyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel is set in 17th century France, during the reign of the Sun King, and has at its heart the shocking Affair of the Poisons which scandalised French society and saw many hundreds put on trial for murder, sorcery, abortion and satanic rites. I've been studying the period for the book I'm now writing and so it was very interesting to read another novel drawing on the same events. The Oracle Glass is a thick, dense, and rather strange book, jammed full of reflections on philosophy and religion. Judith Merkle Riley taught political science at Claremont McKenna College in California, and her intelligence – and that of her intriguing heroine, Genevieve – shines forth on every page. I say 'taught' instead of 'teaches' because sadly Judith died last year from ovarian cancer.

[Deniz · Rating 3 out of 5]

its beautifully written, but very slow. Its definitely very duma-esque which is why i in fact gave it 3 rather then 2 stars
but to be honest, the story doesn't really unfold till right the end and the romance is non existent and then suddenly awkward.

[Heather Janesky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Loves this book!! Some French history was helpful and knowing the city was a benefit too…but in general, fabulous storytelling, great twists and fascinating character to build a plot around.

[Stefan Bachmann]

I looooved the concept of this. A secret coven of sorceresses and fortune-tellers working in 18th century Paris, double-crosses, poisonings, court intrigue at Versailles, a hint of magic, and super tactile, rich writing that gives the whole thing a dense atmosphere of grime and decadence. There are tons of characters in here whose names I couldn't always keep apart, and the story takes a bit to get where it's going, but I may just have not been in the mood during the second half. Overall kinda enchanting, 8/10 would want to be a witch in 18th-century Paris if Hogwarts is not an option. And if 18th-c. Paris weren't so awful. Ok, maybe Hogwarts still, but this was a good book.

[Min · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this book took me a long time to get through, I really liked it. The latter half was a bit better than the beginning. But I really enjoyed Merkle Riley's take on, well, basically feminism in 18th century Paris. The book doesn't idealize 18th century life for women. It was no doubt every bit as harsh, even for the women of court standing, as the book portrays.

I especially loved the fact that the main character was extremely smart and depended on that ability to stay alive and prosper. I also enjoyed the love interest (its not really a secret, you can see it a from the beginning) being in love with her mind, and she his. So I thought it was a nice change in pace from the - she's so strong then a man enters and now she's a silly swooning female lead - books so popular now.

I'm very interested in reading other books by Merkle Riley. And would recommend this book to fans of historical fiction, especially those who liked Libba Bray's trilogy.

[Fiona Leonard · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Oracle Glass and I got off to a bad start. The book opens with five pages (ok maybe three) of characters and for me, that is never a good thing. The sad fact is that I just do not have the patience to hold the names of fifty different characters in my head, especially when those names change during the course of the novel, and when those fifty different names are also French. Keeping track of those names on a kindle is also problematic. With a physical book it would be easy to go back and forwards between the list of characters but in an e-book it's a more convoluted process.

By the time I had half-heartedly skimmed diligently read through the list I was already feeling tired and I confess that I approached chapter one with a sense of foreboding. This may have contributed to my first impression of the dialogue being stilted and over written. Having just reread it, I'm not entirely sure why I felt that way, but whatever it was, I moved into chapter two with reluctance. Fortunately, from there things picked up and while sometimes I lost track of the characters, this tale of seventeenth century France proved to be an enjoyable one.

The story is told from the perspective of Genevieve Pasquiers, a young woman who escapes a desperate home life and is swept into a fantastic world of witches and fortune tellers. Her ability to accurately see the future in her oracle glass, and some excellent marketing, soon make her the darling of Paris' scheming and power hungry aristocracy. It is a world where fortunes are rapidly made and lost, patronage conferred and withdrawn and love is given and taken for all the wrong reasons. The story is rendered all the more interesting by the fact that it is largely based on historical figures. Their lives and (mis)deeds were documented during a series of high profile witch trials.

Genevieve, and her alter ego, the Marquise de Morville, are incredibly well drawn. She is consistent and well developed over the course of the story. She is believable and feels authentic. The world of her powerful patron, La Voisin is also well drawn. The novel provides a fascinating insight into a secret society of women who serviced the aristocracy whilst at the same time helping their own. These were women who had powers that they both exploited and satirised. In doing so they both acknowledged society's doubts about the services that they provided and shielded themselves from prosecution.

The one element that sits awkwardly are the interspersed chapters from the perspective of La Reynie and Desgrez of the Paris police. While their attempts to bring down the society of witches provides necessary tension, stylistically the chapters sit oddly in the book and jar the reader from the natural flow of the story.

The ending is also extremely unsatisfying. Whilst you clearly understand all that has unfolded and how things are going to turn out it feels like the story stops mid sentence: just an extra page or two would have made all the difference.

On the whole it's a good read - that is if you like 17th century historical novels about witches, populated by a cast of thousands...

[L. Nahay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a difficult one to review. There are a few flaws as others have already stated. I wish the author had completely left out the chapters that are not narrated by or directly involve the main character. I honestly didn't care so much about the history of the times or the back stories as the main story was great all on it's own. There's way too many french names and most men are then referred to as 'le duc', and several women- including the main one- as 'the marquise'. It got very confusing. Sparing any retelling's or spoilers, despite the flaws, it was a good story and a good read and while the ending was weak, I don't regret reading it and would still recommend it. The main character is enjoyable, a study of contrasts and therefore believably human: a fortune teller who tries to explain the unexplainable via logic and classic philosophy, even though the world that surrounds her is stark raving mad and more flawed than she. So glad I don't live in a 'normalcy' such as Paris back then. I never knew. Through HER I cared about the history.

[Sauerkirsche · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es war ganz nett, aber es gibt deutlich bessere historische Unterhaltungsromane. Die Gedanken der Protagonistin waren nicht so ganz nachvollziehbar. Einerseits verachtet sie Mode, Kosmetik und Frauen die nur daran denken wie sie Männern gefallen können. Andererseits will sie dann plötzlich genau dasselbe tun, schöne Kleider anziehen um ihrem Schwarm zu gefallen. Das war einfach nicht nachvollziehbar, es gab keinen emotionalen Übergang oder eine Erklärung der Autorin. Warum sie sich überhaupt in diesen Lackaffen verliebt hat, blieb auch im Dunkeln. Ich habe das Buch ca. bis zur Hälfte gelesen und dann abgebrochen. Es war nicht schlecht und zwischendrin als Unterhaltung ganz gut geeignet, nur für meinen Geschmack einfach nicht das richtige. Wenn ich anspruchslose Unterhaltung möchte lese ich doch lieber einen Sci-Fi oder Horrorgroschenroman oder eben einen anderen historischen Roman.

[Kilian Metcalf · Rating 4 out of 5]

In her first novel, Riley exhibits all the characteristics that make her one of my favorite authors. Historical accuracy, humor, fascinating characters, and exciting plots. This is one of the few books that forced me to set aside all my other reading because I wanted to find out what would happen next. She gets better and better until she reaches her summit in The Serpent Garden. Her Trilogy of Light books would be enough to establish her as a major talent, and we are fortunate enough to have three stand-alone novels to increase our pleasure.

[radiovalkyrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a weakness, and its name is historical fiction. Give me a heroine who is deformed, intelligent and rational to a fault, and secretly obsessed with pretty things, and I swoon. Intrigue, action, suspense! Humor! More action! Romance! More intrigue and humor! And a hero worthy of a ripped bodice. Enjoy.

[Olga Kowalska (WielkiBuk) · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a suprising read it was! First of all - it is based on true events! It's so unbelievable that it's amazing - Parisian witches, alchemists, poisoners all surrounding the court of Versaille in 17th century. Great plot, awesome style and focus on details. It's rich, it's tasty - great historical fiction.

[Mónica Cordero Thomson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novela histórica ambientada en la Francia de Luis XIV que lo tiene todo: Historia, Romance, Misterio y un ingrediente que me pareció (y me parece) muy original: la adivinación, lo paranormal como fondo.
este libro lo descubrí de adolescente y los leí en varias ocasiones.
Me gustó tanto que tengo el resto de libros de la autora en mi lista de pendientes.
Genial.

[Susan Chapek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book.
Snagged it in the library just because of the cover.
Found a hardback with dust cover for my own.
Pluck it off the shelf now and then just to spend time with the fascinating, shady, compelling main character.

[Davyne DeSye · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lush historical fiction set in Paris during the reign of Louis XIV. The writing style, plot and attention to historical detail reminded me of Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers or The Count of Monte Cristo and was equally enjoyable.

I particularly enjoyed the main character, Genevieve Pasquier a/k/a the Marquise de Morville. Genevieve is a teenage girl who, after the suspicious death of her beloved father and grandmother, runs away from her abusive household. She falls into the complex and far-reaching society of fortune tellers and, due to an unknown hidden talent, recasts herself as the Marquise de Morville, an “ancient” fortune teller claiming to be over 100 years old. In this guise, she builds a reputation as an honest and true fortune teller, reading her oracle glass for the aristocracy of France, including Louis XIV himself.

The story is told (mostly) from Genevieve’s point of view and thus charmingly reflects her naïve teenage views of the society around her while, at the same time, showing the decidedly philosophical leanings of a beloved daughter tutored at her father’s knee.

While the story tells of Genevieve’s navigation of the complex Parisian society, you are also privy to her insecurities and her puppy-love desire for a handsome young actor. As Genevieve matures through what she learns in her brushes with the debauched aristocracy, her insecurities wane and her desires mature to – happily – include romance.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The plot was intricate and well executed, and the characters were fleshed out and knowable. Besides Genevieve, I especially enjoyed D’Urbec and the delightfully, cheerfully wicked La Trianon and La Dodee.

I strongly recommend this book to all lovers of historical fiction and especially to those who enjoy Alexandre Dumas.

[Brooke Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hate writing reviews. But I had to for this book. It was such a winding fabulous delicious read. And I really loved the protagonist. She’s frustrating and t and silly and very real. The story is wonderful.

[a hooded figure from your friendly neighbourhood dog park · Rating 2 out of 5]

My quest for non-violently misogynistic historical fiction continues... to fail! You'd think it was El Dorado or the Holy Grail or something.

I was really excited to read this book. Lady charlatans? Court intrigues? Witch conspiracies? Great historical research? GIMME!

I enjoyed all the research and the rich detail/descriptions of Paris and philosophical kind of thinking that went into this book, but the characters and the general viper's nest feel left me feeling like I need to wash up after every reading hour. Apparently, it's some sort of a rule that a historical heroine is not allowed a single genuine, non-doomed friendship or familiar relationship with another woman. Her painfully cliched beautiful older sister dies of abortion/having zero preservation instinct. But before that, the heroine's arc can't even BEGIN without rape. Because history is basically women casually getting raped until 1960s, when they begin to get raped but talk about it, right? In some countries.

The heroine was likeable right until her werewolf transformation into a lovesick moron twice. She has a bad spine and feels like a monster - does this belief ever get challenged? NO! Does anyone ever tell her she's NOT a monster? ALSO NOPE. She only feels good about herself when a dude is making love to her (in broad terms) and even then has issues about not being like other women. What kind of message is that?

The rest of the cast are Icky Carton Cardboards save for Mustafa the dwarf and Sylvie the Maid Possessed by Astaroth. I would totally read a spin-off about them, except she'd have to get raped for it to happen. The heroine's family are so repulsive that once again, need to wash. The witches, namely, La Voisin, the heroine's mentor turn out to be grotesque caricatures (woodcuts would play them well). They are no better and no worse than the men who hold all the power and can torture and kill them on the slightest suspicion, but somehow, instead of sending a message of hope that yes, women can survive this bullshit, even if at the cost of becoming horrible themselves, the book just shows their downfall. Also, thanks a lot, book.

[Gaile · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was unsure about reading this book for fear it would be a dark horror novel but that proved not to be the case. Although I thought the beginning was slow, the author was subtlety building up her background and characters.
Against the background of the court of the Sun King, Louis IV Genevieve Pasquier under the tutelage of La Voisin (who actually did live in this period) becomes Marquise De Morville, a fortune teller with a talent for reading water glasses. Soon she is making a great deal of money, becoming much sought after by members of the court including the King's mistress, Madame De Montespan. At the same time, the King has ordered the chief of police, Monsieur De La Reynie (a another actual historical personage) to round up all poisoners. Fortune telling isn't against the law but too much vengeful poisoning is going on in court circles for the King to over look especially as he himself is often a target.
The farther into this novel,I got the better it got. It includes romance, eccentric characters, suspense at which the center of it all is La Voison and the vast network of her underground kingdom. Genevieve comes under suspicion and is questioned by the chief of police who wants her to spy on La Voison while Genevieve is fully aware that nothing escapes La Voison. How is she to spy on someone who also spies on her? Caught between these two,will Florent D'Urbec,a gambler who is not at first cast in a very favorite light be able to help her?
A very satisfying read!

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, it was easy and quick to read for me, but it does develop slowly. Most of the story is based on relationships and growing up. A young girl must find her place in a society that's filled with conspiracies. The book definitely has a postmodern feel in the sense that the society is depicted as fallen and immoral. The main character, Genevieve relies a lot on philosophy and reason.

While reading this, I seriously began to doubt society...Even though the story is set in the past, I feel like a lot of it is still true in modern times. I needed some happy feelings after reading this because the book sucked them all out of me.

There's not a definite ending to this story, and I don't think this book is suited to everyone. I think I'd only recommend it to heavy readers who like to think and who don't mind not having happy feelings everywhere. The ability to handle sadness and backstabbing is highly recommended.

Also, a side note: sometimes it's very hard to follow pronouns and what's going on the in the story, so I advise you to read carefully.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing historical fiction set during 17th Century France. Although The Sun King, Louis XIV, is credited with bringing a measure of reform to the monarchy, his reign also disapproved of "free thinking," and pamphlet-burning was the norm.

With a complete cast of nefarious characters, the main plot centers around the scandalous "l'affaire des Poisons," with inheritance powders, court shenanigans, sordid extra-marital affairs, opium addiction and the notorious 'black masses' central to the theme. The book is thoroughly researched, with a cast of historically accurate individuals as well as myriad fictitious, fascinating, and captivating characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and breezed through the 500+ pages. I highly recommend it to historical fiction lovers, Francophiles and fans of compelling prose. I look forward to reading more of Riley's work!

[Steph G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kirkus Reviews seemed to like this book. This is a link to their review…

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...

[Damon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Agree it can be a heavy read and the large cast of characters with French names can be a bit difficult to keep up with but well worth the mental effort for the engaging perspective on a fascinating historical scandal. To help a bit with that suggest first watching the excellent video from Biography about Louis XIV (free on their website). He is an interesting person, I became enamored with the legend of the Sun King in high school and since marveled in person at the glory of Versailles. This is an intriguing part of the history I knew little about.

[Wealhtheow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seventeenth-century Paris, but with a twist--magic is real, and the main character can see visions of the future. The story covers about three years, during which time Genevieve grows from a snarky, naive girl with lots of classical knowledge to a woman who must use all manners of intelligence to survive. I devoured this book.

[Diana]

Well, I don't think this book is for me. I've struggled through the first 52 pages, and I can't imagine hanging on for another 480. Maybe it's the writing style (overly descriptive) or characters (can't connect with any).

The blurb sounded so interesting though - maybe I'll give it another try in the future. Thank you to Sourcebooks for the review copy.